Coin Blasters Arcade

Coin Blasters Arcade

Author: Karen Phillips

Publisher:

Published: 2012-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780545396271

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If any single, universal truth binds the brotherhood of man, it is this: Kids love hitting targets. Or at least aiming for them. The video game industry owes its existence to this reality - but the virtual world pales in comparison to the satisfying real-life THONK! of a palpable hit. Celebrate that shoot-'em-up energy with Coin Blasters, a collection of competitive table-top target games in a book. The coin blasters themselves are sturdy plastic chutes we've painstakingly custom-molded to hold a coin steady and upright on its edge. With a simple flick of a finger, and a smidgen of practice, anyone can send that coin zooming with surprising speed and accuracy straight at the target. And what targets! The book is full of awesome paper engineering, resulting in a wide array of games. Take slap shots at a hockey goalie, shoot baskets at the Hot Shot Blaster Hoop, knock the teeth out of a monster's mouth, flick a nickel field foal, and rescue pennies from a well-protected, uber-fortified, piggy bank prison. Ten different games test your coin-blasting mastery and let you dominate the kitchen table. Now that's how you manage your money.


Book Synopsis Coin Blasters Arcade by : Karen Phillips

Download or read book Coin Blasters Arcade written by Karen Phillips and published by . This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If any single, universal truth binds the brotherhood of man, it is this: Kids love hitting targets. Or at least aiming for them. The video game industry owes its existence to this reality - but the virtual world pales in comparison to the satisfying real-life THONK! of a palpable hit. Celebrate that shoot-'em-up energy with Coin Blasters, a collection of competitive table-top target games in a book. The coin blasters themselves are sturdy plastic chutes we've painstakingly custom-molded to hold a coin steady and upright on its edge. With a simple flick of a finger, and a smidgen of practice, anyone can send that coin zooming with surprising speed and accuracy straight at the target. And what targets! The book is full of awesome paper engineering, resulting in a wide array of games. Take slap shots at a hockey goalie, shoot baskets at the Hot Shot Blaster Hoop, knock the teeth out of a monster's mouth, flick a nickel field foal, and rescue pennies from a well-protected, uber-fortified, piggy bank prison. Ten different games test your coin-blasting mastery and let you dominate the kitchen table. Now that's how you manage your money.

Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games

Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games

Author: Jamie Lendino

Publisher: Steel Gear Press

Published: 2020-09-27

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13:

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From their haunts in the shadowy corner of a bar, front and center at a convenience store, or reigning over a massive mall installation bursting with light, sound, and action, arcade games have been thrilling and addicting quarter-bearers of all ages ever since Pong first lit up its paddles. Whether you wanted a few minutes’ quick-twitch exhilaration or the taste of three-initial immortality that came with topping the high score screen, you could get it from the diverse range of space shooters, dot-eating extravaganzas, quirky beat-’em-ups, and more that have helped define pop culture for more than four decades. In Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games, author Jamie Lendino celebrates both the biggest blockbusters (Pac-Man, Star Wars: The Arcade Game) and the forgotten gems (Phoenix, Star Castle) of the Golden Age of coin-op gaming, and pulls back the curtain on the personalities and the groundbreaking technologies that brought them to glitzy, color-drenched life in the U.S., Japan, and all over the world. You’ll start your journey exploring the electromechanical attractions and pinball games of the early 20th century. Next, you’ll meet the earliest innovators, who used college computers and untested electronics to outline the possibilities of the emerging form, and discover the surprising history behind the towering megahits from Nintendo, Sega, and others that still inform gaming today. Then you’ll witness the devastating crash that almost ended it all—and the rebirth no one expected. Whether you prefer the white-knuckle gameplay of Robotron: 2084, the barrel-jumping whimsy of Donkey Kong, or the stunning graphics and animation of Dragon’s Lair, Attract Mode will transport you back to the heyday of arcade games and let you relive—or experience for the first time—the unique magic that transformed entertainment forever.


