Just stumbled across this today, and a search of Dexterity's forums failed to produce any reference to it. The author of this book decided to make the text available online in June of 2002 since it had already run its commercial course (published in 1997).

Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers (http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/)

I haven't had a chance to read through most of it yet, but I really enjoyed the interview with Eugene Jarvis, the creator of Robotron.

Hey that's pretty cool. This book has been on my list of things to read for ages, but I could never find it anywhere. Thanks for the link!

Neato! I have bookmarked it for many hours of future procrastinatey pleasure.

Although, like many similar histories, it's disappointingly US-centric (okay, with a few notable exceptions in there). Well, I haven't read it yet to be fair, but just clicking on "the systems", it seems to only mention the systems popular in the US. Personally, I find the UK scene from the 80s to be a bit more interesting; and there were so many great original games being made in Europe that I still know nothing about the history of...

Even so, ya gotta dig it. Free book! Much respect.

Hmm, definitely too much US perspective in there... I just read the interview with great Amstrad programmer Paul Shirley, and the interviewer keeps asking him about the c64 (which as Paul said, he ported a couple of his original Amstrad titles over to, and that was it).

Maybe it's just that, being from New Zealand, I experienced the US, UK and European stuff in more or less equal amounts and would like to see more stuff that reflects that more inclusive perspective.

Anthony,

Yeah, I can understand that, but my gaming life at that time was dominated by thje C64 and the Apple II, so most of the material is not only interesting to me, but creates a sense of nostalgia as well. Now that you mention it, though, my curiosity has been peaked and I'd be interested in learning more about the machines and systems that were popular in other parts of the world. Any links or books you would recommend?

Well that's the thing; I really don't know...