Commodore 64: a Visual Commpendium book

[high voltage]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commodore-64-Commpendium-Sam-Dyer/dp/0993012906/ref=sr_1_1/275-0451006-2163027?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420617462&sr=1-1&keywords=commodore+64

 

 

Anyone read that book yet? The reviews don't help as usual.

Don't like the cover for starters, where's Origin Ultimas, Microprose Solo Flight or Pirates, EA Heart of Africa, those icons should've been on the cover, world famous games. Just Epyx Pitstop and Parker Q Bert

I want to know if it covers the US C64 games, or is it just UK centric? I see the Activision logo, so that's almost a good sign.

Edited January 7, 2015 by high voltage

[Greg2600]

The website (www.bitmapbooks.co.uk) has more information, as does the Kickstarter. They did an Amiga book at the same time, which was backed far better. I saw these on KS last year but passed. To me, the don't seem to be much more than blown up screen shots, very little writing. Both books appear to cover major worldwide releases, but again it's a lot of screen shots and some artwork.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Greg2600

[Bill Loguidice]

It's UK-centric. I have the book, which I supported on Kickstarter. The layout is lovely, but what writing there is is not necessarily helpful, and there's some poor editing. Despite being a huge Amiga fan, I chose not to support the Amiga or future books because of the shallow nature and relatively poor editing of this first book. Still, I can understand why others might love it.

[cimerians]

It's UK-centric.

 

Thanks for mentioning this and giving a quick thought about it. I was tempted but I had a feeling it was more UK-centric especially seeing the Amazon UK link.

 

Reading Retro Gamer magazine off and on over the years has shown me a big difference in the Commodore gaming scene between North America and the UK and I can't really relate to some of the stuff that was popular over there. Nothing wrong with it, just can't relate.

[Bill Loguidice]

 

Thanks for mentioning this and giving a quick thought about it. I was tempted but I had a feeling it was more UK-centric especially seeing the Amazon UK link.

 

Reading Retro Gamer magazine off and on over the years has shown me a big difference in the Commodore gaming scene between North America and the UK and I can't really relate to some of the stuff that was popular over there. Nothing wrong with it, just can't relate.

 

Indeed, it's quite different. The biggest difference to my mind was them standardizing on cassette tapes, while we standardized on disks. That makes a big difference in the types of games that someone would both experience and enjoy. On the flip side, the C-64 stayed relevant there far longer, and some of the 90s stuff that was produced that we got little-to-no exposure to over here is incredibly impressive.

 

As a result of the above, what a UK C-64 gamer would consider their top 50 games is quite different from what a US C-64 gamer would consider their top 50 games. Some of their biggest hits over there barely made a blip over here, and vice-versa. The nostalgia for more or less the same computer (albeit at different speeds and video output) is simply different.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Bill Loguidice