This is the perfect book for any Gen Xer who grew up on arcade games and early video consoles. There's a strong focus on abstract consoles, some of which I'd never even heard of. The geek in me really loved this book!

Curious Video Game Machines by Louis Packwood really brought me back to my childhood and reminded me of lots of games I love as a child such as Pong Pac-Man donkey Kong astroids and on and on but I do believe this book was written for those who are really invested and absolutely knows the ins and outs of a video game it is mostly technical talk about how one game led into the invention of another because they use the same types of chips or rim Drive and so I am mostly being honest when I say with the exception of video game names in the names of certain consoles I was pretty much lost I wish they would’ve given a more practical explanation of how or even what certain things did so that way when they mentioned them I would’ve known what they were talking about. So as I said if you know all about computers or you’re better well-versed in computer technical talk then you’ll probably enjoy this book in to a certain extent I did. I don’t consider myself a stupid person at all this has nothing to do with intelligence but know how unless you know I don’t think you will enjoy the book. I want to thank Pen And Sword History and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes I am blind and dictate my review.

Curious Video Games Machines by Lewis Packwood is a fascinating guide to really obscure video systems that never quite made it into the public consciousness. We all know of the Xbox and PlayStation in their many guises. Some may remember fondly Sega and Nintendo, yet in this book you'll find loads of systems that all promised to offer home entertainment but somehow through didn't.

This is extremely well researched and interesting to read for all those out there who love their games. I particularly liked the chapter on the Enterprise 64. I remember the computer being announced and thought it looked a real winner. At the time I had the ZX Spectrum but still coveted the Enterprise, I mean a joystick-built in... Like a lot of UK machines at the time it sort of faded out of the limelight, thanks to this book I now know why. Likewise, I remember the barcode battlers, quite an innovative idea but one that never caught on. Would have loved to see a chapter on the Sam Coupe or the 80's computer that would include a wheel as part of its chassis, but the ones in it were intriguing to read about.

Some of the machines featured were truly innovative and others you wonder what their ideas department were thinking of when they released them. I loved the photos of these machines, but at times would have liked to get an idea of the screenshots. Still, this is about the machines, not the games.

In these pages I learnt about systems I never knew existed or even imagined. A veritable treasure trove of forgotten heroes. A book that is highly recommended to those who have even a passive interest of the obscure video games machines.

I enjoyed ‘Curious Video Game Machines’ it was an interesting read and the information was good 👍 would recommend to anyone interested in the history of video games
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