Another day, another retro book.
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This is a smaller A5 sized hardback book. It kept appearing in my Amazon searches for some time and I finally grabbed a second hand copy for just £4. The book was in very good condition, with that new page smell, with just one dent in the top of the back cover (which I think might of happened during shipping a it had no packing, just a plastic postage bag which was a bit annoying and I will mention this in feedback to the seller).
Anyway, this little book covers consoles and home computers from the 8bit era up to the Xbox and Dreamcast. Plus it briefly covers some handhelds. It feels UK focused as it goes into details about UK specifc systems such as Acorn, but it does also cover others from the US and Japan. There are some nice system and controller images and a brief summery of each system including who helped develop it, it's hardware capabilities and how successful it was. There isn't much I didn't already know but it's a nice quick reference for most retro systems. Each system also has a page which features 3 games, with 2 highlights of the system and one game to avoid. Having a quick look I didn't agree with many of the games selected but software is always subjective.
Is this book worth buying? At the £4 I paid definitely, and at only £15 RRP for a hardback it's still not bad value. The summaries for each system are well written and include useful facts. Each also lists key hardware specs. If you just want tma book that covers most systems then it's worth a look.
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Feeling old when I see Dreamcast and GBA in a a retro book.
But to be fair, it's accurate.
My kid referred to the 90s as the 'late nineteen hundreds' recently. DAMN THAT'S COLD.
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