Trial of the Space Invaders
The Case that Changed Video Games
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Trial of the Space Invaders
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Narrated by:
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By:
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Simon Parkin
The case contested the earliest origins of video games. According to the patents, Ralph Baer, a refugee from Nazi Germany and subsequent employee of an American defence contractor, was the sole inventor of the 1966 'Television Gaming Display' from which an entire industry sprang. But in the early 1960s, on the other side of the country, brilliant young engineers at Stanford were caught up in galactic battle, fighting fierce bouts of a thrilling new game called Spacewar...
For Nintendo, whose Super Mario Bros. were sweeping the world, the patents couldn't stand. They were crippling innovation in a rapidly expanding industry and costing them millions; moreover they had evidence to suggest the patents had been fraudulently obtained. This is the case that defined modern gaming but its outcome has remained swathed in mystery. In Trial of the Space Invaders, Simon Parkin takes us on a thrilling journey from the birth of a new artform to its turning point, exposing a deal that reshaped our culture.
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Critic reviews
PRAISE FOR THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN OF LENINGRAD
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the Royal Society Science Book Prize
'An astonishing story brilliantly told . . . It is as moving as it is gripping to read'
Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Endgame 1944
'A richly researched and meticulously observed account of a little-explored corner of 20th-century history'
Guardian
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the Royal Society Science Book Prize
'An astonishing story brilliantly told . . . It is as moving as it is gripping to read'
Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Endgame 1944
'A richly researched and meticulously observed account of a little-explored corner of 20th-century history'
Guardian
PRAISE FOR THE ISLAND OF EXTRAORDINARY CAPTIVES:
Winner of the Wingate Prize
'Vivid and moving'
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Eye-opening, insightful and brilliantly written'
Daily Mirror
Winner of the Wingate Prize
'Vivid and moving'
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Eye-opening, insightful and brilliantly written'
Daily Mirror
No reviews yet