Planned for 2025/2026. Pre-financing soon.
The Italian author and video game researcher Andrea Pachetti presents his debut, which has developed into a monumental work on the history of game design. Starting with the importance of the Commodore 64 for the Italian market, 64 big names address Pachetti’s pressing questions on their formative days: leading game producers from the USA and Japan (Part 1) as well as from Canada and Europe (Part 2).
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Hardback Edition, free PDF
- ~400 full-colour pages
- High-quality offset print
- 168 × 230 mm portrait format
- Special cover refinement
- 135 gr/m² Silk matt paper
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Finest print raster (120)
- Made in Germany
1982–1985: Pioneering spirit and creative freedom. Pachetti invested 10 years in the project to track down and bring together the visionaries, creators and producers of this turbulent gaming era. Here, innovators such as Randy Lyons (SYNTAX SOFTWARE), Andrew Braybrook (Paradroid), Rod Cousens (QUICKSILVA), Jason Benham (Interceptor) and John Steele (OCEAN) talk about their specific efforts that paved the way for the Commodore 64 as a gaming machine and why this period was so spectacular for a single producer.
The complete work is divided into two books, with each volume containing 32 personal interviews. Supplementary articles on the era of computer games, the genres and short portraits of the game developers round off the work and are equally interesting for beginners and connoisseurs of gaming history.
ESSAY
From North America to Europe
Canada
33. Ken Grant for NüFEKOP (Battle through Time, Slapshot etc.)
34. Randy Lyons for SYNTAX SOFTWARE (Cyclons)
35. Rick Madge, from Garden Wars (VIC20 C= USA) to several C64 games
36. Kevin Pickell – PET/c64 games and copy protection
37. Jay McIntosh and Steve Wilton for NET Software (Alien Attack, Robot Run, Inner Space, Sonic Boom)
VIDEO GAME AND ART
38. Jim Sachs, author and artist (Saucer Attack, Time Crystal)
39. John O'Neill, author of The Dolphin’s Rune
United Kingdom
INTRO
40. Gordon Houghton, Zzap!64 editor
PART I - DEVELOPERS
41. Jason Benham, Interceptor, Superior, Paramount
42. Andrew Braybrook
43. Damien Cavanagh, Bubble Bus
44. Steve Chapman, Softek
45. Paul McCherry, IJK Software
46. Kevin A. Moughtin, Firebird and others
47. Chris Murray, English Software
48. Don Rigby, Scorpio Gamesworld, Illusion Software Ltd.
49. Jon Steele, Ocean
50. Andy Trott, Supersoft
PART II - PUBLISHERS
ANIROG
51. Jeff Gamon
52. Darrell Etherington
BEYOND
53. Terry Pratt
54. Paul Voysey
QUICKSILVA
55. Rod Cousens
TERMINAL
56. Andy Hieke
TASKSET
57. Andy Walker
Other European Countries
58. Belgium - Jean-François de Wergifosse, Anirog
59. France - Michel Koell - Loriciels
60. Germany - Joerg Dierks - Datamedia, Kingsoft
61. Holland - Stefan Posthuma
62. Hungary - Viktor Toth - Commodore
63. Italy - Comini - CSP Microgame
64. Sweden - Henrik Holmstrom - Handic
The cover image you see here is a preliminary version and is still being revised. The final result may look different.
