I just finished reading this last night. I loved it. Admittedly there were a few small bits where it got too technical and I had no idea what things meant, but that was pretty rare. I found the book incredible. With the VCS being my first straight console (after C64) I have a ton of fond memories of the system. And to this day, I still find it has one of the most interesting libraries ever. But what was so great is this book took six games (more really, but six majorly) and made them super interesting. Half of the games were ones I was already extremely familiar with, and yet I gained new perspective and appreciation on them. But what was even more fun was the "homework" of playing these games as I finished each chapter:dsheinem wrote: 3. Racing the Beam - Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
Combat - I played this a lot when I was younger. I'm planning to have my wife play this one with me a bit again perhaps over the weekend.
Adventure - my first take on this was "oh that's it?" but after being made aware that there was a "master quest" of sorts, the game got crazy. I was amazed at the effect of lighting your way through the caves for instance. Still a short game, but totally impressive and I can really understand why it's so important historically.
Pac-Man - I mentioned in another thread that this wasn't as bad as I figured it would be. Maybe it's because I read the chapter first. Sure it had terrible hit detection (to the player's disadvantage), but it was still a decent game even if a let down of a port. The landscaped presentation make it feel like a different game -- a Pac sequel rather than port I guess. And the flickering is less annoying than I expected, and really a pretty impressive solution.
Yar's Revenge - This was my big revelation game of the book. Wow. I don't know how I overlooked it so long. Probably because screens I saw seemed so weird and abstract. I didn't even understand what it was. But this game is complex and awesome. And hard! Wow. This takes some serious skill. I think there's unlimited levels? That said, I can only make it to the fourth or fifth so far. But yeah, this game is dripping with personality and I'm glad I found it.
Pitfall - Probably the game I was most familiar with. I still haven't beat it though. It's damn hard (just me?). I do want to beat it though. I'm gonna stick with it for a bit.
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back - This was one I loved when I was younger. Since I finished the book last night, I haven't fired it up again yet for nostalgia's sake.
...in conclusion, I'd say that almost every book I've read for recreation in the past few years has been video game related. Yet this one has been one of the more eye-opening to me. In regards to MIT's new Platform Studies, I'm already looking into picking up the 2nd and 3rd volumes (on the Amiga and Wii respectively) and I hope that the series continues with new installments each coming year!
a tale of one woman's round-trip 
