Retro Gaming Hacks: Tips & Tools for Playing the Classics

by Chris Kohler

Maybe it was the recent Atari 2600 milestone anniversary that fueled nostalgia for the golden days of computer and console gaming. Every Game Boy must ponder his roots from time to time. But whatever is driving the current retro gaming craze, one thing is classic games are back for a big second act, and they're being played in both old and new ways.

Whether you've just been attacked by Space Invaders for the first time or you've been a Pong junkie since puberty, Chris Kohler's Retro Gaming Hacks is the indispensable new guide to playing and hacking classic games. Kohler has complied tons of how-to information on retro gaming that used to take days or weeks of web surfing to track down and sort through, and he presents it in the popular and highly readable Hacks style.

Retro Gaming Hacks serves up 85 hard-nosed hacks for reviving the classic games. Want to game on an original system? Kohler shows you how to hack ancient hardware, and includes a primer for home-brewing classic software. Rather adapt today's equipment to run retro games? Kohler provides emulation techniques, complete with instructions for hacking a classic joystick that's compatible with a contemporary computer. This book also teaches readers to revive old machines for the original gaming hook up an Apple II or a Commodore 64, for example, and play it like you played before.

A video game journalist and author of Power How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, Kohler has taught the history of video games at Tufts University. In Retro Gaming Hacks, he locates the convergence of classic games and contemporary software, revealing not only how to retrofit classic games for today's systems, but how to find the golden oldies hidden in contemporary programs as well.

Whether you're looking to recreate the magic of a Robotron marathon or simply crave a little handheld Donkey Kong, Retro Gaming Hacks shows you how to set the way-back dial.

Genres: Computers

747 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like playing old games mostly for the nostalgia it provides. As a result, when I play games from my childhood, 1) they tend to be games I've owned in the past and 2) I don't play for very long. I have no interest in acquiring the original hardware to play these games.

The "hacks" in this book revolve around getting the ORIGINAL consoles and making them work with peripherals that were not native to them. For instance, if you want to solder a SNES controller to a game cube, this is your book.

It's dated so there is no mention of the vast array of easy options available at this time, like the capabilities of the ras pi. Still interesting for the descriptions and history.

[CountZeroOr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the information in this book is dated (at the time this book was published, Windows XP was still current), but a lot of this information is still incredibly useful, and I'd definitely consider this worth checking out.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and interesting read