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Supercade by Van Burnham, MIT Press, £34.95/$49.95, ISBN 0262024926

“THE only legitimate use of a computer is to play games,” said Eugene Jarvis. He would say that, of course: he’s famous for his arcade games, from Robotron and Stargate to Cruisin’ USA. And this is the motto that’s inspired Supercade. You’ll find it set in big friendly letters near the front of the book (stick it up over your desk, if your boss will let you).

In this dour era, when it can seem as though computing and communications have been subsumed into some vastly instrumental, global and, above all, functional whole, this book celebrates all those software systems, programmers and machines that arose from nothing more than the desire to create the perfect game.

From the first video game, Tennis for Two, created in 1958 at Brookhaven National Laboratories (yes, most people think it’s Pong!, but that was a 1960s newbie) to the end of the 8-bit era in 1984, the sheer creativity and variety of techniques employed by game coders beggars description.

The screenshots in the book will bring a nostalgic tear to many an eye. And eyes will smart for another reason too: the trendily unreadable white-on-black text. It’s a great pity, because Supercade is full of fascinating insights – dammit, I would have said Pong!

My personal tip: try searching for “emulator” on the Net, with the name of your favourite old computer/console. Supercade will make you want to go out and grab them. The gameplay’s the thing.