My Appearance on Podcast Rock City - A KISS Podcast

I had a blast the other night appearing on a KISS podcast called Podcast Rock City. We talked about my background as a KISS fan, Encyclopedia of KISS, how I got into writing, and much more. You can listen HERE.

Classic Home Video Games 10th Anniversary Press Release

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brett Weiss

brettw105@sbcglobal.net

10^th Anniversary of the “Classic Home Video Games” book series.

June 7, 2017

This summer marks the 10th anniversary of the critically acclaimed "Classic Home Video Games" series, written by longtime gamer and author Brett Weiss.

“I can’t believe it’s already been a decade,” Weiss said, reflecting on his magnum opus. “There were very few books on retro gaming at the time. Now you could fill four or five tall bookshelves.”

The original hardcover version of Classic Home Video Games: 1972-1984 was published in July of 2007, around the time such YouTubers as The Angry Video Game Nerd were getting popular, and shortly after the debut of the Wii Virtual Console, which brought old video games into modern gamers’ homes.

A key publication in the retro gaming boom of the last decade, Classic Home Video Games: 1972-1984 was the first video game book published by McFarland (which now has an entire line of video game books), and it was the first book in the history of publishing to fully catalog and describe every U.S. release for such consoles as the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and Vectrex.

 

The "Classic Home Video Games" series, which was awarded several official Twin Galaxies Trading Cards, also features the first books to catalog and describe every game for the NES, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Atari 7800, Adventure Vision, APF MP1000, Astrocade, Fairchild Channel F, MicroVision, Odyssey, RCA Studio II, and Telstar Arcade.

What the experts have said about Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984:

“a labor of love...comprehensive...recommended” --Library Journal

“thoroughly researched” --Game Informer

“A must-read...both fun and informative, a highly recommended purchase.” --Video Game Collector

“Weiss's deep familiarity with his chosen subject matter is an asset of the text, and as a writer he conveys information clearly and without pretension...Weiss's reviews of obscure games make the book a treasure...impressive and fun book...valuable...the breadth of coverage here is astounding...a fun read and a nostalgic trip supreme...undeniably smart, historically valuable and wide-ranging in coverage.” --GameCulture Journal

Author Brett Weiss is available for interviews:

817-247-0500

brettw105@sbcglobal.net

brettweisswords.com

@BrettWeissCHVG

Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984 - 10th Anniversary

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the "Classic Home Video Games" series. The original hardcover version of Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984 was published July 6, 2007. It was the first video game book published by McFarland (which now has an entire line of video game books), and it was the first book to fully catalog and describe every U.S. release for such consoles as the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and Vectrex. You can find links to excerpts from the book HERE. And order it HERE.

The series also features the first books to catalog and describe every game for the NES, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Atari 7800, Adventure Vision, APF MP1000, Astrocade, Fairchild Channel F, MicroVision, Odyssey, RCA Studio II, and Telstar Arcade. Check out excerpts from several of my books HERE.

New ColecoVisions Podcast - Our Favorite ColecoVision Arcade Ports

In the new ColecoVisions podcast, Willie Culver, John "Gamester81" Lester and myself have a lot of fun discussing our favorite arcade ports for the ColecoVision, plus a number of other topics, including TheGameCon in Galveston. You can listen HERE.

My Interview with Collected Comics Co-Owner Ron Killingsworth

I’ve known Collected Comics (several Dallas/Fort Worth locations) co-owner Ron Killingsworth since the 1980s, when he owned Heroes Workshop, which had stores in Fort Worth and the Mid-Cities area. When I was co-owner of Fantastic Comics during the early 1990s, we were friendly competitors, more concerned with advancing interest in the art form than stealing one another’s customers. A highlight was when our stores were selected as vendors for the exclusive Marvel Mega Tour in Dallas in 1993. The night before this big event, we had dinner with  and . I still run into Ron from time to time at various comic book conventions around Dallas/Fort Worth, and I’m proud to call him a friend. He’s a nice guy and a great ambassador for the industry. I caught up with Ron recently for a story I’m working on for K Magazine. Here’s that interview, uncut.  

BRETT WEISS: What are some of the differences between comic book retailing during the 1980s, 1990s and now?

RON KILLINGSWORTH: I think the main difference is in technology. Not just in the way a store operates now, but also with the internet, there is more of a sense of community in the industry, both on the retailing and the consumer sides. On the operations side, all of the manual inventory and cycling processes are now handled more efficiently by retail POS systems. On the consumer side, customers can keep up with industry news, new releases, reviews and all manner of information on a near instantaneous basis. Of course, with this instant knowledge it sometimes becomes more difficult for publishers to surprise readers in their storylines.

WEISS: Geek culture is now mainstream. How did this happen?

KILLINGSWORTH: Hollywood. Between all of the profitable and record setting movies, top TV shows such as , Arrow, Agents of Shield and , comics are reaching a larger audience than ever. The industry has also helped, with events such as Free Comic Book Day that reaches out and draws new people into the art form. Conventions are seeing record attendance numbers.

WEISS: Despite the fact that geek culture is now mainstream, comic books sold a lot better years ago when they were less socially acceptable. Why is this so?

KILLINGSWORTH: A couple of different thoughts come to mind here.  The first is that there are probably more readers now, and fewer collectors and speculators.  Collectors - back in the 80s and 90s, I had customers that would buy  month in and month out even though they weren’t reading it just so they could keep a complete run.  Speculators--during the '90s especially, people were buying multiple copies of current comics as “investments.” I remember selling 100 copies of the  to one person, and many bought 2-10 copies of all first issues.  I think with the additional mediums, TV, movies, games, etc, people are able to get their geek fix in different ways, it doesnt have to be just comics anymore.

WEISS: What is the comic book culture like in Keller?

KILLINGSWORTH: Keller is an amazing area full of young families and enthusiastic comics and pop culture fans. The comic book business in Keller is incredible. We have so many folks that love comics, science fiction, horror, and all things pop culture that it’s a pleasure to be here for them. I truly think our customers appreciate that we offer them a well-organized, clean, friendly store with a very knowledgeable staff in Michael, John and Brent—those guys know their comics, both old and new. We have a wonderful clientele for back-issue comics and have worked very hard to bring in a much larger selection of older comics for them. We have a very nice group that come in to participate in our many weekly Magic the Gathering gaming events in our dedicated event space. Gaming is a social event, and we are always teaching new people how to play thanks to our “in-house” gaming experts, Camden & Zoe. The Keller area in simply amazing, the customers are great and the area just keeps on growing. We are excited to be here and an active part of the community.

Check out Collected's WEBSITE. 

Pac-Man Champion Matthew Laborteaux of Little House on the Prairie Fame

Matthew Laborteaux, who played Albert Ingalls on , was a champion during the early 1980s! He was also a big fan!

Click on the images to read the articles:

The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987 - NOW ON KINDLE

My most popular book, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987, is now available via Amazon Kindle, which is a FREE app on your smart phone, tablet or computer. You can "look inside" the digital version of the book on Amazon HERE. Just follow the link and then click on the cover. Thanks for reading! (The book lists the games alphabetically.)