An insider’s tour through the golden age of arcade game development.

Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games takes readers inside the video arcade industry during the pivotal decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Written by Warren Davis, the creator of Q*bert, the book draws on his work with creative teams behind some of the most popular arcade games of all time, including Joust 2, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Revolution X.

Through an engaging and often witty narrative, Davis offers a behind the scenes look at life as a designer and programmer at influential arcade manufacturers such as Gottlieb, Williams, Bally, Midway, and Premiere. Along the way, he shares stories of collaborating with many of the industry’s key figures, including Eugene Jarvis, Tim Skelly, Ed Boon, Jeff Lee, Dave Thiel, John Newcomer, George Petro, Jack Haeger, and Dennis Nordman.

The book also details Davis’ technical contributions to arcade history. At Williams, he developed and maintained the digitizing system used for photo realistic imagery in games like Mortal Kombat, Terminator 2, and NBA Jam. His work includes early live action integration in Us vs. Them, the development of new hardware and a unique rotational joystick for Exterminator, and a pseudo three dimensional display system and artist tools for Revolution X.

Combining personal stories with technical insight, the memoir offers a backstage tour of the arcade and video game industry, from the Golden Age of arcades to the innovations and creative challenges that shaped one of its most influential periods.

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