Sixty years ago, the first duet between a musician and a computer. Read my latest research on a forgotten chapter in the history of computers and video games. www.andreacontato.com/duet

Only 7 days left to join the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for not one, but two books: Stage 3 of the Video Games series and Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts. What are you waiting for? www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

New for November in our monthly Kickstarter Kompilation: video game-related crowdfunding projects from @nintymedia.bsky.social @andreacontato.bsky.social & more retronauts.com/article/2446...

Great to see another Kickstarter up from @andreacontato.bsky.social !! 📚 Go check it out and show some support!

Live! Support & Share :) Preorder today your copy of Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts and Video Games Stage 3. Italian and English available www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

-24 hours left 🙂 Don't miss it! www.kickstarter.com/projects/110... (And while you’re waiting for the Kickstarter to launch, you can read the preview chapter of Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts! www.andreacontato.com/rebels--pira...)

Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts is coming soon. And in the meantime, you can read a full chapter for free :) www.andreacontato.com/rebels--pira...

Don’t miss the end-of-month Kickstarter: Video Games: The People, Games, and Companies - Stage 3 (1985–1989) and “Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts.” www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

Through the Moongate: The Story of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems Inc. and Ultima part 1 and Video Games Stage 1 are free on from Amazon. All the other ebooks at a discount. Go and get them :D www.amazon.com/stores/Andre... Subscribe to my new #kickstarter www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

"Video Games Stage 3 From 1985 to 1990" and "Rebels, Pirates and Tentacles: The Story of LucasArts" #Kickstarter campaing will be in late october/beginning of November. Subscribe now :) www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

Last few hours to get a super bundle with 66 high quality books :)

Back already to close out this StoryBundle season with @calebjross.com on the #GameDev Breakdown pod! We discussed life with all first names, the compulsive urge to try everything, throwing up in a VR headset, and more. Join us on YouTube, Spotify, or podcast places. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb9Z...

🦈 My book Suddenly I Was a Shark! is part of a massive 65-book #videogame StoryBundle! DRM-free, pay-what-you-want, & only for a limited time: storybundle.com/games?utm_so...

Introducing the Greatest Hits 2 bundle of ebooks—65 books about #gamedev and gaming culture! Available from @story-bundle.bsky.social for a limited time. Check out the bundle here: storybundle.com/games

Retro Game Books is part of the latest Story Bundle: The Greatest Hits Game Bundle 2. There's 65 awesome books in total. 👉 storybundle.com/games @storybundle.bsky.social Curated by @davidlcraddock.bsky.social The bundle is available for a limited time.

Vi har snakket med spillhistoriker @andreacontato.bsky.social om The Sumerian Game, forfaren til dagens bybyggersimulatorer.

I interviewed @andreacontato.bsky.social about The Sumerian Game, an ancestor of today's city builders. You can read about it here:

The first part of the printed book shipment has arrived. Here are some photos of The Sumerian Game: A Digital Resurrection and Video Games Stage 2: From 1980 to 1984. Missed the KS? You can still get your book here andreacontato.com/negozio/

A better looking version of The Sumerian Game family tree. 11 years of game design and programming in just one infographic :) The complete story in The Sumerian Game: a Digital Resurrection. a.co/d/3idhpFl You can also play the games on Steam for free. store.steampowered.com/app/2699250/...

Now you can also play The Sierra Leone Game on Steam. store.steampowered.com/app/2699250/... It was developed in mid '60 along with The Sumerian Game and it was the very first computer game featuring, an introduction, a tutorial, tooltips, and even a quiz to test the player and promote them.

Welcome to Setats Detinu! The Pollution Game is the middle ground between King of Sumeria by Dyment and Hamurabi by Ahl. Its creator, Storer, integrated into the gameplay of the Sumerian Game some mechanics he had developed for Lunar Lander, which would later become a standard in the computer games.

Preview of FOCAL8-5 aka The Sumer Game. Much more verbose than the following versions, it had the "do you wish to continue?" feature that was later removed. It also had the "Hamurabi on strike" part that David Ahl included in Hamurabi. Thanks @katewillaert.bsky.social for the source code.

The first game with cutscene? The Sumerian Game (with a slide projector). The first game with an intro? The Sierra Leone Game. The first game with a tutorial? Again, The Sierra Leone Game. I'm working to rebuild it!

A small preview of The Sumerian Game 2.0. Lots of different versions to play and a few nice details, like the input text in red. IBM 1050 teletype was able to print in 2 different colors and the letters typed by the player were printed in red.

Soon... I'm working on version 2.0 of The Sumerian Game for Steam. What's new? It has more game modes, more history, more informations, more achievements. Are you ready to dive into the history of computer and simulation games? store.steampowered.com/app/2699250/...

