BOOKS
Tron and Robotron: Thirty Years of Electronic Gaming (and Counting)
"TRON AND ROBOTRON takes readers through thirty years of gaming history from the eyes of a gamer, making many hilarious and touching stops along the way. Many of the stories will strike a familiar chord with long time gamers. If you missed out on the golden age of video games, Tron and Robotron is the next best thing to having been there."
-Rob O'Hara, author of Commodork: Sordid Tales From a BBS Junkie and Invading Spaces
Tron and Robotron is the story of Jeff Spega's journey from the 1970s arcades of coastal New Jersey to today's graying classic gaming community. This is the first ever street-level view of the history of electronic gaming, observed with the humanity students of the field have been waiting for. If that sounds a little too Oprah Book Club for you, Tron and Robotron also serves as one of the most comprehensive guides to games and consoles ever published, as delivered by a living, breathing video game database. Albeit a cranky, snarky, obsessive database.
-Rob O'Hara, author of Commodork: Sordid Tales From a BBS Junkie and Invading Spaces
Tron and Robotron is the story of Jeff Spega's journey from the 1970s arcades of coastal New Jersey to today's graying classic gaming community. This is the first ever street-level view of the history of electronic gaming, observed with the humanity students of the field have been waiting for. If that sounds a little too Oprah Book Club for you, Tron and Robotron also serves as one of the most comprehensive guides to games and consoles ever published, as delivered by a living, breathing video game database. Albeit a cranky, snarky, obsessive database.
PREVIEWS
Click the link below to download a pdf preview of Tron and Robotron: Thirty Years of Electronic Gaming (and Counting)
The preview contains the table of contents, chapter 2 teaser, and teasers for appendices one (complete list of game consoles) and two (complete list of recommended games).
Tron and Robotron first preview (428k, 29 page pdf)
Issue #71 of the Digital Press fanzine available now, including the full text of chapter 4. You can subscribe to DP here.
The full text of Chapter 3 now appearing in Retrocade Magazine.
The preview contains the table of contents, chapter 2 teaser, and teasers for appendices one (complete list of game consoles) and two (complete list of recommended games).
Tron and Robotron first preview (428k, 29 page pdf)
Issue #71 of the Digital Press fanzine available now, including the full text of chapter 4. You can subscribe to DP here.
The full text of Chapter 3 now appearing in Retrocade Magazine.
REVIEWS
Chris Federico of orphanedgames.com:
"Tron and Robotron is phenomenal.... A word to younger people who would like to know what the first major video-game era truly felt like while it was happening: This is the book to read....this gloriously long narrative has successfully captured the first major video-game era and the first major "retro-gaming" era, from the point of view that I've been waiting for in a gaming book: that of a player who's been there from the beginning...I highly recommend this book. It's a triumph."
Click here for full orphanedgames.com review.
Rob Maerz of Retrocade Magazine:
"If you grew up with the video gaming industry like I did in the 1970s, this book will jog memories of your own personal experiences inside and outside the realm of gaming. For others, the book provides an insightful look at the boom and bust of the classic gaming era and the gaming generations that followed from a player’s and collector’s perspective.... humorous, nostalgic, and an overall entertaining page turner to be devoured."
Bob Riggio of Mech Taco:
"Jeff’s stories about his childhood and the parallel rise of the video game scene are deeply engrossing, and draw you in with their honest sincerity... I’m already looking forward to the next book by Mr. Spega…"
Click here for the full Mech Taco review
Greg Wilcox reviews my table of contents!
"Tron and Robotron is phenomenal.... A word to younger people who would like to know what the first major video-game era truly felt like while it was happening: This is the book to read....this gloriously long narrative has successfully captured the first major video-game era and the first major "retro-gaming" era, from the point of view that I've been waiting for in a gaming book: that of a player who's been there from the beginning...I highly recommend this book. It's a triumph."
Click here for full orphanedgames.com review.
Rob Maerz of Retrocade Magazine:
"If you grew up with the video gaming industry like I did in the 1970s, this book will jog memories of your own personal experiences inside and outside the realm of gaming. For others, the book provides an insightful look at the boom and bust of the classic gaming era and the gaming generations that followed from a player’s and collector’s perspective.... humorous, nostalgic, and an overall entertaining page turner to be devoured."
Bob Riggio of Mech Taco:
"Jeff’s stories about his childhood and the parallel rise of the video game scene are deeply engrossing, and draw you in with their honest sincerity... I’m already looking forward to the next book by Mr. Spega…"
Click here for the full Mech Taco review
Greg Wilcox reviews my table of contents!
ORDER
Click here to order via lulu.com!
Click here to order via Amazon.com!
Click here to order via Barnes & Noble!
Tron and Robotron is now available at Next Level Videogames in Blackwood, NJ
Tron and Robotron is now available at Digital Press Videogames in Clifton, NJ
Click here to order via Amazon.com!
Click here to order via Barnes & Noble!
Tron and Robotron is now available at Next Level Videogames in Blackwood, NJ
Tron and Robotron is now available at Digital Press Videogames in Clifton, NJ
CONTACT
jeffspega@live.com
Tron and Robotron: Thirty Years of Electronic Gaming (and Counting) and all contents of this page copyright 2011 by Jeff Spega. All rights reserved.
