It was very interesting meeting with three of the publishers we either have been working with or will be working with on books. The most sobering aspect was how the behind-the-scenes machinations work in the book industry, which is to say it's a tough business. One of the aspects that was pointed out to us was the value of people posting reviews on Amazon.com (or any regional Amazon). In short, the more reviews - good or bad - the better for a book, as the higher it shows up in searches and the more likely it's to be paired with another book in the auto-recommendations. So, as usual, we're asking for your help. If you want to see more books like this, please be so kind as to let your thoughts be known on Vintage Games and write a review on the relevant Amazon site. Thanks, everyone!

Our latest book, "Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time", is now available from retailers worldwide. "Vintage Games" is a full color, illustrated book, that explores the greatest and most influential videogames of all time, including Super Mario Bros., Grand Theft Auto III, Doom, The Sims, and many more. While each chapter's focus revolves around the game title in question, precursors, clones, sequels, gameplay and mechanics, and the genre itself are discussed, along with plenty of quotes, references and amazing full color photos.

The book is available from fine retailers everywhere, including Amazon.com. You can check out either Amazon.com or the book's main page for more information, which also contains a full table of contents, links to the online bonus chapters and images not found in the book. Not counting what's contained in the online bonus chapters, there are presently 123 bonus images (and captions) not available anywhere else!

Let us know in the comments of any "Vintage Games" sightings, particularly in regards to reviews. Thanks, everyone!

Our publisher, Focal Press, which is part of Elsevier, is presently running a contest for you to win a free copy of our book, "Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time", as well as a $25 gift card. All you have to do is fill out their short survey on which game YOU think is the most influential, here.

Let us know what you put down and if you win!

Gamasutra has released the third in a series of nine bonus chapters not included in our book, "Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time". The third entry is "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: Videogame Ollies, Grabs and Grinds".

Let us know what you think!

I just got my big box of Vintage Games books in today! I'm guessing this means that Amazon will be shipping orders very soon, perhaps as early as this week.

I can't wait to read your reviews of our project on Amazon!

Do I have some big news for you! Your very own Matt and Bill are set to write and produce a feature film--a documentary based on Vintage Games, among others! We're still working out the ins and outs, but you're basically looking at 90 minutes of gaming goodness wrapped around a historical narrative. It's going to be most excellent!

Well, after I put a considerable amount of work into getting all of this stuff uploaded and captioned on and off for the past month or so, I'm happy to say that the bonus images for our book, Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time, are now available. That's 117 images - just like the nine bonus chapters and their images - not found in the full color book (we reserve the right to add more images in the future). You can enjoy the images and their captions now or wait for the full experience after your copy of the book arrives. You did order already, right? ;-)

Go to the book's official page at http://www.armchairarcade.com/vintagegames and click on "BONUS IMAGES" for a selectable chapter-by-chapter listing. The next major update will come in early March after Gamasutra posts bonus chapter number three of nine, that one on "Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (1999): Videogame Ollies, Grabs and Grinds", followed by the book's actual worldwide release later that month. Enjoy and comments are always welcome!

Gamasutra has released the second in a series of nine bonus chapters not included in our book, "Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time". The second entry is "Pinball Construction Set: Launching Millions of Creative Possibilities". Let us know what you think!

Matt and I received two of the three available advance copies of our book, Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time, which is due out the end of March. For those who are not familiar with advance copies, these are exactly the same as the book anyone who purchases it will receive, it's just that we got one of the first copies off the production line. The verdict? FANTASTIC! Matt concurs. The book is simply beautiful, with a wonderful matte finish to the cover and colors that pop throughout its glossy pages. I took a few casual photos, which you'll see after the jump. Be sure to check out the book's main page for more information and order early, because who knows how long the $23.07 pre-order price will last, as it retails for $34.95. As a fellow videogame enthusiast - even though I co-wrote the thing - I can assure you it's well worth it.