For all you frequent fliers out there, you might have noticed an article in the March 2011 issue of Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine entitled, Play it Again, Man!. It was written several months back (thank you, print lead time) by Jennifer Nalewicki under advisement from yours truly and my frequent partner-in-crime, Matt Barton. Besides mentioning us and Armchair Arcade, you'll also see a nod to our book, Vintage Games, in the header. While it's not a long piece, it's nice to see something targeted to mainstream audiences like Spirit Magazine is featuring positive videogame content. Check out the print version on your next Southwest Airlines flight or click here for the PDF or here for the decidedly less fun text-only version.

Great news! Two of our latest books, Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time, and Wii Fitness for Dummies (aka, Fitness on the Wii for Dummies), are now on sale at Amazon for $15.45 and $16.49, respectively. The Kindle versions are only $13.91 and $9.99, respectively. Those really are great deals, so if you haven't already picked up your copies, now is a great time to do so. Also, don't forget to leave a review on Amazon as well, as it really helps a book get additional exposure. Thanks for the support and look out for more books from us soon!

As Google often likes to do, today they've placed the focus on an important anniversary, The 30th Anniversary of PAC-MAN. Naturally, Pac-Man is one of a handful of pop culture icons that encapsulates what many people think of when they think of the word "videogames". Heck, even when people are shown playing videogames in commercials, you'll STILL hear 30 year old Pac-Man sound effects coming from their modern day handheld or console! As you no doubt know, I wrote a colorful book called Vintage Games with Matt Barton not too long ago, and sure enough, Chapter 13, entitled "Pac-Man (1980): Japanese Gumption, American Consumption" features the pie guy himself and the games that incredible title influenced. So, be sure to re-read the chapter in your copy of the book as we celebrate this important videogame milestone - Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time (2009), by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton, through Focal Press.

NOTE: In case you haven't noticed, you can go to Google's Home Page and try their first ever interactive doodle. Yep, you can play a nifty variation of Pac-Man right in your browser (just "Insert Coin" once for one player, or twice for a two player game with Ms. Pac-Man). Nice job, Google!

There's an interview up at Gnome's Lair called Ten Gnomish Questions, an interview with Matt Barton. I had a great time answering these questions; enjoy. I've posted a few additional thoughts below.

About a month or so back, Steven Savage interviewed the Armchair Arcade team for his Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery, Website. The full interview is now posted on Savage's site, and can be viewed here. Let us know what you think as you delve further into the depths of the minds behind Armchair Arcade (you've been warned!). While there, be sure to check out Savage's book.

Just a quick note that our book, Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time, is part of Amazon's "Game On: Featured Game Design Titles" promotion, as seen here. The best part? This means that you can presently get it for a low, low price of - as of this writing - just $14.56! Be sure to check it out. Also, be sure to check out a different, but similarly valuable promotion for Wii Fitness for Dummies, including a $5 mail-in rebate!

Our book, Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time, has been spotted on Italian TV. Claudio Todeschini and Stefano Gaburri, who translated our work to Italian, were featured on a Rai.TV program. Check out their original blog post about it, then check out the video. It's a great feature on them and the book (even for those of us who don't speak Italian) and it starts at approximately the 06:25 mark. Cool stuff! (Matt and I should be receiving our copies of the Italian edition any day now as well)

The official Website.

We've been getting asked quite a bit lately to reveal more information about our forthcoming feature film documentary, so I thought I would share the current promotional description making the rounds. While we're still tweaking things here and there, what follows should be pretty close to the release version of the film:

Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, is a feature film documentary that celebrates the amazing story of videogames, focusing on the industry's most decisive moments throughout its history. Comprehensive in scope, the film covers games from all genres and platforms, from the late 1950s into modern times. Featuring interviews with industry greats such as John Romero (Doom), David Crane (Pitfall!), Steve Meretzky (Planetfall), Todd Howard (Fallout 3), and John Smedley (EverQuest) - plus many others - Gameplay offers an in-depth look at the industry that has redefined popular entertainment. The film explores the impact of mega-hits such as Atari's Pong, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, as well as the role played by revolutionary technologies like the CD-ROM and the Internet. Loaded with high-quality clips from hundreds of vintage and modern games, Gameplay is a film no gamer can resist.

The film is being written and produced for Lux Digital Pictures by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton, authors of Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time (Focal Press, 2009), Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games (A.K. Peters, 2008), and Wii Fitness for Dummies (Wiley, 2010). Matt and Bill are also the founders of Armchair Arcade, recognized by PC Magazine as one if its Top 100 Websites. Lux Digital Pictures has produced several recent, critically acclaimed documentaries, including Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue and American Grindhouse, which covers the history of horror and exploitation films, respectively. While Gameplay naturally touches upon controversial topics such as violence and sex in games, the overall tone is overwhelmingly positive. Lifelong, passionate gamers themselves, Barton and Loguidice are committed to ensuring accuracy, fairness, and integrity in all the topics covered in the film.