The Sumerian Game: A digital resurtection (italian edition) on display at ComoFun (italy).

In honor of International Women's Day, there has been much discussion about Mabel Addis and her pivotal role in The Sumerian Game. However, Addis was part of a team of teachers that included other women whose names have not been remembered by history. I have searched for them, and here they are:

I am thrilled to announce that tomorrow, together with a German research colleague, the founder of the German company Interton will be interviewed for the first time. Will we finally be able to solve the mystery of the family of consoles based on the Signetics 2650+PVI?

You can still get The Sumerian Game: A Digital Resurrection at 50% off and uncover the fascinating story behind one of the earliest computer games in history — who created it, how it worked, and its lasting impact on the gaming industry. www.amazon.com/Sumerian-Gam...

Last few hours to get Through the Moongate The story of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems Inc. and Ultima Part I for free! www.amazon.com/Through-Moon... Part 2 is on discount :) You can also get The Sumerian Game A Digital Resurrection at 50% price! www.amazon.com/Sumerian-Gam...

Hello everyone! For the next four days, Through the Moongate Part I (from Akalabeth to Ultima VI) will be available for free on Amazon at this link: www.amazon.com/Through-Moon... For the rest of the week, all my other ebooks will be available at a discount. Thank you very much, and happy reading!

12 great ebooks :) And there's also mine :)

Here's the print proof of The Sumerian Game: A Digital Resurrection (italian version). Initially, I thought I had material for 140-150 pages, including tables, photographs, and listings. In the end, I reached 310. Missed the kickstarter? You can still get it :) www.kickstarter.com/projects/110...

The Sumerian Game - Supporter Pack is on sale :) 2 good reasons to get it: 1-Support the reconstruction of long-time lost videogames 2-Try the very first known computer simulation game 3-Own the oldest game on Steam. Ouch.. they are 3 reasons :) store.steampowered.com/app/2699250/...

Did you miss the Kickstarter for Video Games Stage 2 and The Sumerian Game: A Digital Resurrection? You can still pledge :) www.kickstarter.com/projects/110... The Sumerian Game ebook is ready, Stage 2 is WIP (only 3 chapters left to translate!).

Well, this could be fun :) This is the Family Tree of The Sumerian Game. I had to research and study for 5 years to draw it, analyzing source codes, printouts, papers, and interviews. The Sumerian Play is the first iteration (a sort of experimental roleplaying/boardgame to test the gameplay)

The Sumerian Game is often considered the first game with cutscenes. However, little is known about its lesser-known counterpart, The Sierra Leone Game, which featured a tutorial and even an introduction.

Atari Home Pong is not the firt console featuring an electronic version of tennis. It's not even the second or third. It's the 4th. Who came before? I'll write it into my next book 🤪

Yup! Its Popeye. I don't like it very much. I think the cabinet artworks are better than the game. Still, it's a step closer to Super Mario Bros as a gameplay and design.

Last time I saw this game it was in a deluxe cabinet with a seat. The upright version isn't that impresssive TBH. anyway the game is cool 🥰

Alessandro playing Fix It Felix, an arcade designed from the gameplat shown in Wreck-It Ralph.

Sea Wolf by Midway is another arcade designed by Dave Nutting. It's inspired by another japanese arcade: Periscope by Namco, a massive electro mechanical arcade built for amusement parks that used mirrors and optical effects.

This is something you really don't see everyday. Gun Fight is the US version of Western Gun by Taito. Western Gun was designed with discrete ligic while Gun Fight, designed by Dave Nutting, used a microprocessor. This is the tabletop arcade and it's very uncommon.

Teletext on a Commodore 64? Yup!

An Atari 800xl running Boulder Dash. Even if this puzzle game was a best seller on C64, it was originally designed for Atari 8bit computers. I love it 😍

Now things are getting exciting.. This is Intellivision keyboard component a big and bulky kit with a keyboard and a tape reader/recorder that has also the space to fit an Intellivision and turn it into a computer..only drawback is heat. A lot of heat!

This is an italian console built at the end of the 70s in Curno near Bergamo. Its a cartridges based console designed around the so called PC-50x family of chips. You can play Pong as well as other games like racing, space and sea battles. It was cheaper than any other programmable console.

Another reconstruction: Nimrod by Ferranti. You can play (and lose 🤪) a game against the computer. Its a bit smaller than the original 3.5x2.75x1.5 m computer built with Bennett at the beginning of the 50s.

Do you rember OXO by Douglas? This little box emulate it and let you input with an old telephone.

This is so cool! A friend of mine used this old microscope to build a Star Trek computer. It can run the '71 version by Mayfield, Super Star Trek and also VGA Trek! As you like.