Book Synopsis Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games by : Jamie Lendino

Download or read book Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games written by Jamie Lendino and published by Steel Gear Press. This book was released on 2020-09-27 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From their haunts in the shadowy corner of a bar, front and center at a convenience store, or reigning over a massive mall installation bursting with light, sound, and action, arcade games have been thrilling and addicting quarter-bearers of all ages ever since Pong first lit up its paddles. Whether you wanted a few minutes’ quick-twitch exhilaration or the taste of three-initial immortality that came with topping the high score screen, you could get it from the diverse range of space shooters, dot-eating extravaganzas, quirky beat-’em-ups, and more that have helped define pop culture for more than four decades. In Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games, author Jamie Lendino celebrates both the biggest blockbusters (Pac-Man, Star Wars: The Arcade Game) and the forgotten gems (Phoenix, Star Castle) of the Golden Age of coin-op gaming, and pulls back the curtain on the personalities and the groundbreaking technologies that brought them to glitzy, color-drenched life in the U.S., Japan, and all over the world. You’ll start your journey exploring the electromechanical attractions and pinball games of the early 20th century. Next, you’ll meet the earliest innovators, who used college computers and untested electronics to outline the possibilities of the emerging form, and discover the surprising history behind the towering megahits from Nintendo, Sega, and others that still inform gaming today. Then you’ll witness the devastating crash that almost ended it all—and the rebirth no one expected. Whether you prefer the white-knuckle gameplay of Robotron: 2084, the barrel-jumping whimsy of Donkey Kong, or the stunning graphics and animation of Dragon’s Lair, Attract Mode will transport you back to the heyday of arcade games and let you relive—or experience for the first time—the unique magic that transformed entertainment forever.

Coin-Operated Americans

Coin-Operated Americans

Author: Carly A. Kocurek

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2015-09-30

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1452945217

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Video gaming: it’s a boy’s world, right? That’s what the industry wants us to think. Why and how we came to comply are what Carly A. Kocurek investigates in this provocative consideration of how an industry’s craving for respectability hooked up with cultural narratives about technology, masculinity, and youth at the video arcade. From the dawn of the golden age of video games with the launch of Atari’s Pong in 1972, through the industry-wide crash of 1983, to the recent nostalgia-bathed revival of the arcade, Coin-Operated Americans explores the development and implications of the “video gamer” as a cultural identity. This cultural-historical journey takes us to the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, for a close look at the origins of competitive gaming. It immerses us in video gaming’s first moral panic, generated by Exidy’s Death Race (1976), an unlicensed adaptation of the film Death Race 2000. And it ventures into the realm of video game films such as Tron and WarGames, in which gamers become brilliant, boyish heroes. Whether conducting a phenomenological tour of a classic arcade or evaluating attempts, then and now, to regulate or eradicate arcades and coin-op video games, Kocurek does more than document the rise and fall of a now-booming industry. Drawing on newspapers, interviews, oral history, films, and television, she examines the factors and incidents that contributed to the widespread view of video gaming as an enclave for young men and boys. A case study of this once emergent and now revived medium became the presumed enclave of boys and young men, Coin-Operated Americans is history that holds valuable lessons for contemporary culture as we struggle to address pervasive sexism in the domain of video games—and in the digital working world beyond.


Book Synopsis Coin-Operated Americans by : Carly A. Kocurek

Download or read book Coin-Operated Americans written by Carly A. Kocurek and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Video gaming: it’s a boy’s world, right? That’s what the industry wants us to think. Why and how we came to comply are what Carly A. Kocurek investigates in this provocative consideration of how an industry’s craving for respectability hooked up with cultural narratives about technology, masculinity, and youth at the video arcade. From the dawn of the golden age of video games with the launch of Atari’s Pong in 1972, through the industry-wide crash of 1983, to the recent nostalgia-bathed revival of the arcade, Coin-Operated Americans explores the development and implications of the “video gamer” as a cultural identity. This cultural-historical journey takes us to the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, for a close look at the origins of competitive gaming. It immerses us in video gaming’s first moral panic, generated by Exidy’s Death Race (1976), an unlicensed adaptation of the film Death Race 2000. And it ventures into the realm of video game films such as Tron and WarGames, in which gamers become brilliant, boyish heroes. Whether conducting a phenomenological tour of a classic arcade or evaluating attempts, then and now, to regulate or eradicate arcades and coin-op video games, Kocurek does more than document the rise and fall of a now-booming industry. Drawing on newspapers, interviews, oral history, films, and television, she examines the factors and incidents that contributed to the widespread view of video gaming as an enclave for young men and boys. A case study of this once emergent and now revived medium became the presumed enclave of boys and young men, Coin-Operated Americans is history that holds valuable lessons for contemporary culture as we struggle to address pervasive sexism in the domain of video games—and in the digital working world beyond.

