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Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1985-2001
The long-awaited sequel to Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984,
the first book to illustrate the videogame phenomenon...
In the years since the original Supercade was first published, the next generation of gamers have come of age. Raised in the aftermath of the crash – the grand arcade palaces of the early 80s replaced by battered Neo Geo cabinets in laundromats and the few remaining game parlors begging for play – they are the children of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the home console that saved the US game industry after Atari effectively destroyed it.
Over the past two decades they have expressed an intense love for the games of their youth including Super Mario, Space Harrier, and Street Fighter.
This volume chronicles the next era of gaming history, beginning with the NES and including the release of the Sega Master System, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Amiga, Game Boy, Atari Jaguar, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Xbox and more, as well as the companies, creators, and technologies that drove us into the digital future.
Earnestly written and designed by author and game historian Van Burnham, the second book is even more comprehensive than the first – featuring over 500 full-color pages – plus interviews with legendary game developers like Eugene Jarvis, John Romero, and Tim Schafer, as well as premium print upgrades including metallic inks, gatefold inserts, and so much more.
Supercade was conceived to pay tribute to the technology, games, and visionaries who created one of the most influential mediums in the history of entertainment – one that profoundly shaped the modern technological landscape, and inspired generations of gamers.
the first book to illustrate the videogame phenomenon...
In the years since the original Supercade was first published, the next generation of gamers have come of age. Raised in the aftermath of the crash – the grand arcade palaces of the early 80s replaced by battered Neo Geo cabinets in laundromats and the few remaining game parlors begging for play – they are the children of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the home console that saved the US game industry after Atari effectively destroyed it.
Over the past two decades they have expressed an intense love for the games of their youth including Super Mario, Space Harrier, and Street Fighter.
This volume chronicles the next era of gaming history, beginning with the NES and including the release of the Sega Master System, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Amiga, Game Boy, Atari Jaguar, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Xbox and more, as well as the companies, creators, and technologies that drove us into the digital future.
Earnestly written and designed by author and game historian Van Burnham, the second book is even more comprehensive than the first – featuring over 500 full-color pages – plus interviews with legendary game developers like Eugene Jarvis, John Romero, and Tim Schafer, as well as premium print upgrades including metallic inks, gatefold inserts, and so much more.
Supercade was conceived to pay tribute to the technology, games, and visionaries who created one of the most influential mediums in the history of entertainment – one that profoundly shaped the modern technological landscape, and inspired generations of gamers.
- GenresVideo Games
528 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 28, 2023
4 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Van Burnham
3 books3 followersVan's MySpace page can be found at http://www.myspace.com/vanburnham. She is a former contributor to Wired magazine, lives in Los Angeles, and has a large arcade collection.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 21, 2023
This book gives a comprehensive history of the development of videogames in the 1980s and 90s. I love that this book begins with a quote from George Bernard Shaw, "We don't stop playing because we grow old... we grow old because we stop playing."
The chapters are separated by year, going through each major game that was released that year. We get to learn about Super Mario Bros., Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Prince of Persia, Legend of Zelda, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I remember playing some of these games! Ah, those were simpler times. I lost count of how many times I "died from dysentery." The nostalgia is strong with this book!
Every page in this book is so colorful and full of beautiful photos and bright graphics. There is even a cool unfolding timeline of the most popular games in history! The whole design of this book is absolutely brilliant and readable. The book is huge and heavy with thick glossy paper, and it features hundreds and hundreds of games.
I like that the author includes little anecdotes about their own personal experiences playing these games in the 1980s and 1990s, and how much it meant to them and inspired them.
From the popular games to the flops, we get to journey through time and relive the fun through this book! They may not have had the fancy graphics and sound effects of games today, but those games had great stories and imaginative designs that kept us entertained for hours. Decades later, there's just nothing to compare with classic Tetris.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
The chapters are separated by year, going through each major game that was released that year. We get to learn about Super Mario Bros., Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Prince of Persia, Legend of Zelda, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I remember playing some of these games! Ah, those were simpler times. I lost count of how many times I "died from dysentery." The nostalgia is strong with this book!
Every page in this book is so colorful and full of beautiful photos and bright graphics. There is even a cool unfolding timeline of the most popular games in history! The whole design of this book is absolutely brilliant and readable. The book is huge and heavy with thick glossy paper, and it features hundreds and hundreds of games.
I like that the author includes little anecdotes about their own personal experiences playing these games in the 1980s and 1990s, and how much it meant to them and inspired them.
