📚📒 The Art of Creaks | Book | Review 📚📒 @Amanita_Design #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Purchase Link - https://merch.amanita-design.net/products/the-art-of-creaks

Creaks is a game that is very much adored by its fanbase for the care and craft that was clearly put into it, resulting in a title whereby the visuals and music are just as important as the fundamental gameplay.

It therefore makes sense - following the ‘making of’ documentary focusing on the music of Creaks (https://youtu.be/67S-rAyku3U) - that a book dedicated to the art is released. As was made clear in my review of Creaks a few months ago - https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/06/creaks-review-xbox-series-x-910.html – it is a game that really made an impact on me and I often find myself discussing it or listening to the soundtrack, and now – I can get lost again in those wonderfully detailed visuals thanks to The Art of Creaks.

🍕 Pac-Man: Birth of an icon (by Arjan Terpstra & Tim Lapetino) | Book Review 🍕 @cookbeck #RetroGaming #PacMan

https://www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3012/pac-man-birth-of-an-icon-pac-man-bandai-namco.html

Few games are as iconic as the occasionally ghost-devouring, yellow dot-muncher, Pac-Man. In this 300+ page, full-colour tome, you’ll find everything that you could possibly want to know about this timeless classic. From origins to impact, legacy and beyond – all accompanied with crisp, high-definition images, insider commentary, well-researched information and vibrant artwork all presented through accessible writing.

📕📘 Lock On Gaming Journal | Issue 1 | "A Luxury Piece Of Gaming Journalism" 📕📘 @LostInCult #LockOn

I’ll level with you immediately. I am a self-confessed video game magazine geek. Physically holding a magazine and even smelling its pages are more of a thrill to me than just digesting web pages and half reading video games related emails and press releases.

Owning a video game magazine collection for me allows me to fulfil that fantasy of having my own library of video games related literature. In the last 5 years or so I have begun to fall for the various video games coffee table style books such as Bitmap Books’ Visual Compendium series or their beautiful one-off books like The Art Of Point and Click Adventures. These are the kind of books you can flick through and soak up the nostalgia as you turn each page and transport you back to another time and place where the video games magazine ruled the world. 

My favourite video games magazines have to be the Mean Machines run of magazines that were headed up by Jaz Rignall. The original run of magazines only lasted 24 issues before it split into a SEGA and Nintendo variant but those first 24 are ingrained into my psyche and greatly influenced the way I think about games critique and how to have fun with video game writing.

More recently I’ve also had the pleasure to look at a cool magazine called Ninty Fresh which went through Kickstarter very successfully and is now into a run of issues each being funded by Kickstarter backers.

With all this in mind, it feels like there is something of a renaissance of the written word in physical form within the video games world which for me is a great thing and leads me onto the journal which has been absorbing my time lately.

The lovely people from Lost In Cult have just released their first gaming journal entitled Lock On and I was approached to take a look at this beautiful video gaming tome just before I went on my hols to the Isle Of Wight.

Perfect holiday reading was my first thought.

📚📖 Tex Murphy and the Poisoned Pawn – a Novel by Aaron Connors 📚📖 @aaronconners #BookReview

Having been a fan of the Tex Murphy games since the early nineties, it was only in late 2018 that I realised that there were a series of books based on the video games. The novels are written by author Aaron Connors – who is also screenplay/story writer on the games - and, after reading and thoroughly enjoying The Pandora Directive, I was lucky enough to get some time with Aaron for a GF interview back in 2019:

https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2019/04/interview-with-aaron-conners-author-of.html

Since then, I’ve been keenly awaiting the arrival of Tex Murphy and the Poisoned Pawn for more futuristic private detective action and I’m pleased to say that it is absolutely worth the wait and another awesome chapter in the ongoing Tex Murphy story.

🎮🤠 The Video Games Adventures of Monte McGnarly 🤠🎮 @McGnarlyG

A little while back I was approached by @McGnarlyG to take a look at his new book entitles "The Video Games Adventures of Monte McGnarly"

I'm so glad I took up his offer as this book takes you on a personal nostalgic journey of video games discovery through the use of rhyming verse.

🤓📘 Book Review: The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech “Computers, Consoles & Games” 📘🤓 #Retrogaming @NostalNerd

The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech “Computers, Consoles & Games”

 
How much do you love video games, computers and consoles?

Do you obsess over the great tech from years gone by and reminisce over the legendary video games that you played as child through your teenage years and now still play those games in adulthood?

Chances are then you’ve heard of a certain guy called the Nostalgia Nerd aka Peter Leigh.

☆ Book Of The Week: NEOGEO: A VISUAL HISTORY ☆ #Retrogaming

Those awesome chaps at BITMAP BOOKS have sent us some new details on the 

NEO GEO VISUAL HISTORY book that I think will make you want to own this tome opus even more!

☆ 10 Awesome Retro Gaming Stories Just For YOU! ☆ #Retrogaming #GamersUnite

"This is the part of the week when I scrape the web and compile an awesome list of Retrogaming fayre for you all to gorge on.

Some people might eat these retro gaming links slowly, others like to yam them down in a matter of seconds.

How you eat them is up to you, Just Enjoy!

With Love 

Games Freezer"

☆ 'The Way We Played' Celebrating the golden age of computer games in the UK 1985-1993 ☆ #Retrogaming #GamersUnite

Unbound is an awesome source of new books that need pledges to get published.

One such book that needs to be published is 'The Way We Played'

☆ A Geeks Christmas List 2015 - Part 1 ☆ #Retrogaming #Geek #GamersUnite

It's that time of the year when my mind turns to Christmas and in particular my Christmas list....

Yes i'm 36 and yes I still write a Christmas list.....BUT the point is you don't want people to waste their hard earned cash on stuff you don't actually want so make a list and make everyone's life that bit easier at Christmas....

☆ "This Book Is A Dungeon (This Dungeon Is A Book)" ☆ #GamersUnite @nmeunier

So i'll confess immediately that i'm a BIG fan of Nathan Meunier.....

Nathan is a cool freelance writer (mainly video games related) who shares his techniques with budding writers like myself.

Of course this is cool in itself.........BUT.........

You just gotta see what Nathan has brought out now.....its mega cool on many levels!

☆ Video Games Books You Need In Your Life! ☆ @romalerts @retroboyo @FunStockGames @WoodPunk #Retrogaming #GamersUnite

It's A Shame This Book Isn't Real......

I love a good video games related book and I've recently been starting to look for some ideas of what presents i'd like to put on my birthday wish list!

So I've had a good look around for the reading list of my dreams.....

Here's what beauties i've managed to unearth....

☆"Speccy Nation" - @WordPlay4Games☆ #RetroGaming

"Speccy Nation"

Here's a book for those who L♡VE learning about the history of gaming and home computers like we do.

 

Games writer Dan Whitehead has published a C☆☆L book called Speccy Nation: A Tribute to the Golden Age of British Gaming. 

It covers the beautiful and almighty  ZX Spectrum home computer. 

Dan Whitehead takes a good look at 50 of the best and obscure ZX Spectrum games that contributed to the DNA of 'The Speccy' through the golden age of UK home gaming and bedroom coders.

The Speccy ended up with a software library of over 24,000 titles!

The Speccy was ahead of its time with a wide range of software that included programming tools, word processors, spreadsheet programs, drawing and art programs, It was the workhorse all rounder personal computer of its time.

Such is the love of the Speccy to this day, the creation of new Spectrum titles by devoted fans continues!

The game devs of the Speccy era are the stars of their day who worked with resources that were extremely limited by modern game devs standards. 

The first Speccy released in 1982 were available in two models, one with 16 Kilobytes of RAM!!

Then came the next advanced model which meant you had access to an eye watering 48 kB of RAM!!

If you want to see how the Speccy changed the face of home computers for a nation and a generation then we suggest you grab a copy pronto.

Let us know how you got on with Speccy Nation, was it a good read?

We'd Love to know your fave Gaming or Computing related reads so as we can feature your faves in future Games Freezer articles!

Richard - Reporting From The GamesFreezer Library