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Coleco: The Official Book
It’s Christmas 1982. You just got your very first home video game system and the most powerful one on the market, the ColecoVision. After plugging it and enjoying it for a while you begin to wonder: who is Coleco? Where is it located? Whose vision came to fruition to offer me this console?
225 pages, ebook
Published August 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 25, 2018
This book was easy to read, which surprised me because English is not the primary language of the two authors.
The book was interesting, especially the history of Coleco. However, once I got to the videogames, I began finding too many errors.
The layout of the book is not good. It really needs to be reformatted. Instead of indented paragraphs, the paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Unfortunately it is not consistent and in some places there is no line separation.
The pictures are good but in most cases there are no captions so you have to guess who or what it might be. Some of the photos are questionable. For example on one page it is mentioned that the designers pulled all-nighters and are pizza. Then on the next page is a picture of a pizza. Totally unnecessary. Someone else it’s mentioned that the executives drove Lincoln Town Cars so there was a photo of a random Lincoln Town Car. Some of the text was unnecessary as well. For example, it says that Coleco had moved into a building previously inhabited by Pontiac cars and Peerless woodworking. Then it goes on to tell a dilutes history of those companies. Who cares?
In the end, the book was an enjoyable history about Coleco, a subject that there is little written about. But on the whole, I think the problems I mentioned above distracted me from much of the book.
The book was interesting, especially the history of Coleco. However, once I got to the videogames, I began finding too many errors.
The layout of the book is not good. It really needs to be reformatted. Instead of indented paragraphs, the paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Unfortunately it is not consistent and in some places there is no line separation.
The pictures are good but in most cases there are no captions so you have to guess who or what it might be. Some of the photos are questionable. For example on one page it is mentioned that the designers pulled all-nighters and are pizza. Then on the next page is a picture of a pizza. Totally unnecessary. Someone else it’s mentioned that the executives drove Lincoln Town Cars so there was a photo of a random Lincoln Town Car. Some of the text was unnecessary as well. For example, it says that Coleco had moved into a building previously inhabited by Pontiac cars and Peerless woodworking. Then it goes on to tell a dilutes history of those companies. Who cares?
In the end, the book was an enjoyable history about Coleco, a subject that there is little written about. But on the whole, I think the problems I mentioned above distracted me from much of the book.
December 27, 2016
I really appreciate the efforts to document the history of Coleco as a company that both made video games and toys. The authors attempt to capture the rise and fall of Coleco, but I think they come up a little short of my expectations.
This book is a solid first effort but could have really benefitted from an experienced editor taking a strong pass on it, which would have cleaned it up a bit. There were lots of great little bits and history that I did not know, and cool tie-ins. Personally I would have liked even more original interviews of the principals or more quotes from primary sources in the body of the book. The interviews at the end were nice and I would have preferred more of that integrated into the main copy body.
Finally, this book needed a more sophisticated design, with much larger, high-quality photos and more white space. The book is small (which is fine) but feels cramped with some of the unnecessary graphics and imagery.
Overall, it is great for the video game history fans and Coleco buffs but probably not going to appeal to general audiences.
This book is a solid first effort but could have really benefitted from an experienced editor taking a strong pass on it, which would have cleaned it up a bit. There were lots of great little bits and history that I did not know, and cool tie-ins. Personally I would have liked even more original interviews of the principals or more quotes from primary sources in the body of the book. The interviews at the end were nice and I would have preferred more of that integrated into the main copy body.
Finally, this book needed a more sophisticated design, with much larger, high-quality photos and more white space. The book is small (which is fine) but feels cramped with some of the unnecessary graphics and imagery.
Overall, it is great for the video game history fans and Coleco buffs but probably not going to appeal to general audiences.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews