Playing with Power: Nintendo NES Classics


Book Description

A fascinating retrospective on 17 NES classics including complete walkthroughs-- including Super Mario Bros. 3, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda!. A journey through three eras of NES history. Commentary and history from Nintendo visionaries who pioneered this era of gaming. An inside look at the system and game paks. Priceless excerpts from Nintendo Power magazine back issues! Plus maps, character art, and extras!




Playing with Super Power


Book Description

The Console: A nostalgic celebration and exploration of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in all its 16-bit glory. The Games: Discover everything you've always wanted to know about some of the most beloved SNES games, including the previously unreleased Star Fox 2! The History: Learn about the SNES development and the visionaries behind this groundbreaking console. The Legacy: An in-depth look at how the SNES has left its mark on the gaming industry, and how its legacy continues. The Memories: Featuring a plethora of fan art, music, and more, this book is a love letter to playing with Super Power! Speedrunning Tips: Some of the best speedrunners around share their tips and strategies for getting the best times in these beloved classic games. Exclusive Foreword: Written by Reggie Fils-Aim�, President and COO of Nintendo of America. Collectible hardback version with slipcase.




The NES Encyclopedia


Book Description

A comprehensive, colorful guide to every game ever released on the classic Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the most iconic video game systems, the NES is credited with saving the American video games industry in the early 1980s. The NES Encyclopedia is the first ever complete reference guide to every game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo’s first industry-defining video game system. As well as covering all 714 officially licensed NES games, the book also includes more than 160 unlicensed games released during its lifespan, giving for the first time a definitive history of this important console's full library. Written by a retro gaming expert with 30 years of gaming experience and a penchant for bad jokes, TheNES Encyclopedia promises to be both informative and entertaining. The NES continues to enjoy a strong cult following among Nintendo fans and gamers in general with wide varieties of officially licensed merchandise proving ever popular. Nintendo’s most recent console, the Switch, is the fastest selling video game console of all time in the United States and Japan. Nintendo launched a variety of classic NES games for download on the system, meaning a new audience of gamers is due to discover the NES for the first time if they have not already. Praise for The NES Encyclopedia “As a catalog of all 876 NES games, this work is unique in its breadth of coverage and will be of great interest to old-school video gamers and collectors.” —Booklist “A definitive resource that is more than worthy of the title ‘Encyclopedia.’ ” —Nintendo World Report




Ultimate Nintendo


Book Description

Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library 1985-1995 is an expansive and thorough look at one of the greatest video game libraries of all time - the Nintendo Entertainment System. This nearly 450-page book covers all 800+ licensed and unlicensed games released during the system's lifespan, and features information and reviews for these classic (and not so classic) 8-bit games.




The SNES Encyclopedia


Book Description

“If you didn’t grow up with an SNES and are curious to know about games like Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid and more, then this is the book for you.” —Got Game Following on from the previously released NES Encyclopedia, The SNES Encyclopedia is the ultimate resource for fans of Nintendo’s second home video game console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Containing detailed information on all 780 games released for the SNES in the west, this enormous book is full of screenshots, trivia and charmingly bad jokes. It also includes a bonus section covering the entire twenty-two-game library of the Virtual Boy, Nintendo’s ill-fated 3D system which was released at the end of the SNES’s life. “Without question, The SNES Encyclopedia: Every Game Released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System makes for an excellent video game library addition. It’s an economical and well-crafted book of Nintendo’s 16-bit history, and it’s sure to leave you yearning for the days of Super Mario World’s vibrant colors, Super Metroid’s intoxicating atmosphere, and Super Punch Out!!’s incredible tension. If you already own The NES Encyclopedia, you’ll know what to expect, but if you’re just starting a collection of video game-themed books, you can’t go wrong with this condense and informative offering.” —Nintendo World Report




