The design philosophy behind arcade gaming’s most relentless classics.

This book examines the influential work of Eugene Jarvis, the designer behind some of the most successful and enduring arcade games, including Defender, Robotron: 2084, NARC, Smash TV, and Cruis’n USA, among others.

Spanning multiple decades and genres, Jarvis’ games offer a series of design lessons on how coin operated machines could survive and thrive even as arcades declined across the American landscape. His work highlights the lasting appeal of intense gameplay challenges, provocative subject matter, larger than life presentation, and controls that remained immediately accessible to players.

Drawing on multiple interviews with Jarvis and his collaborators, along with scholarly analysis of game design, historical industry data, and archival documents, the book argues that Jarvis earned his reputation as the “King of the Arcade.” It makes the case that his games delivered experiences uniquely suited to the arcade environment, ones that could not be fully replicated on home consoles or personal computers.

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