Invasion of the Space Invaders
 | |
| Author | Martin Amis |
|---|---|
| Subject | Video gaming |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
Publication date | September 1982 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 128 |
| ISBN | 978-0091478414 |
Invasion of the Space Invaders: An Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machines is a 1982 non-fiction book on video games by the British author Martin Amis. The foreword is written by American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, also an arcade game enthusiast. Writing in The Village Voice, U.S. author Paul Collins described the book as "completely endearing in its utter dorkiness",[1] while English writer and videogame enthusiast Simon Parkin in The Guardian described it as "a valuable snapshot of early critical thinking about video games".[2]
Written during what has been called the golden age of arcade video games, the book comprises three parts: a survey of the 1980s arcade scene in New York City, London, Paris and elsewhere, with Amis's musings on video games as a phenomenon; cheat sheets with tips and tricks for 20 prominent games, including Space Invaders, Defender and Pac-Man; and a look to the future with the impending arrival of home gaming.[3] Amis's fascination and enthusiasm for his subject are apparent, but he does strike an admonishing tone at times, even going so far as to say that video gaming is "morally ambiguous". Contrary to some claims, Amis never "disowned" the book, despite its great dissimilarity to the rest of his oeuvre.[2]
Amis wrote Invasion concurrently with Money.[3] Originally published by Hutchinson, it was allowed to go out of print; as a result, second-hand copies were able to command "stratospheric" prices until Jonathan Cape republished it in 2018.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Collins, Paul (20 September 2005). "Their Back Pages". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Parkin, Simon (5 November 2018). "Martin Amis on Space Invaders: how games criticism was born". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ a b Gill, Sean (15 October 2019). "The Abyss Munches Back: On Martin Amis' Invasion of the Space Invaders". Epiphany Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
External links
[edit]- Amis's tactical tips for Space Invaders Excerpt on martinamisweb.com.
- "Vidkids" Review by Tom Shippey in the London Review of Books, 30 December 1982.
- Invasion of the Space Invaders Review in Edge magazine, No. 157.
- "The Arcades Project: Martin Amis's Guide to Classic Video Games" An appreciation by Mark O'Connell published in The Millions, 16 February 2012.
- ISBN 978-0091478414 (1982: Hutchinson); ISBN 978-1787331198 (2018: Jonathan Cape).