Recent Reads - June 2020

A couple of retro gaming related titles this month. One is a take on the familiar guide format that has seen titles such as Nostalgia Nerd's Retro Tech and Evan Amos's The Games Console hit the shelves, whilst the other is the story of Commodore as seen through the eyes of Commodore UK's final Managing Director, David Pleasance.

The title page

Gaming in the Obscure by Johnny Blanchard is first up and is a look at several gaming consoles (and a computer) that, for a variety of reasons, never hit the big time. The hook for this book is that Blanchard owns the systems, which adds an air of authority to the descriptions and views expressed. At 160 pages in length, this permits a decent look at a selection of systems and important software titles for each one. The author has grouped the hardware by console generation, giving a list and a timeline of all of the machines launched in that generation, highlighting the ones he wishes to focus on. Each featured machine gets a brief history, why it failed and tips on collecting them today, along with a selection of games shown by full page screenshots. One thing this book is missing is any text describing those games, but that is a minor niggle. After all, the focus is predominantly on the hardware.

The comments on collecting are really useful.

There are numerous photographs of the machines and these are well taken and presented. Blanchard's writing style is straight forward and easy to follow, and by far the most interesting parts are the comments on owning and collecting these machines. Would-be collectors take note of these, you'll learn some important lessons here. Throughout the text, Blanchard comments on a second volume and this is something I hope he follows up on. Judging by the first, it should be something to look forward to.

Sadly, you can't buy a physical copy of Gaming in the Obscure, but it is available on the Kindle platform. Currently part of the Kindle Unlimited, it is also available for purchase here for the princely sum of £4. Seriously, £4. That is a bargain and even if I were signed up to Unlimited, I would still buy this outright. Overall then, if retro gaming hardware is your thing, this is a highly recommended book. You can follow the author on Twitter here, as well as his YouTube channel here.

Commodore: The Inside Story is part autobiography, part reminiscence. The autobiography is that of David J Pleasance, as noted above, the last co-Managing Director of CBM UK. Starting with a potted history of his early life, it doesn't take long before we reach the 1980's and the author's employment with Commodore. Not that the early years are boring, and Pleasance's writing style is free flowing and engaging enough to make these early sections as interesting as the core of the book. A nice line of humour runs throughout the telling and there are definitely a few instances of "you wouldn't get away with that today" dotted here and there. It also hits the nostalgia button when talking about computer retailing at the time.

That is only the first half of the book though. The second half contains sections by a variety of people linked to Commodore and the Amiga computer. From RJ Mical and Gail Wellington, to Keiron Sumner and Stephen Jones, these reminiscences are packed with anecdotes, memories and little tidbits that bring the (frankly tragic) story of Commodore and the Amiga to life. Each of these add depth to the overall tale and are more than just padding for the word count, giving further insight into the company. In fact, it's nice not to hear from the usual suspects.

And what a story it is too. I'll not go into detail here (buy the book!), but Commodore's corporate behaviour really does make me wonder how they managed to be so successful. Poor people management, even worse financial management and a complete inability to understand the business they were in and the products they were selling; with hindsight there is no surprise at all at the company's failure. This is the crying shame. I, like a couple of million others in the UK alone, never mind the rest of the world, spent our formative years using an Amiga.

I purchased this book from Downtime Publishing. Here, you can buy this title in a number of formats: hardback, e-book and audiobook. There is also a DVD or Blu-Ray option if you prefer. I ordered the hardback and was very pleasantly surprised upon receiving it to find that it had been signed by the author with nice little personal message. It was a lovely little touch. As for the quality of the physical hardback? It's superb. The hard cover itself is reassuringly solid, the binding is tight and the pages themselves are glossy and thick. You will be paying £30 for the physical copy but you're getting a quality tome for it.

Anybody, and I mean anybody who was an Amiga user back in the day, should buy this book. It will give you an understanding as to why Commodore succeeded and failed throughout the years. The same goes for anyone interested in the history of computing in general. Again, you'll learn a lot. I cannot sing the praises of this book highly enough.

This brings me onto the follow up. The author, alongside Trevor Dickinson (owner of A-EON Technology, who currently produce Amiga OS4 powered computers and also the provider of a forward for the first book) have launched a Kickstarter for From Vultures to Vampires, which will follow on from the collapse of Commodore in 1994 to the present day. To say it has been an eventful 25 years for the Amiga platform would be an understatement. After finishing Commodore: The Inside Story, I pledged for a copy of the new book and hopefully it will hit its funding goal. Check it out if it appeals to you.