Codename Revolution
- 204 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Nintendo's hugely popular and influential video game console system considered as technological device and social phenomenon.
Platform Studies Series
This series delves into the intricate interplay between the hardware and software design of computing systems and the creative works produced upon them. It explores how the architecture of these systems shapes artistic expression and vice versa. This collection is essential for anyone interested in the deep connections between technology and creativity.
Recommended Reading Order
Minitel
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
The first scholarly book in English on Minitel, the pioneering French computer network, offers a history of a technical system and a cultural phenomenon.
Who Are You?
- 248 pages
- 9 hours of reading
GBA is the progentitor of handheld gaming platforms today. Who are You? offers fresh ways of thinking about the production, circulation, and actual use of a video game platform--
A study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS.
Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
"While there have been a great many triumphs written about video games (the first game developed jointly by MIT and Harvard; the wild success of Pong at a rather seedy bar in Sunnyvale, CA; the Golden Age of Videogames; and the growing prominence of video games over screen-based entertainment mediums), there of course had to be failures and the Nintendo SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) was the beginning of Nintendo's downfall. This is a book about Nintendo, and how it lived the "16-bit console wars" that saw it go from being the undisputed industry leader in the 8-bit generation of consoles with more than a 90% market share in 1989 to a marginally leading top player with a 60% share of the video game market at the end of the 16-bit console war, and all the way down to its Nintendo 64 selling a little less than one-third as many units as Sony's dominating PlayStation console. (Malik 1997) Ultimately, it is a critical history of Nintendo's fall from grace, from the height of a period I dub the ReNESsance (1985-1990) all the way down to the Nintendo Dark Age (1996-2006)" -- Provided by publisher
I Am Error
- 440 pages
- 16 hours of reading
The complex material histories of the Nintendo Entertainment System platform, from code to silicon, focusing on its technical constraints and its expressive affordances.
Peripheral Vision
- 133 pages
- 5 hours of reading
How the S-C 4020-a mainframe peripheral intended to produce scientific visualizations-shaped a series of early computer art projects that emerged from Bell Labs.
An in-depth exploration of a neglected video game platform of the 1990s and a reflection on the way we construct the cultural history of video games.
Exploring the often-overlooked history and technological innovations of the world's first true multimedia computer.