Generation 64 - How the Commodore 64 Inspired a Generation of Swedish Gamers

Description

Generation 64 - How the Commodore 64 inspired a generation of Swedish gamers The Commodore 64 proved to be a milestone release in the world of computing. Launched in 1982, it immediately captured the imaginations of an entire generation of gamers, artists, musicians, crackers and programmers, who would push its meagre hardware to create a range of amazing games, demos, art packages, CAD programs and music synthesisers. Young people the world over learned their craft on the C64, but in Sweden the machine’s legacy is unparalleled: it sired a raft of incredible talents who have since gone on to create amazing products and services that have, without exaggeration, changed the world. Generation 64 by Jimmy Wilhelmsson chronicles this talented group, tracing their paths from backroom coders to giants of the connected world. Karl Hornell was a games developer who created PokerRoom.com in 1999, which was later sold to Ongame for 450 million. Frederik Liljegren started a demo group,and later became the founder of highly respected developer DICE, which produced Star Wars: Battlefront . Kim Nordstrom started life as a graphic designer, helped develop the PlayStation 4, and is now Head of Studio at King, which enjoyed some success with a little game called Candy Crush Saga . Former coder Oskar Stl is now Chief Technical Officer of the music streaming service Spotify. And on it goes Bitmap Books is proud to present the English language version of Generation 64 , which features in-depth interviews with dozens of Swedish entrepreneurs. Edited by legendary C64 games journalist Julian Rignall, this 184-page hardback book features over 50,000 words, complemented by a wealth of Commodore 64 imagery, some of which has never been seen before. With a foreword by the founder of DICE, Frederik Liljegren, and an introduction by the designer of the 6502 CPU, Chuck Peddle, Generation 64 is an unmissable account of the part played by the C64 in the creation of the modern world. Book specifications 184 pages. 250mm 215mm. 3mm protective board slipcase. Edge-to-edge high quality lithographic print. Hardback. Sewn binding for enduring quality and the ability to lay flat for ideal double-page image viewing. Protective dust jacket. Shrink-wrapped. The full interview list: Pontus Berg, Tomas Danko, Philip Diab, Thomas Engstrm, Arne Fernlund, Katarina Glantz, Maria Hägglf, Alexander Hofman, Karl Hrnell, Tomas Hübner, Ixion, Bjrn Knutsson, Tony Krvaric, Fredrik Liljegren, Joachim Ljunggren, Kim Nordstrm, Angelica Norgren, Mikael Pawlo, Orvar Säfstrm, Rickard Sderberg, Oskar Stl, Robert Stjärnstrm,Therese Stridsberg, Peter Sunde, Pex Tufvesson, Martin Walfisz, Linus Walleij and Andreas Wallstrm ©Bitmap Books. Review: A great trip down memory lane, even for an American kid of the 80s - I have never been to Sweden, but after reading this book, it affirms that Commodore 64 fans around the world all share the same love and passion for this system. The book is physically a large coffee-table quality book, printed on nice color stock. There are dozens of Swedish individuals who grew up using the Commodore 64 that are interviewed, including many high ranking executives, artists, and hackers. The hackers are of particular interest, because I had no idea how organized they were (and that Sweden was such a nexus of hackers). Turns out that many of the cracked games that my friends and I "shared" were indeed originally hacked by some of the folks interviewed in this book (same screen or organization names, such as "Triad"). So little did I know as a kid in a tiny Texas town that I was just a few disk swaps away from fellow C64 superfans on the other side of the globe. Just be warned that this book is NOT another Commodore 64 technical guide, and is primarily composed of interviews, although it has plenty of photos of games and hardware, as well as anecdotal technical information (again, I was fascinated by the comments from the hackers, and some of the Poke commands they used to help crack the games, which seemed like magic to me at the time). This is a great addition to my retro gaming book collection - long live the C64! Review: Schönes Buch, das Erinnerungen weckt - Das Buch ist eine Mischung aus Graphiken von C64-Spielen und Interviews mit Leuten aus der Szene. Fand es sehr interessant zu lesen, wie die Leute, die man teilweise auch heute noch auf parties treffen kann, zu ihrem c64 kamen und wie sie das Programmieren lernten. Eine schöne Ergänzung für jeden Commodore-Liebhaber!