Writing Children's Books For Dummies

Writing Children's Books For Dummies

Author: Lisa Rojany

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-12-17

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1118356462

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Everything aspiring authors need to write, publish, and sell a children's book Everyone loves a children's book—and many dream about writing one. But is it actually possible for an unpublished writer—armed with a good story idea and a love of kids—to write, sell, publish, and promote a book? Yes, it is! Clearly and concisely written with straightforward advice and a plethora of specific up-to-date recommendations, Writing Children's Books For Dummies provides step-by-step information on everything aspiring children's book authors need to know—from researching the current marketplace to developing story ideas, strengthening writing skills, dealing with editors, and submitting proposals and manuscripts to agents and publishers. Updated and improved writing exercises All new content on social media and establishing an online presence as an author Fresh, updated content on publishing via hard copy and all the e- platforms From setting down that first word on paper to doing a successful publicity tour, Writing Children's Books For Dummies gives you the confidence and the insiders' know-how to write and sell the story you've always wanted to write.


Book Synopsis Writing Children's Books For Dummies by : Lisa Rojany

Download or read book Writing Children's Books For Dummies written by Lisa Rojany and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-12-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everything aspiring authors need to write, publish, and sell a children's book Everyone loves a children's book—and many dream about writing one. But is it actually possible for an unpublished writer—armed with a good story idea and a love of kids—to write, sell, publish, and promote a book? Yes, it is! Clearly and concisely written with straightforward advice and a plethora of specific up-to-date recommendations, Writing Children's Books For Dummies provides step-by-step information on everything aspiring children's book authors need to know—from researching the current marketplace to developing story ideas, strengthening writing skills, dealing with editors, and submitting proposals and manuscripts to agents and publishers. Updated and improved writing exercises All new content on social media and establishing an online presence as an author Fresh, updated content on publishing via hard copy and all the e- platforms From setting down that first word on paper to doing a successful publicity tour, Writing Children's Books For Dummies gives you the confidence and the insiders' know-how to write and sell the story you've always wanted to write.

Tempest

Tempest

Author: Judd Ethan Ruggill

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2015-08-27

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 0472121146

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Atari’s 1981 arcade hit Tempest was a “tube shooter” built around glowing, vector-based geometric shapes. Among its many important contributions to both game and cultural history, Tempest was one of the first commercial titles to allow players to choose the game’s initial play difficulty (a system Atari dubbed “SkillStep”), a feature that has since became standard for games of all types. Tempest was also one of the most aesthetically impactful games of the twentieth century, lending its crisp, vector aesthetic to many subsequent movies, television shows, and video games. In this book, Ruggill and McAllister enumerate and analyze Tempest’s landmark qualities, exploring the game’s aesthetics, development context, and connections to and impact on video game history and culture. By describing the game in technical, historical, and ludic detail, they unpack the game’s latent and manifest audio-visual iconography and the ideological meanings this iconography evokes.


Book Synopsis Tempest by : Judd Ethan Ruggill

Download or read book Tempest written by Judd Ethan Ruggill and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2015-08-27 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Atari’s 1981 arcade hit Tempest was a “tube shooter” built around glowing, vector-based geometric shapes. Among its many important contributions to both game and cultural history, Tempest was one of the first commercial titles to allow players to choose the game’s initial play difficulty (a system Atari dubbed “SkillStep”), a feature that has since became standard for games of all types. Tempest was also one of the most aesthetically impactful games of the twentieth century, lending its crisp, vector aesthetic to many subsequent movies, television shows, and video games. In this book, Ruggill and McAllister enumerate and analyze Tempest’s landmark qualities, exploring the game’s aesthetics, development context, and connections to and impact on video game history and culture. By describing the game in technical, historical, and ludic detail, they unpack the game’s latent and manifest audio-visual iconography and the ideological meanings this iconography evokes.