Retro Gaming Hacks


Book Description

Maybe it was the recent Atari 2600 milestone anniversary that fueled nostalgia for the golden days of computer and console gaming. Every Game Boy must ponder his roots from time to time. But whatever is driving the current retro gaming craze, one thing is certain: classic games are back for a big second act, and they're being played in both old and new ways. Whether you've just been attacked by Space Invaders for the first time or you've been a Pong junkie since puberty, Chris Kohler's Retro Gaming Hacks is the indispensable new guide to playing and hacking classic games. Kohler has complied tons of how-to information on retro gaming that used to take days or weeks of web surfing to track down and sort through, and he presents it in the popular and highly readable Hacks style. Retro Gaming Hacks serves up 85 hard-nosed hacks for reviving the classic games. Want to game on an original system? Kohler shows you how to hack ancient hardware, and includes a primer for home-brewing classic software. Rather adapt today's equipment to run retro games? Kohler provides emulation techniques, complete with instructions for hacking a classic joystick that's compatible with a contemporary computer. This book also teaches readers to revive old machines for the original gaming experience: hook up an Apple II or a Commodore 64, for example, and play it like you played before. A video game journalist and author of Power Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, Kohler has taught the history of video games at Tufts University. In Retro Gaming Hacks, he locates the convergence of classic games and contemporary software, revealing not only how to retrofit classic games for today's systems, but how to find the golden oldies hidden in contemporary programs as well. Whether you're looking to recreate the magic of a Robotron marathon or simply crave a little handheld Donkey Kong, Retro Gaming Hacks shows you how to set the way-back dial.




Art Of Atari


Book Description

Atari is one of the most recognized names in the world. Since its formation in 1972, the company pioneered hundreds of iconic titles including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. In addition to hundreds of games created for arcades, home video systems, and computers, original artwork was specially commissioned to enhance the Atari experience, further enticing children and adults to embrace and enjoy the new era of electronic entertainment. The Art of Atari is the first official collection of such artwork. Sourced from private collections worldwide, this book spans over 40 years of the company's unique illustrations used in packaging, advertisements, catalogs, and more. Co-written by Robert V. Conte and Tim Lapetino, The Art of Atari includes behind-the-scenes details on how dozens of games featured within were conceived of, illustrated, approved (or rejected), and brought to life! Includes a special Foreword by New York Times bestseller Ernest Cline author of Armada and Ready Player One, soon to be a motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. Whether you're a fan, collector, enthusiast, or new to the world of Atari, this book offers the most complete collection of Atari artwork ever produced!




I Am Error


Book Description

The complex material histories of the Nintendo Entertainment System platform, from code to silicon, focusing on its technical constraints and its expressive affordances. In the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System videogame Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, a character famously declared: I AM ERROR. Puzzled players assumed that this cryptic mesage was a programming flaw, but it was actually a clumsy Japanese-English translation of “My Name is Error,” a benign programmer's joke. In I AM ERROR Nathan Altice explores the complex material histories of the Nintendo Entertainment System (and its Japanese predecessor, the Family Computer), offering a detailed analysis of its programming and engineering, its expressive affordances, and its cultural significance. Nintendo games were rife with mistranslated texts, but, as Altice explains, Nintendo's translation challenges were not just linguistic but also material, with consequences beyond simple misinterpretation. Emphasizing the technical and material evolution of Nintendo's first cartridge-based platform, Altice describes the development of the Family Computer (or Famicom) and its computational architecture; the “translation” problems faced while adapting the Famicom for the U.S. videogame market as the redesigned Entertainment System; Nintendo's breakthrough console title Super Mario Bros. and its remarkable software innovations; the introduction of Nintendo's short-lived proprietary disk format and the design repercussions on The Legend of Zelda; Nintendo's efforts to extend their console's lifespan through cartridge augmentations; the Famicom's Audio Processing Unit (APU) and its importance for the chiptunes genre; and the emergence of software emulators and the new kinds of play they enabled.




Game Over


Book Description

More American children recognize Super Mario, the hero of one of Nintendo’s video games, than Mickey Mouse. The Japanese company has come to earn more money than the big three computer giants or all Hollywood movie studios combined. Now Sheff tells of the Nintendo invasion–a tale of innovation and cutthroat tactics.




Gamer Army


Book Description

In this timely and thrilling novel, Ender's Game meets Ready Player One and several terabytes of fast-paced video game action as five gamers are recruited into a tech giant's secret program. After Rogan Webber levels up yet again on his favorite video game, Laser Viper, the world-famous creator of the game invites him to join the five best players in the country for an exclusive tournament. The gamers are flown to the tech mogul's headquarters, where they stay in luxury dorms and test out cutting edge virtual-reality gaming equipment, doing digital battle as powerful fighting robots. It's the ultimate gaming experience.But as the contest continues, the missions become harder, losing gamers are eliminated, and the remaining contestants face the growing suspicion that the game may not be what it seems. Why do the soldiers and robots they fight in Laser Viper act so weird? What's behind the strange game glitches? And why does the game feel so... real?Rogan and his gamer rivals must come together, summoning the collective power of their Gamer Army to discover the truth and make things right... in a dangerous world where video games have invaded reality.