We will explore the games that defined the decade, from coin-gobblers like Pac‑Man to home computer icons like Miner Willy and console powerhouses like The Legend Of Zelda. That’s not all, though: we’ll explore the machines that played host to these games, such as the NES, Master System, Commodore 64 and more. And, of course, we’ll drill down into the specific elements that made this decade so special to experience firsthand. So, let’s bounce and get ready to relive the most awesome, supreme and bodacious decade in gaming history!
WELCOME
BACK TO THE 80s • ALTHOUGH IT STARTED IN THE SEVENTIES, GAMING TRULY EXPLODED IN THE EIGHTIES AND IN DOING SO, IT DELIVERED SOME OF OUR BEST GAMING MEMORIES, FROM BUDGET TITLES TO MAGAZINES CRAMMED WITH THE LATEST REVIEWS. HERE, ICONOCLASTS FROM THE PERIOD EXPLAIN WHY IT WAS SUCH A GREAT DECADE
HARDCORE HARDWARE • WHILE IT’S THE GAMES EVERYONE LOVES, A BIT OF ‘MY MACHINE’S BETTER THAN YOURS’ IS ALWAYS FUN – AND IN THE EIGHTIES, THERE WAS A GREATER CHOICE OF HARDWARE THAN EVER BEFORE OR SINCE. WE PRESENT A SELECTION OF THE MOST NOTABLE MACHINES
AWESOME ARCADES • IN THE EIGHTIES, IF YOU WANTED THE ULTIMATE IN GRAPHICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BRUTAL CHALLENGE, THERE WAS ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO – YOUR LOCAL ARCADE. WE LOOK BACK AT AN AGE WHERE THE COIN-OP SCENE WAS STILL THE ENVY OF THE GAMING WORLD
INCREDIBLE INNOVATIONS • THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT KEPT PLAYERS REACHING FOR THAT NEXT 10P PIECE
PREACHING OF THE CONVERTED • MINDWARE’S MIKITO ICHIKAWA TALKS ABOUT THE ART OF BRINGING ARCADE GAMES TO THE HOME
CREATING CHARACTER • THE EIGHTIES SAW AN EXPLOSION IN RECOGNISABLE VIDEOGAME CHARACTERS, INSPIRED BY THE CARTOON CHARACTERS BELOVED BY KIDS WORLDWIDE. WE LOOK BACK AT THE WHY GAMING HEROES BECAME SO IMPORTANT
HALL OF HEROES • A SELECTION OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE GAMING HEROES OF THE EIGHTIES – AND WHAT THEY’RE UP TO NOW
KING OF THE JUNGLE • DAVID CRANE TALKS ABOUT THE CREATION OF ONE OF GAMING’S FIRST HUMAN HEROES, PITFALL HARRY
BUDGET BRILLIANCE • WHILE GAMES WERE FAR CHEAPER IN THE EIGHTIES COMPARED TO TODAY, NOT EVERYONE HAD A SPARE TENNER TO SPLASH OUT ON THE LATEST TENT-POLE RELEASE. FORTUNATELY, BUDGET GAMES AND COMPILATIONS WERE A GREAT WAY TO ENSURE YOUR HARD-EARNED POCKET MONEY STRETCHED AS FAR AS POSSIBLE
MASTERING THE BUDGET • MASTERTRONIC’S PR ALISON BEASLEY
THE HIT SQUAD • PAUL HUGHES ON ASSEMBLING OCEAN’S COMPILATIONS
TREMENDOUS TUNES • THE EIGHTIES WAS THE ERA WHERE VIDEOGAME MUSIC TURNED FROM SOUND EFFECTS AND SHORT JINGLES TO AN ARTISTIC SPECIALISM IN ITS OWN RIGHT, ALLOWING FOR A GOLDEN AGE OF EXPERIMENTATION
MAGNIFICENT MAGAZINES • WITH NO INTERNET AND LIMITED TV TIME FOR GAMES, THE ONLY WAY TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT NEW RELEASES WAS THROUGH THE MAGIC OF THE PRINTED PAGE
MEMORABLE MELODIES • FIVE CLASSIC TUNES THAT BRING THE NOSTALGIA FLOODING BACK
RECOMMENDED READING • THE MAGAZINES THAT DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES FROM THE PACK
LICENSE TO THRILL • IN THE EIGHTIES, THE LICENCE WAS KING. GAMERS WERE OBSESSED WITH PLAYING THE LATEST ARCADE GAMES IN THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOMES, WHILE LICENCES BASED ON MOVIE AND TV SHOWS WOULD DOMINATE THE CHARTS. GARY BRACEY EXPLAINS WHY THEY WERE SO POPULAR
DIGITAL BLOCKBUSTERS • YOU WON’T FIND ANY CASH GRABS HERE
THE 80s: A DECADE OF INCREDIBLE GAMES • THE EIGHTIES WAS A TUMULTUOUS DECADE OF TECHNOLOGICAL TRIUMPHS AND PIONEERING CONCEPTS, AND AS A RESULT IT IS PERHAPS THE MOST-INTERESTING TEN YEARS IN GAMING HISTORY. JOIN US AS WE REMINISCE ABOUT THE REMARKABLE GAMES THAT WERE PRODUCED IN THIS GOLDEN ERA
THE INTERVIEWEES
PAC-MAN: GAMING’S FIRST ICON • NAMCO’S YELLOW MASCOT STANDS PROUD AS THE INDUSTRY’S FIRST RECOGNISABLE VIDEOGAME STAR. WHEN PAC-MAN CELEBRATED...