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Starflight: How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987-1994
No one saw it coming. At its launch in 1981, IBM’s original Personal Computer was an expensive business machine—not a gaming behemoth of the kind you saw from Apple, Atari, Commodore, and Tandy. But by 1990, the PC had trampled all its competitors and become the gaming juggernaut it remains to this day. How did this happen? What did the PC do that the ostensibly superior Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and Apple IIGS, couldn’t?
In How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987–1994, author Jamie Lendino tells the full story, starting with the PC’s humble CGA and monochrome origins, moving through early ill-fated (if influential) failures such as the PCjr and Tandy 1000, and diving deep into the industry-shattering innovations in processing, graphics, sound, software, and distribution that gave the PC (and the gamers who loved it) unprecedented power and reach.
Along the way, Lendino explores more than 110 of the PC’s most entertaining and important games, revealing how they paved the way for PC supremacy while also offering players new levels of challenge and fun. From groundbreaking graphic adventures (King’s Quest, The Secret of Monkey Island), innovative role-playing games (Ultima, Might and Magic), and sprawling space combat epics (Wing Commander, X-Wing) to titanic strategy titles (Civilization, X-Com), first-person shooters (Stellar 7, Doom), wide-ranging simulations (Stunts, Falcon 3.0), and hard-driving arcade action games (Arkanoid, Raptor), you’ll discover every detail of how the PC’s games catapulted it into the computer gaming stratosphere.
Whether you were there at the time—experiencing first-hand the transition of EGA to VGA and single-voice beeps and boops to sweepingly symphonic Roland MT-32 sound, and discovering historic titles upon their release—or you’re only now discovering the wonders of the era, How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987–1994 is a fresh, dynamic, and impossible-to-put-it-down look at the years when PC gaming—and computer gaming itself—changed forever.
In How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987–1994, author Jamie Lendino tells the full story, starting with the PC’s humble CGA and monochrome origins, moving through early ill-fated (if influential) failures such as the PCjr and Tandy 1000, and diving deep into the industry-shattering innovations in processing, graphics, sound, software, and distribution that gave the PC (and the gamers who loved it) unprecedented power and reach.
Along the way, Lendino explores more than 110 of the PC’s most entertaining and important games, revealing how they paved the way for PC supremacy while also offering players new levels of challenge and fun. From groundbreaking graphic adventures (King’s Quest, The Secret of Monkey Island), innovative role-playing games (Ultima, Might and Magic), and sprawling space combat epics (Wing Commander, X-Wing) to titanic strategy titles (Civilization, X-Com), first-person shooters (Stellar 7, Doom), wide-ranging simulations (Stunts, Falcon 3.0), and hard-driving arcade action games (Arkanoid, Raptor), you’ll discover every detail of how the PC’s games catapulted it into the computer gaming stratosphere.
Whether you were there at the time—experiencing first-hand the transition of EGA to VGA and single-voice beeps and boops to sweepingly symphonic Roland MT-32 sound, and discovering historic titles upon their release—or you’re only now discovering the wonders of the era, How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987–1994 is a fresh, dynamic, and impossible-to-put-it-down look at the years when PC gaming—and computer gaming itself—changed forever.
469 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 13, 2022
About the author
Jamie Lendino
9 books8 followersJamie Lendino is an author, editor, mix engineer, and technology enthusiast. He writes books about old computers and video games, and what it was like to experience them when new. Jamie has written for PCMag, ExtremeTech, Popular Science, Electronic Musician, Consumer Reports, Sound and Vision, and CNET. He has also appeared on CNBC, NPR’s All Things Considered, and other television and radio programs across the United States. Jamie lives with his wife, daughter, and two bonkers cats in Collingswood, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 11, 2022
A straightforward nostalgia piece briefly looking at over a hundred DOS games from Lendino's formative years. Most games from the era you'll have heard of are here, but because it is skewed specifically towards Lendino's experiences rather than impact in general, the emphases can be slightly weird—approximately a billion Ultima games each receive top billing, but Duke Nukem and The Incredible Machine are both relegated to end-of-chapter also-rans, for instance, and Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King, both platformers that gave Prince of Persia a run for its money in terms of polish and were arguably more influential in the genre (not to mention more legitimately difficult), aren't mentioned at all.
And because he is a video gamer a good number of things he says are factually nonsense (like when he claims Doom "still wasn't even 3D" because it used "raycasting") and more than a few of his opinions are shit (everything he has to say about Myst, which, of course, isn't even a DOS game). Still, it's all par for the course for this kind of book, of which there have been hundreds before.
(What was interesting to me wasn't anything Lendino deliberately included, but rather the legibility of the screenshots. They were all originally colour screenshots—mostly 256-colour VGA—but they're printed in black and white and no attempt has been made to ensure they look like anything other than black splotches, which most of them do. A surprising number of mainly the earlier games still look shockingly good, however, and while for some that may just be because they're using lighter colours, for many it's clearly a result of deliberate careful choices in luminance contrast. That may be because some studios were producing EGA and CGA assets by removing chroma from the VGA assets and doing the VGA art like that saved time, or it may be that they realised even people with VGA cards might be plugging monochrome monitors into them (that's certainly how I initially played Prince of Persia); notably, the last screenshot that looks really good, from 1994, is Little Big Adventure (apparently sold as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure in the US), a French game—the PC hardware ecosystem in continental Europe did lag in weird ways compared to the US, so that tracks.)
And because he is a video gamer a good number of things he says are factually nonsense (like when he claims Doom "still wasn't even 3D" because it used "raycasting") and more than a few of his opinions are shit (everything he has to say about Myst, which, of course, isn't even a DOS game). Still, it's all par for the course for this kind of book, of which there have been hundreds before.
(What was interesting to me wasn't anything Lendino deliberately included, but rather the legibility of the screenshots. They were all originally colour screenshots—mostly 256-colour VGA—but they're printed in black and white and no attempt has been made to ensure they look like anything other than black splotches, which most of them do. A surprising number of mainly the earlier games still look shockingly good, however, and while for some that may just be because they're using lighter colours, for many it's clearly a result of deliberate careful choices in luminance contrast. That may be because some studios were producing EGA and CGA assets by removing chroma from the VGA assets and doing the VGA art like that saved time, or it may be that they realised even people with VGA cards might be plugging monochrome monitors into them (that's certainly how I initially played Prince of Persia); notably, the last screenshot that looks really good, from 1994, is Little Big Adventure (apparently sold as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure in the US), a French game—the PC hardware ecosystem in continental Europe did lag in weird ways compared to the US, so that tracks.)
January 16, 2024
I've always been a PC gamer, even when temporarily pulled away by the odd console. The golden age for me is PC gaming in the early-to-mid 1990s, when MS-DOS was the operating system and games came in gorgeous big boxes containing enormous manuals.
This book covers exactly that period. It's a journey through the significant DOS games released from around 1987-1994. An era which I'm very familiar with and have a lot of affection for. The writing here is full of affection for the time. It presents the games in chronological order and allows us to see the progression of the technological achievements (which came thick and fast back then). The colour palettes expanded from CGA (4 colours) to EGA (16 colours) to wonderful VGA (256 colours). Sound cards became standard as we went from PC speaker beeps to simulated MIDI soundtracks to fully digitised speech. Sprites were replaced with polygons. And the CD-ROM arrived and began to blur the division between games and movies. All in a few years.
Putting a book like this together is tricky, because it's presentation will make all the difference. The choice here is made to isolate each game with its own write up, which is sensible, but also makes it feel like you're going through a checklist. The overall story of the PC is spread across these disparate articles and there isn't much attempt to flow them together. But it works here and allows for a sensible progression. The writing is both conversational and full of historical facts. A screenshot is also provided for each game and largely they are done well, but some odd choices were made in a few places to include very dark images which don't work.
I think a very good selection of games were chosen to be highlighted here. Of course I was disappointed that some some favourites of mine were hardly mentioned, but most important bases are covered. Adventure games (which were huge), RPGs, action platformers, strategy, simulations, beat-'em-ups and shooters all get a very good look in, as well as the innovative titles that blended genres together.
One thing of note is that the author seems to have had access to a lot of games in his youth. Most of us were lucky to get one or two new games a year (birthdays and Christmas), and for the rest you hoped you had a friend who owned and would let you play them. But Jamie Lendino seems to have been given or bought every single notable PC game of the period, as well as having all the best computer tech to play them on! (Seriously, his childhood/teenage PC set ups sound like a dream scenario!) Lucky for some, eh?
This book covers exactly that period. It's a journey through the significant DOS games released from around 1987-1994. An era which I'm very familiar with and have a lot of affection for. The writing here is full of affection for the time. It presents the games in chronological order and allows us to see the progression of the technological achievements (which came thick and fast back then). The colour palettes expanded from CGA (4 colours) to EGA (16 colours) to wonderful VGA (256 colours). Sound cards became standard as we went from PC speaker beeps to simulated MIDI soundtracks to fully digitised speech. Sprites were replaced with polygons. And the CD-ROM arrived and began to blur the division between games and movies. All in a few years.
Putting a book like this together is tricky, because it's presentation will make all the difference. The choice here is made to isolate each game with its own write up, which is sensible, but also makes it feel like you're going through a checklist. The overall story of the PC is spread across these disparate articles and there isn't much attempt to flow them together. But it works here and allows for a sensible progression. The writing is both conversational and full of historical facts. A screenshot is also provided for each game and largely they are done well, but some odd choices were made in a few places to include very dark images which don't work.
I think a very good selection of games were chosen to be highlighted here. Of course I was disappointed that some some favourites of mine were hardly mentioned, but most important bases are covered. Adventure games (which were huge), RPGs, action platformers, strategy, simulations, beat-'em-ups and shooters all get a very good look in, as well as the innovative titles that blended genres together.
One thing of note is that the author seems to have had access to a lot of games in his youth. Most of us were lucky to get one or two new games a year (birthdays and Christmas), and for the rest you hoped you had a friend who owned and would let you play them. But Jamie Lendino seems to have been given or bought every single notable PC game of the period, as well as having all the best computer tech to play them on! (Seriously, his childhood/teenage PC set ups sound like a dream scenario!) Lucky for some, eh?
June 4, 2022
Great factual history of the rise of pc gaming in the 80ies and 90ies. Several landmark games are being discussed, intertwined with the author’s personal memories. The book can be a bit dry when diving into the technical specs, but overall it is a great read. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews