All copyrights and trademarks of the character images used belong to their respective owners. They are not being sold. This book is not a licensed product and I do not claim ownership over the characters used in this book. There are too many to name them all, but without their creators and the inspiration that they generated this book would not exist.

This is the ABCs for the child of the children raised on Atari and Nintendo. The kid who grew up at the arcade, putting quarters in machines to play games hour after hour now has to teach his little one how to read. Anyone who just loves old games and the beautiful simplicity that they represent might also love this. I was one of those arcade kids. When I started studying design, I found a new appreciation for how simple shapes can become icons for a character or monster. This book has been a few years in the making. I am very happy to finally share it with the world. I hope it allows those of us from one era to share our joy with these games with the next.

John Freeborn

Shall we learn our ABCs?

A is for Asteroids

B is for Banana

C is for Cartridge

D is for Dragon

E is for Extra-Terrestrial

F is for Frog

G is for Gradius

H is for Heart

I is for Intellivision

J is for Joust

K is for Kangaroo

L is for Lasso

M is for Mike Tyson

N is for Naked

O is for Olympics

P is for Pipes

Q is for Quarter

R is for Race Car

S is for Scorpion

T is for Tank

U is for Umbrella

V is for Vampire

W is for Wanted

X is for Xylophone

Y is for Yo-Yo

Z is for Zoo

31

Thanks toAmy S. Kauffman

Souris Hong

Eric Smith

Jason Rundle

and everyone else

who saw the many versions of this book.

I know it got to be a little annoying

and you wondered when I might,

if ever, finish.

Index

A (Asteroids)AsteroidsArcadeAtari1979

B (Banana)Ms. Pac ManArcadeMidway/Namco1982

C (Cartridge)Circus AtariAtari 2600Originally by Exidy, 19771980

D (Dragon)AdventureAtari 2600Atari1979

E (Extra-Terrestrial)E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialAtari 2600Atari1982

F (Frog)FroggerArcadeKonami1981

G (Gradius)GradiusNintendo Entertainment System (NES)Konami1985

H (Heart Container)The Legend of ZeldaNESNintendo1986

(Page, Game, Platform, Publisher, Year)

I (Invellivision)Ice TrekIntellivisionImagic1983

Duck HuntNESNintendo1985

J (Joust)JoustArcadeWilliams Electronics1982

K (Kangaroo)KangarooArcadeAtari1982

L (Lasso)Adobe PhotoshopMacintoshAdobe Systems1988

M (Mike Tyson)Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!NESNintendo1987

N (Naked)RampageArcadeBally/Midway1986

O (Olymipics)Summer GamesCommodore 64Epyx1984

P (Pipes)Super Mario Bros.NESNintendo1985

Q (Quarter)Q*BertArcadeGottlieb1982

R (Race Car)Pole PositionArcadeNamco1982

S (Scorpion)Pitfall!ArcadeActivision1982

T (Tank)CombatAtari 2600Atari1977

U (Umbrella)Donkey KongArcadeNintendo1981

V (Vampire)CastlevaniaNESKonami1986

W (Wanted Poster)Hogan’s AlleyNESNintendo1984

X (Xylophone)Donkey Kong’s Fun With Music (never released)

MappyArcadeNamco1983

Y (Yo-Yo)The Goonies IINESKonami1987

Z (Zoo)Can you name them all?