Redo From Start I: teksti englanniksi, sivuja 384, kovat kannet, kiinteä kirjanmerkki. Julkaistu 2025 (syksy).
Redo From Start I: teksti englanniksi, sivuja 448, kovat kannet, kiinteä kirjanmerkki. Julkaistu 2026 (syyskuun loppu).

Huikea aikamatka Commodore-tietokoneiden historiaan. Italialainen Andrea Pachetti on haastatellut kymmeniä ja taas kymmeniä Commodore-koneiden parissa työskennelleitä ohjelmisto- ja laitteistokehittäjiä. Paketissa kaksiosaisen kirjasarjan molemmat osat. Ensimmäisessä osassa keskustellaan amerikkalaisten ja japanilaisten legendojen kanssa, toisessa kanadalaisten ja eurooppalaisten. Lisäksi alkusanansa antavat id Softwaresta tuttu John Romero ja pelikehittäjämestari Chris Crawford. Kirjat sisältävät syväluotaavien haastattelujen lisäksi hulppeat määrät lisätietoja, kuvia ja kuvitusta.

REDO FROM START I (USA & JAPAN) AN ORAL HISTORY OF COMMODORE PIONEERS

1982–1985: How the Commodore 64 conquered the home computer industry
Numerous developers and publishers, marketers and software pioneers from the early 1980s talk about their beginnings in the gaming industry and answer detailed questions about their formative years with the C64. A total of 64 unpublished interviews are focusing on the USA and Japan (Volume 1) as well as Canada and Europe (Volume 2).

An oral history of the COMMODORE pioneers
The Italian researcher Andrea Pachetti presents his debut work. For 10 years, he invested his energy in tracking down and bringing together the visionaries, creators and publishers of this turbulent tech era. With introductory words by John Romero and Chris Crawford, both visionaries in the gaming industry, the latter being the founder of the GDC (Game Developers Conference). With lots of illustrated background information on the early computer games industry and its founding companies. Here, innovators such as Paul Norman (Aztec Challenge, Forbidden Forest), Jeff Bruette (Wizard of Wor), David Crane (Ghostbusters, Decathlon), Dane Bigham (Lode Runner, Choplifter), David S. Maynard (Worms) talk about their specific efforts that paved the way for the Commodore 64 as a gaming machine and why this period was so spectacular for a single producer in the USA and Japan.

Exclusive talks with the industry veterans
Andrew Kaluzniacki, Bruce Robinson, Chris Crawford, Chris Warling, Chuck Benton, Dane Bigham, David Crane, David Lundberg, David Martin, David S. Maynard, Douglas Carlston, Harry Briley, Hitoshi Suzuki, Jeff Bruette, Jerry W. Jewell, John Marvin, John Romero, Judy Braddick, Ken Madell, Ken Williams, Louis Ewens, Michael Crick, Michael J. Hanson, Mike Blackman, Mike Wacker, Paul Norman, Peter Filiberti, Randall Lockwood, Robert Leff, Satoshi Matsuoka, Scott C. Berk, Steve Hales, Steve Penners, Steven Sidley, Yash Terakura.

About IT engineers and game makers
We accompany entrepreneurs on their journey into an unformed publishing industry and watch spellbound as the first cassettes begin to hiss and floppy disks begin to rattle. While Commodore worked intensively on a designated software library and established a home computer edition from the arcade, countless entrepreneurs tried their luck for the first time on the fabulously engineered machines from Pennsylvania. Their iconic pixel worlds and ports have turned numerous computer games into today’s classics.

Initial C64 games & educational software
Wizard of Wor, Gorf, Solar Fox, International Tennis, Jupiter Lander, Pitfall!, Ghostbusters, Decathlon, Novablast, Whistler’s Brother, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Lode Runner, Choplifter, Frogger, BC’s Quest for Tires, Softporn Adventures, Repton, Worms?, M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, Silicon Warrior, Lunar Outpost, Caverns of Khafka, Aztec Challenge, Forbidden Forest, Beyond Forbidden Forest, FrogMaster, HesGames, Indiana Jones and the Lost Kingdom, Visible Solar System, Cosmic Life, Fort Apocalypse, DragonHawk, Fax, Escape MCP, Bets, Godzilla!, Labyrinth, Speed Racer, Slalom!, Waterline, Grave Robbers, Adventure Pack, Oils Wells, Jawbreaker and many more…

With Industry profiles and “More Bytes”
Which products were influential? What happened afterwards? How did the computer career progress? We have created a corresponding industry profile for each interview and summarised the most important works in tabular form. In addition, readers can use a navigation system within the book to jump to further information, which offers additional research and study opportunities through article links and reading tips.

