Tag Archives: Spacewar! Video Games Blast Off

Art

Beautiful Minecraft Coffee Table Book Features Stunning In Game Built Art

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Twelve years ago to the day,  back in the year 2009 – a Video game called #Minecraft was unassumingly released. The sandbox video game became the second best selling PC-based game in history and was bought by Microsoft for $2.5B usd in 2014. 

In keeping with our look back celebration, let’s check out this wonderful book for Minecraft lovers everywhere: Beautiful Minecraft ($19.95, 112 pp., 4C, hardcover).

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As they pore over the pages in this remarkable collection, Minecraft lovers of all stripes will find themselves immersed in a world of astonishing creations like floating steampunk cities, massive alien worlds, detailed classical sculptures, fantastical landscapes, and architectural marvels. The sculptures and scenes throughout the book are built from thousands to millions of blocks and represent months and even years of design work on the part of their creators.

I wanted to show how a video game can become a true artistic medium…how players can become artists.

beautiful minecraft book cover“Beautiful Minecraft is the sort of thing that fans of the game are sure to love because it brings them even closer to the game they love,” said No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock. “Since my first visit to MineCon in 2011, I’ve been inspired by the passion Minecraft fans have for something that is much more than a game. Beautiful Minecraft shows us how in game creations can be high art, and the results are nothing less than amazing.”

For the Silo, James Delaney-author, managing director of BlockWorks: a team of Minecraft artists from around the world. BlockWorks has created artwork for companies like Disney, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, and The Guardian.

Publisher: No Starch Press
Author: James Delaney
Print ISBN: 978-1-59327-765-9
Price: $19.95
Specs: 112 pp., 4C, Hardcover

You Might Also Be Interested In:

other cool books via no starch
The Game Console by Evan Amos
The Arduino Inventor’s Guide by Derek Runberg and Brian Huang
The Hardware Hacker by Andrew “bunnie” Huang

Available in fine bookstores everywhere and from http://www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or by contacting marketingdirector@thesilo.ca

About No Starch Press
No Starch Press has published the finest in geek entertainment since 1994, covering topics like LEGO, hacking, science, math, and programming for all ages. Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle topics that people care about.

Culture

Videogames As Art Exhibit At NYC’s Museum Of Moving Image

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Spacewar! Videogames Blast Off looks at the first 50 years of video games through the lens of Spacewar!, the first digital video game, its development, and the culture from which it sprang. In addition to a model of the original PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) computer running a playable simulation of Spacewar!, the exhibition presents 20 playable video games ranging in platform (arcade, console, handheld, PC), genre (shooters, platformers, action, arcade) and developer (commercial, independent, experimental). From Computer Space to Portal, the exhibition draws connections and contrasts between these games and Spacewar!, signaling the latter’s central place in the development of video games as a cultural form.

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Spacewar! was created by a group of students and researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1961, conceived of as a demonstration for the new Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1 computer. The game premiered at the 1962 Science Open House at MIT, and was later shared and modified at computer labs around the United States. This “computer toy” influenced untold technological advances and gave rise to the cultural phenomenon now known as video games. Among other things, Spacewar! set the template for the game development industry and its relationship to technology, established shooting as a core game mechanic, and inspired space and science fiction themes for future games.

 

This exhibition was organized by guest curator John Sharp.

Full game list (subject to change):
Spacewar! (1961–62), PDP-1 model
Computer Space (1971), arcade
Space Wars (1977), arcade
Space Invaders(1978), arcade
Asteroids (1979), arcade
Battlezone (1980), arcade
Defender (1980), arcade
Missile Command (1980), arcade
Tempest (1981), arcade
Planet Zeon (1982), Tomytronic
Yars’ Revenge (1982), Atari Video Computer System
Star Wars (1983), arcade
Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991), Game Boy
Galaxy Force II (1988), arcade
Galaga ‘91 (1991), Game Gear
Star Fox (1993), Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Vertical Force (1995), Virtual Boy
Portal (2007), PS3
Osmos (2009), iPad
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Wii
Child of Eden (2011), Xbox 360

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Each paid visitor will receive four complimentary arcade tokens (maximum ten per party). Additional tokens may be purchased in the gallery. Recommended for ages 8+. Support for Spacewar! Video Games Blast Off was provided by the Entertainment Software Association. Thanks to moving image for this article. http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2012/12/15/detail/spacewar-video-games-blast-off/

Supplemental– December 1972 Rolling Stone article about Spacewar! and the then burgeoning field of personal computers.

Post featured image from Guild Wars 2 courtesy of wallpaperhi.com Is this art? The concept behind computer wallpaper certainly has an artistic focus. Many users view their desktops throughout the day and using stills from a videogame reminds me of the 19th century practice of scrapbooking. When today’s users ‘cut and paste’ images that they choose and arrange and modify, these stills become a decorative treatment.  CP

 

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