From Pinballs to Pixels

From Pinballs to Pixels

Author: Ken Horowitz

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2023-04-27

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 1476647968

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From early classics like Contact to marvels like High Speed, gaming publisher Williams dazzled arcade goers with its diverse range of quality pinball games. The age of video games catapulted the company into legend with blockbusters like Defender and Joust, and by the end of the 1980s it was the largest coin-op publisher in North America. Williams' acquisition of Bally/Midway began a period of hits that included Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, as well as the best-selling pinball machine of all time, The Addams Family. The history of Williams spans nearly six decades and is filled with great games, huge gambles and technical innovations that impacted every aspect of pinball and arcade video games. With interviews of 40+ former designers and executives from Williams/Bally/Midway, as well as information from hundreds of contemporaneous news reports and documents, this book presents a never-before-seen chronology of how the small company became a coin-op juggernaut. Thirty pinball and 26 video game classics are examined in depth with direct input from the people who made them, along with the story of the events that shaped one of gaming's greatest publishing houses.


Book Synopsis From Pinballs to Pixels by : Ken Horowitz

Download or read book From Pinballs to Pixels written by Ken Horowitz and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2023-04-27 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From early classics like Contact to marvels like High Speed, gaming publisher Williams dazzled arcade goers with its diverse range of quality pinball games. The age of video games catapulted the company into legend with blockbusters like Defender and Joust, and by the end of the 1980s it was the largest coin-op publisher in North America. Williams' acquisition of Bally/Midway began a period of hits that included Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, as well as the best-selling pinball machine of all time, The Addams Family. The history of Williams spans nearly six decades and is filled with great games, huge gambles and technical innovations that impacted every aspect of pinball and arcade video games. With interviews of 40+ former designers and executives from Williams/Bally/Midway, as well as information from hundreds of contemporaneous news reports and documents, this book presents a never-before-seen chronology of how the small company became a coin-op juggernaut. Thirty pinball and 26 video game classics are examined in depth with direct input from the people who made them, along with the story of the events that shaped one of gaming's greatest publishing houses.

Atari Design

Atari Design

Author: Raiford Guins

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1474284531

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Drawing from deep archival research and extensive interviews, Atari Design is a rich, historical study of how Atari's industrial and graphic designers contributed to the development of the video game machine. Innovative game design played a key role in the growth of Atari – from Pong to Asteroids and beyond – but fun, challenging and exciting game play was not unique to the famous Silicon Valley company. What set it apart from its competitors was innovation in the coin-op machine's cabinet. Atari did not just make games, it designed products for environments. With “tasteful packaging”, Atari exceeded traditional locations like bars, amusement parks and arcades, developing the look and feel of their game cabinets for new locations such as fast food restaurants, department stores, country clubs, university unions, and airports, making game-play a ubiquitous social and cultural experience. By actively shaping the interaction between user and machine, overcoming styling limitations and generating a distinct corporate identity, Atari designed products that impacted the everyday visual and material culture of the late 20th century. Design was never an afterthought at Atari.


Book Synopsis Atari Design by : Raiford Guins

Download or read book Atari Design written by Raiford Guins and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing from deep archival research and extensive interviews, Atari Design is a rich, historical study of how Atari's industrial and graphic designers contributed to the development of the video game machine. Innovative game design played a key role in the growth of Atari – from Pong to Asteroids and beyond – but fun, challenging and exciting game play was not unique to the famous Silicon Valley company. What set it apart from its competitors was innovation in the coin-op machine's cabinet. Atari did not just make games, it designed products for environments. With “tasteful packaging”, Atari exceeded traditional locations like bars, amusement parks and arcades, developing the look and feel of their game cabinets for new locations such as fast food restaurants, department stores, country clubs, university unions, and airports, making game-play a ubiquitous social and cultural experience. By actively shaping the interaction between user and machine, overcoming styling limitations and generating a distinct corporate identity, Atari designed products that impacted the everyday visual and material culture of the late 20th century. Design was never an afterthought at Atari.

Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 878

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office by :

Download or read book Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 878 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Arcade Britannia

Arcade Britannia

Author: Alan Meades

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2022-10-25

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0262544709

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The story of the British amusement arcade from the 1800s to the present. Amusement arcades are an important part of British culture, yet discussions of them tend to be based on American models. Alan Meades, who spent his childhood happily playing in British seaside arcades, presents the history of the arcade from its origins in traveling fairs of the 1800s to the present. Drawing on firsthand accounts of industry members and archival sources, including rare photographs and trade publications, he tells the story of the first arcades, the people who made the machines, the rise of video games, and the legislative and economic challenges spurred by public fears of moral decline. Arcade Britannia highlights the differences between British and North American arcades, especially in terms of the complex relationship between gambling and amusements. He also underlines Britain’s role in introducing coin-operated technologies into Europe, as well as the industry’s close links to America and, especially, Japan. He shows how the British arcade is a product of centuries of public play, gambling, entrepreneurship, and mechanization. Examining the arcade’s history through technological, social, cultural, biographic, and legislative perspectives, he describes a pendulum shift between control and liberalization, as well as the continued efforts of concerned moralists to limit and regulate public play. Finally, he recounts the impact on the industry of legislative challenges that included vicious taxation, questions of whether copyright law applied to video-game code, and the peculiar moment when every arcade game in Britain was considered a cinema.


Book Synopsis Arcade Britannia by : Alan Meades

Download or read book Arcade Britannia written by Alan Meades and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the British amusement arcade from the 1800s to the present. Amusement arcades are an important part of British culture, yet discussions of them tend to be based on American models. Alan Meades, who spent his childhood happily playing in British seaside arcades, presents the history of the arcade from its origins in traveling fairs of the 1800s to the present. Drawing on firsthand accounts of industry members and archival sources, including rare photographs and trade publications, he tells the story of the first arcades, the people who made the machines, the rise of video games, and the legislative and economic challenges spurred by public fears of moral decline. Arcade Britannia highlights the differences between British and North American arcades, especially in terms of the complex relationship between gambling and amusements. He also underlines Britain’s role in introducing coin-operated technologies into Europe, as well as the industry’s close links to America and, especially, Japan. He shows how the British arcade is a product of centuries of public play, gambling, entrepreneurship, and mechanization. Examining the arcade’s history through technological, social, cultural, biographic, and legislative perspectives, he describes a pendulum shift between control and liberalization, as well as the continued efforts of concerned moralists to limit and regulate public play. Finally, he recounts the impact on the industry of legislative challenges that included vicious taxation, questions of whether copyright law applied to video-game code, and the peculiar moment when every arcade game in Britain was considered a cinema.

The Counterfeit Coin

The Counterfeit Coin

Author: Christopher Goetz

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2023-05-12

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1978825528

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The Counterfeit Coin argues that games and related entertainment media have become almost inseparable from fantasy. In turn, these media are making fantasy itself visible in new ways. Though apparently asocial and egocentric—an internal mental image expressing the fulfillment of some wish—fantasy has become a key term in social contestations of the emerging medium. At issue is whose fantasies are catered to, who feels powerful and gets their way, and who is left out. This book seeks to undo the monolith of commercial gaming by locating multiplicity and difference within fantasy itself. It introduces and tracks three broad fantasy traditions that dynamically connect apparently distinct strata of a game (story and play), that join games to other media, and that encircle players in pleasurable loops as they follow these connections.


Book Synopsis The Counterfeit Coin by : Christopher Goetz

Download or read book The Counterfeit Coin written by Christopher Goetz and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2023-05-12 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Counterfeit Coin argues that games and related entertainment media have become almost inseparable from fantasy. In turn, these media are making fantasy itself visible in new ways. Though apparently asocial and egocentric—an internal mental image expressing the fulfillment of some wish—fantasy has become a key term in social contestations of the emerging medium. At issue is whose fantasies are catered to, who feels powerful and gets their way, and who is left out. This book seeks to undo the monolith of commercial gaming by locating multiplicity and difference within fantasy itself. It introduces and tracks three broad fantasy traditions that dynamically connect apparently distinct strata of a game (story and play), that join games to other media, and that encircle players in pleasurable loops as they follow these connections.