Including a wealth of classic 8-bit publishers
Activision, Briley Software, Brøderbund, Comm*Data, Commodore, COSMI, Cyberia, Electronic Arts, Epyx, HAL Laboratory, Lucasfilm Games, HESware, Mindscape, Sierra On-Line, Sirius Software, Softsel, Spinnaker, Synapse, T&F Software, The Code Works, Tronix, United Microware Industries (UMI), Victory Software… and more.

Back to the origins of the Commodore 64
REDO FROM START takes us back to the time when Commodore shook the foundations of the computer industry three times over with the PET 2001, the VIC-20, and the C64, reviving the optimism of the early 1980s in exciting eyewitness accounts and photo documentation. Packed with around 800 images, as well as numerous features, profiles and accompanying journalistic contents, this comprehensive and thoroughly researched work is equally interesting for beginners and experts in computer history.

Hardback Edition
384 full-colour pages
High-quality offset print
168 × 230 mm
Pantone Metallics
C64 colour guide
135 gr/m² Amber Graphic paper
Finest print raster (120)
Made in Germany

REDO FROM START II (CANADA & EUROPE) AN ORAL HISTORY OF COMMODORE PIONEERS

1982–1985: How the COMMODORE 64 conquered the home computer industry

How did the Commodore 64 become one of the defining computers of the 1980s? Developers, publishers, marketers and software pioneers recall their beginnings in the games industry and answer detailed questions about their formative years with the C64.

Across two volumes, 64 previously unpublished interviews explore the pioneering scenes of the USA and Japan (Volume 1) and Canada and Europe (Volume 2).

People and machines behind the industry

Featuring transitional insights from Jim Sachs and John O’Neill, together with an introduction by Gordon Houghton, former editor of Zzap!64.

REDO FROM START II takes us back to a time when every new computer game still felt like an adventure and “bare-metal programming” was becoming part of a new digital culture. The book focuses on the emerging software markets of Canada and Europe, with particular emphasis on the United Kingdom, where the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC became the Commodore 64’s strongest competitors and conversions of successful US games helped drive a rapidly expanding domestic software market.

Interviews and editorial features explore the highs and lows of the computer games industry between 1982 and 1985. Pioneers including Jim Sachs (Saucer Attack!), Ken Grant (Slapshot, Battle Through Time), Andrew Braybrook (Paradroid, Uridium), Rod Cousens (Director, Quicksilva) and Jon Steele (Hunchback, Ocean) describe the challenges they faced, the ideas they pursued and the work that helped establish the Commodore 64 as an outstanding games machine.

David J. Pleasance (COMMODORE UK) adds an industry perspective with his article “We don’t sell computers, we sell dreams”, recalling the bundle strategies that combined the C64 with software and helped turn the computer into a compelling mass-market package.

IT engineers and game makers

Across Europe, the games business was taking shape at extraordinary speed. Small software houses, independent programmers and ambitious publishers entered a market in which technical ingenuity often mattered more than established structures or large development teams. Bedrooms, back rooms and modest offices became places where new ideas were turned into commercial software.

The Commodore 64 gave programmers a distinctive set of possibilities – and limitations – that encouraged experimentation with graphics, sound and increasingly sophisticated game design. At the same time, publishers learned how to package, advertise and distribute these new products to an expanding audience. What began as a loosely organised software scene rapidly developed into a professional entertainment industry, producing games and companies whose names would become closely associated with the 8-bit era.

Industry profiles and “More Bytes”

Every interview is complemented by a dedicated industry profile charting the most important games, products and stages of each contributor’s career.

Which products proved influential? What happened afterwards? And where did their careers lead?

Dedicated tables provide a concise overview, while the book’s “More Bytes” navigation system connects related features, articles and reading recommendations for anyone wishing to explore the story in greater depth.

Back to the origins of the Commodore 64

REDO FROM START returns to the years when Commodore repeatedly changed the home computer market with the PET 2001, VIC-20 and C64. Eyewitness accounts, rare images and carefully researched background features capture the optimism, experimentation and entrepreneurial spirit of the early 1980s.

With around 800 images, numerous profiles and extensive editorial content, REDO FROM START is both a visual journey through the birth of the C64 era and an in-depth reference work for enthusiasts of computer history.

448 full-colour pages
168 × 230 mm portrait format
High-quality offset printing
130 gsm Amber Graphic paper
Pantone metallic ink
C64 colour reference guide
Made in Germany