{"product_id":"homebrew-gaming-and-the-beginnings-melanie-swalwell-9780262044776","title":"Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe overlooked history of an early appropriation of digital technology: the creation of games though coding and hardware hacking by microcomputer users.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, low-end microcomputers offered many users their first taste of computing. A major use of these inexpensive 8-bit machines--including the TRS System 80s and the Sinclair, Atari, Microbee, and Commodore ranges--was the development of homebrew games. Users with often self-taught programming skills devised the graphics, sound, and coding for their self-created games. In this book, Melanie Swalwell offers a history of this era of homebrew game development, arguing that it constitutes a significant instance of the early appropriation of digital computing technology. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Drawing on interviews and extensive archival research on homebrew creators in 1980s Australia and New Zealand, Swalwell explores the creation of games on microcomputers as a particular mode of everyday engagement with new technology. She discusses the public discourses surrounding microcomputers and programming by home coders; user practices; the development of game creators' ideas, with the game Donut Dilemma as a case study; the widely practiced art of hardware hacking; and the influence of 8-bit aesthetics and gameplay on the contemporary game industry. With Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality, Swalwell reclaims a lost chapter in video game history, connecting it to the rich cultural and media theory around everyday life and to critical perspectives on user-generated content.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Melanie Swalwell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262044773\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262044776\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/17\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.00d","brand":"Melanie Swalwell","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43986600067327,"sku":"9780262044776","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_faa532dc-f79c-4569-bc27-cc13191190f6.jpg?v=1683284312","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/homebrew-gaming-and-the-beginnings-melanie-swalwell-9780262044776","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}