From the popular games to the flops, we get to journey through time and relive the fun through this book! They may not have had the fancy graphics and sound effects of games today, but those games had great stories and imaginative designs that kept us entertained for hours. Decades later, there's just nothing to compare with classic Tetris.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
April 18, 2024
A testament to the variety and quality of the video games of my youth…
Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1985-2001 by Van Burnham is a massive coffee table book covering the transition of video games both towards higher end arcade experiences but also the rise of home consoles. It’s a sequel to a book that covered video games of the 70s and early 80s.
It would be impossible to do a completely thorough review of these 16 years and properly hikight all the major games…without doing a book that’s potentially a thousand pages or more. Instead, the authors have chosen to give hundreds of games a one page or half page spread (using game art that varies in relevance to the game in question) to talk about it and sometimes cover why it’s pivotal…or just interesting.
Special passages are dedicated to video game hardware from the popular such as NES or PlayStation to the lesser known like Virtual Boy as well as a host of handheld technology. Large spreads of games associated with the systems are also included.
The book goes year by year…covering various games of note from those years…usually with a paragraph or two dedicated to describing the game. Appreciate the full pixels of some of these old games (assuming it’s not production art used), while immersing yourself in game history.
While it likely won’t tell you anything new about the games you love, you might find yourself being reminded about games that have been buried in the back of your minds. Even better, you may learn about something new…a potential treasure of a game that wasn’t previously on your radar.
Worth checking out for my fellow video game historians…
Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1985-2001 by Van Burnham is a massive coffee table book covering the transition of video games both towards higher end arcade experiences but also the rise of home consoles. It’s a sequel to a book that covered video games of the 70s and early 80s.
It would be impossible to do a completely thorough review of these 16 years and properly hikight all the major games…without doing a book that’s potentially a thousand pages or more. Instead, the authors have chosen to give hundreds of games a one page or half page spread (using game art that varies in relevance to the game in question) to talk about it and sometimes cover why it’s pivotal…or just interesting.
Special passages are dedicated to video game hardware from the popular such as NES or PlayStation to the lesser known like Virtual Boy as well as a host of handheld technology. Large spreads of games associated with the systems are also included.
The book goes year by year…covering various games of note from those years…usually with a paragraph or two dedicated to describing the game. Appreciate the full pixels of some of these old games (assuming it’s not production art used), while immersing yourself in game history.
While it likely won’t tell you anything new about the games you love, you might find yourself being reminded about games that have been buried in the back of your minds. Even better, you may learn about something new…a potential treasure of a game that wasn’t previously on your radar.
Worth checking out for my fellow video game historians…
September 23, 2023
Van's first Supercade book (Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984) was right up my alley as it started from the beginning of video game history and ended right in the middle of the arcade boom. Admittedly, I am not as familiar with the games in this sequel book as I became an adult and have had less and less time for gaming so that's probably the only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars. But it's still a great read as it covers the period in which the industry shifted out of the arcade (mostly everywhere except Japan) and into consoles/PCs. There are still several great games I've played since then which are thankfully covered here (Half-Life, Grim Fandango, and ICO to name a few), and the words and images display just as much reverence for the games they had in the first book.
November 9, 2025
I'm pretty conflicted about this book. I am one of the Kickstarter backers, so I received the updates about what was going on behind the scenes. This is more of a coffee table book that I read through like a regular book. I was also on the road for a while and had to put this one down due to its size. The writing got a little dry, and I would have liked more context for a lot of things. Why were certain games so influential or important? It would say they were important, but not always why. More context with societal pressures influencing gaming trends. It wasn't until the end that there were many comparisons between cultural differences between Japanese and Western gaming. I put that lack of breadth more on the coffee table nature of this book. Lots of big beautiful pictures and some text. I would love to see the Supercade collection though!
January 11, 2025
A fitting follow up to the first book with coverage of the timeline I was most invested in. Lots of pictures , some oddly chosen and looks at so many classic games, even if anecdotally. A few errors found (reference to the n64 only having two controller ports) but overall a great piece of work. There were a few odd omissions (sotn) but the choices were solid. I wish some of the photos were more evocative of the games themselves but most were so it’s a minor complaint. I’d also liked to have seen more pictures of arcades, but that’s just my nostalgia. Well worth getting !
March 28, 2023
This is a beautiful book on the history of video games however it’s better as a visual novel than an actual history of the genre. Not as much text as I would expect from this and it’s a bit big and floppy so more of a coffee table book than something you can sit and flip through easily.
Overall, it’s nice to look at but not very user-friendly when it comes to actually reading.
Overall, it’s nice to look at but not very user-friendly when it comes to actually reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews