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

Attract Mode is an excellent book that took me back to a simpler time and the many arcade games that gave me such great memories. The author does a great job of showcasing the different segments of arcade history. He does it in such a way that sheds light on the arcade tech while making it an exciting read. Attract Mode really brought back a lot of wonderful emotions while helping me connect the dots. Glad to have the book in my collection.

A good record of the timeline of arcade video games. It would have benefitted from the use of colour photos rather than black and white. As an engineer I would have appreciated a lot more detail of the inner workings of the machines, but perhaps that is the subject for another volume.

Il libro si ripropone di essere una storia, abbastanza esaustiva, delle macchine da bar o coin op per dirla al'americana. Molto interessante, specie quando tratta gli albori di queste forme d'intrattenimento e accurato quando parla delle macchine originali usate nelle sale giochi e nei bar ma commette alcuni errori quando si sposta nel campo delle console domestiche. Un esempio: quando a pag.268 dice, parlando di Crystal Castles, che: "was never made it to any consoles save for the Atari XE Game System" ovvero che non fu portato su nessuna console di gioco domestica eccetto che per la Atari XE Game System dimentica che l'Atari V.C.S. o 2600 che dir si voglia ne vantava una davvero ottima. Insomma molto ferrato in giochi Arcade ma molto meno per quanto riguarda quelli domestici. Un libro che vale comunque una piacevole lettura, ovviamente solo se siete appassionati di giochi arcade.

This book does a great job of laying out the linear history of the arcades from the early 70s when Pong emerged to the modern era when arcades were less dominant than the home market. It also covers the crash of 1983 and how arcades kept video games alive. A few editing errors here and there but overall a good read, a good product, and an important archive for arcade lovers like myself.

A very nice piece of history. Concise, succinct, and overall accurate. My first job was working in a skateboard park arcade in 1982. I have been servicing and collecting arcade machines since then. It's pretty clear Jamie grew up in the golden era, and speaks of someone who actually experienced the real thing and not just emulation.He does a great job of covering everything from the bronze age up through the end times, giving the historical significance of titles as well as what technical achievements. For example, I never realized that Al Alcorn "copy protected" Atari's Gran Track 10 by labeling a rom as a SN74816 .If you have an interest to remember, or, if you want to get an idea of what it was like to experience these machines as new games instead of cheap emulations, check out Jamie Lendino's "Attract Mode" . It is a bargain at $17.99.