Gamers 2 - Ghosts in the Machine - The Golden Age of Micros by Mel Croucher - Book Review

Mr Croucher is back with a second entry in a planned five volume set of Gamers tomes, this time casting an eye on the glory days of the microcomputer - the 1970's and 80's. Twenty machines are featured within this near two hundred page tome and as with the first book, the presentational style is a first person view from the machine itself written in a style fitting to that computer's background.

The Altair 8800 is the first Ghost to speak, followed by the Commodore PET, Apple ][, and so on, until we reach the last micro of the 1980's the ill-fated, but oh so funky, SAM Coupe. As you can see from the contents page, there are a lot of familiar names for those who either lived through the period or know their history, and for this tired and cynical late forties enthusiast, the only entry that foxed me was for the Matra Alice. 

"Alice? Alice? Who the fu...?" as some of you of a certain vintage may ask (or sing), and to be fair, for a computer that only had 125 units produced and never left the borders of France, well, it was a fascinating tale to read. 

With each entry, you get a short fact sheet that provides details of the computer's creators, sales numbers, price, specs etc. I would have liked to have seen the sources for the sales figures, given how muddled various stated totals can be once you go down that particular rabbit hole, but there you go. The core texts prove to be entertaining potted histories/commentaries, and a nice line in humour abounds. There are also some photographs and software screenshots to spice things up a bit, albeit in mono, which is totally fine. 

At the back of the book, we have a Hall of Fame and separate Roll of Honour for those who paid a little bit more to support the publication effort, then details of the entire Gamers series. These comprise of the cover designs and contents pages, as well as the expected dates of availability for both backers and the general public. The schedule seems to be pretty consistent (assuming the following Kickstarter's are successful), with Gamers 5 due out to supporters by July 2027, and to a wider audience by December 2027. 

This is another interesting publication from Mel Croucher, and one that filled in some gaps in my knowledge as well as being an overall enjoyable read. For those wanting a compact reference on the subject, it is a worthy effort. Whether the author can land the following three Gamers tomes without the presentational style becoming tired remains to be seen, but so far, I am looking forward to the third volume's Kickstarter.

Gamers 2 is in the hands of backers now, and general availability is due in July this year. The publisher's page for this volume can be found here. Gamers 1 is available from all good bookshops - you can check out where exactly from the publisher's page here. 

Gamers: Ghosts in the Machine by Mel Croucher - Book Review

Some of you may recognise Mel Croucher through his achievements in computer games: Deus Ex Machina possibly being the most well known, and for others, it will have been through the Zygote column that graced the last page of the long gone but still fondly remembered Computer Shopper (UK). Perhaps you may not know of him at all, in which case, allow me to correct that situation by stating clearly that he is also the author of one of the most informative tomes on computing and video games I have read in a long while. Here's why...

Gamers: Ghosts in the Machine takes the reader on a journey to meet twenty key individuals whose contributions have, in ways large and small, defined the world of computer gaming. Told chronologically, this diverse (considering the topic and period covered, rather more so than you'd think) array of characters get to tell their own story from beyond the grave in a conceit that could, in lesser hands, have failed badly. Yet this is Mel Croucher we're talking about here and he knows what he's doing.

We begin with Joseph Marie Jacquard whose creation of a programmable loom was foundational to the compilation of binary code, and end with Karel Twisten Asenbrener, whose tragic tale provides the modern day ghost in the machine. Betwixt the two, you'll hear from some familiar names (Ada Lovelace - the biography by Beverley Adams (reviewed here) is highly recommended, Grace Hopper, Ralph Baer, and Jerry Lawson), as well as some who, if you'd heard mention of them, would have you searching away in the non-AI powered browser of your choice. Fear not, gentle reader, you can learn plenty about them in Mr Croucher's book. 

I consider myself reasonably widely read on the subject of computing history, but never once had I heard of Paul Otlet, or Mabel Addis, so obviously not that widely read and those gaps in my knowledge have been filled. I was more familiar with Hedy (NOT Hedley) Lamarr's contribution to computing, and for a few others, their names had cropped up in passing, but never with their full contribution being described, so this book has proven a great reference in that respect too. 

There's imagery, which lacks colour but is reproduced clearly, and outside of the author's content, there's a Gamer's Hall of Fame and Roll of Honour for backers of specific tiers from the Kickstarter, as well as a list of Mel's other publications. Finally, two other releases from the publisher are advertised, both of which are on my to buy list (when the to read pile drops a little lower). Of note was the Kickstarter itself, with excellent communication from the author, a refreshing change from certain other retro computing themed campaigns.

Gamers: Ghosts in the Machine is a highly readable and informative book, and one that succinctly delivers all you need to know about twenty people who, unbeknownst to themselves, have shaped how we play games today. To paraphrase a certain 1990's sci-fi movie, if you'd like to know more, buy this book!

And to do so, this very handy page on the publisher's website will show you all of the retailers you can pre-order a copy from.