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Entertainment In The Cyber Zone
Entertainment In The Cyber Zone:
Exploring
The Interactive Universe Of Multimedia
by Chris McGowan & Jim McCullaugh
Random House (1995)
out of print: availabile used (also see www.alibris.com)
Entertainment in the Cyber Zone is the first comprehensive, consumer-oriented guide to multimedia software. Written with a light touch--and packed with fascinating peeks behind-the-scenes--this book explains multimedia, CD-ROM, and virtual reality in a lively and entertaining way. --book description
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"You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest." A path leads away from the building to Day of the Tentacle, Ultima, Lands of Lore, Dark Seed and King's Quest. The first two sentences are from William Crowther's Adventure, the first text adventure, while the last line might describe the trajectory of a new book called Entertainment in the Cyber Zone: Exploring the Interactive Universe of Multimedia. Here, for the first time, is the history of PCs, text adventures, RPG games, video games, interactive narrative, CD-ROM and multimedia, all in one volume. There have been other books published recently that touch on one or more of these topics (such as Understanding Hypermedia, The Cyberspace Lexicon, and The Magic of Interactive Entertainment). But Cyber Zone ties it all together in one impressively comprehensive volume, with a staggering number of interviews with gaming and multimedia gurus.
This is not an overly technical book, and it does not include an accompanying CD or tips for programmers. But it should be of interest to both consumers and developers, as it has hundreds of CD-ROM reviews (of all types), many great anecdotes, and extensive quotes from people like Rand and Robyn Miller (Myst), Graeme Devine and Rob Landeros (The 7th Guest), Roberta Williams (Sierra Online), Joel Berez (Activision), Michelle Em (Return to Zork), Pepe Moreno (Hell Cab), Vince Lee (Rebel Assault), and Drew Huffman (Iron Helix), plus music-film-book celebrities such as James Cameron (the Terminator movies), Terry Gilliam (The Fisher King, Brazil), Ray Manzarek (the Doors), Bruce Sterling (cyberpunk author & critic), Arthur C. Clarke (2001) and Todd Rundgren. An especially entertaining part of the book is that many developers reveal their favorite CD-ROMs!
The book is well-organized, and each chapter delves into the history of a particular genre. "Action Games" takes us on a journey from Spacewar and Pong to Sonic and Rebel Assault, while "The Movie-Game Continuum" moves from interactive theater and fiction to landmark CD-ROMs such as Spaceship Warlock and Myst. The "Mind Games" chapter is especially noteworthy, as it has a long section on the history of text adventures and RPGs. It begins with Crowther's Adventure, jumps to Donald Woods (who expanded the game, which then became known as The Crowther and Woods Adventure or The Original Adventure), travels to Infocom's Zork and Sierra's Mystery House, and leaps from computer floppy-disk quests to today's adventure CD-ROMs such as Return to Zork.
The book doesn't have exhaustive coverage of every game category, but it highlights many of the best and covers many different multimedia categories, including "The Movie-Game Continuum," "Electronic Books," "Multimedia for Children," "Expanded Movies," and "Music and Multimedia." It obviously can't include everything in any one area, but it gives a fascinating overview that sheds light on many hitherto invisible connections between people, companies, and technology. My favorite sections were the interviews with developers, the various "historical" passages, and the "Cyber Jargon" glossary. The Cyber Zone is an enlightening look at where multimedia came from, what it means, and where it may be going. --XYZZY News: The Magazine For Interactive Fiction
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Out there in CyberSpace it can be intimidating and confusing, but the potential is awe-inspiring. Authors Chris McGowan and Jim McCullaugh have come up with a guide through the maze so the we can focus on the fun aspect. ENTERTAINMENT IN THE CYBER ZONE: EXPLORING THE INTERACTIVE UNIVERSE OF MULTIMEDIA features interactive multimedia in the entertainment world. It is the first multimedia book to combine a primer, history, reviews, and celebrity interviews under one cover. Believing that interactive multimedia is one of the best things that could happen to entertainment, McGowan and McCullaugh show you how laser discs, CD-ROM's, and virtual reality can take you where you never imagined. Television, movies, travel, books, games, and even erotica are perfect fodder for the experiences made possible in CyberSpace; and now it is right at your fingertips. ENTERTAINMENT IN THE CYBER ZONE makes it easy to locate and simple to access.
You fell asleep before David Letterman got to his Top Ten List? No problem - you can find it in the Cyber Zone. Elvis fans who can't make it to Tennessee no longer need despair; they can visit The King's home via "Virtual Graceland." Going from room to room you can click on certain items and have an interactive experience; click on the guitar- shaped pool, and you will see home videos of Priscilla and Elvis. You can make your own music video, have personally-designed guitar lessons, compete with your favorite sports hero, dish with "cyber-celebrities" such as Danny DeVito and Shelly Duvall, play games galore, and much more! ENTERTAINMENT IN THE CYBER ZONE will get you there and show you how to make the most of your time; it's like having a personal guide devoted to showing you a good time. -Laurie Lawson (ElectronicLink.com)
Also See:
A Tribute To The Criterion Collection
And The Birth Of The Special
Edition
by Chris McGowan
