Ralph Baer's Book

[rolenta]

At long last, Ralph Baer's book, Videogames: In The Beginning, has finally gone to the printer. Barring any unforseen circumstances, the book should be available from Rolenta Press in mid-March (its official release date is April 26).

For a short time, preorder copies of the book, complete with Ralph's signature, are available for $24 (20% off the $30 cover price). Please include postage ($3.85 for Priority mail or $2.50 for Media Mail. International postage rates can be found here (http://www.rolentapress.com/3rd_edition/postage_schedule.htm). New Jersey orders please include $1.44 sales tax

Please send a check or money order (International orders please use a BANK CHECK payable in US dollars through a US bank) to:
Rolenta Press
PO Box 1365
Springfield, NJ 07081-5365

or, you could send a Paypal payment for $24 + postage to paypal@rolentapress.com

Please send the payment by March 1 in order to take advantage of this special deal.

Please note if you want a personalized autograph and if so, to what name should the book be autographed for.

Information on this book can now found on the Rolenta Press website at www.rolentapress.com.

Thank you for supporting this book. Your comments or criticisms are always welcome.

[Lady Jaye]

Thanks for the info, Len!!! I'll have to get a copy! :)

[SoulBlazer]

Yup, as soon as I get my paycheck I'll place a order online. :D

BTW....you may have allready posted this somewhere else, and if so, please just point me in the right direction -- could we get a summary of the book? I mean, I know what the book covers, but what's actually in it?

[rolenta]

Here's the contents. (http://www.rolentapress.com/Products/Videogames%20-%20In%20The%20Beginning/contents.pdf)

[SoulBlazer]

Interesting. :D

The book sounds like it covers Baer's personal life story in the industry with just the tie-in's needed in the first couple of chapters to tell the scene. I'm sure a lot of it is allready public, but still nice to have in one place.

I'll defentily order this soon. Thanks for the info. :)

[Gregory DG]

Sounds cool!

[vespertillio]

Money sent. :D I can't wait. It will come out right around my birthday. 8-)

[Jibbajaba]

Sounds cool. I'll definitely try to pre-order it so that I can get it signed!

Chris

[nildem]

I've ordered my copy. I'm really looking forward to this book.

[Arcade Antics]

AWESOME.

I cannot wait to read this book!! :D

[ubikuberalles]

I'm in!
Oh boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy!
I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!
(Claps hands excitedly)

[digitalpress]

It's like that game Fable... I feel like I've been waiting forever for it but it's here at last!

Looking forward to reading it.

[rbudrick]

Order placed. Can't wait to read this! Ralph Baer is such an interesting and smart dude, this should be a real treat.

-Rob

[rolenta]

There is only one week left to preorder Ralph Baer's book and to receive an autographed copy. Only a certain number of copies will be brought to Mr. Baer to autograph and once they run out I will not be able to provide any more autographed copies.

Deadline is March 5!

Click here for information (http://www.rolentapress.com/ralph/collectorPreview.htm)

[T]

My order has been placed

Thanks for the headsup :)

[SoulBlazer]

Crap, I forgot about this. :embarrassed:

Just sent in my money and order now.

Question -- does everyone who place a order before March 1 get their book autographed if they request it? :)

[rolenta]

Question -- does everyone who place a order before March 1 get their book autographed if they request it? :)

Yes! That's the reason why I had to set a deadline. Once the books arrive (in approx 2 weeks barring any problems with the files I sent the printer) I will be driving up to Ralph's house with the pre-ordered books so they can be autographed. (and inscribed).

[SoulBlazer]

Man, I feel sorry for how many books that poor man is going to have to sign. LOL

I hope you do something REALLY NICE for him in return. :D

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

With his wrists aching after all of that autographing, this may well be the only chance anyone'll get to beat Mr. Baer on his own invention. :P

[K3V]

Got mine ordered. It will be a very special thing to have a book autographed by Mr. Baer. Can't wait to get it and give it a read.

[Lady Jaye]

Payment sent! :)

[k8track]

Ordered mine today! Can't wait!

Also, Len, I've been rereading your Phoenix book again (the 2nd edition, yellow cover) and rediscovering how entertaining and thorough it is. Whenever you get a 4th edition printed, I'll be getting it!

[rolenta]

We've been having trouble with the cover for the past two weeks. I'm happy to say that the problems have been corrected and I received the proof yesterday and it looks fantastic! Now that the problems are out of the way the book can finally go into production and hopefully I'll receive them in about two weeks.

Preorders, with the 20% discount and Ralph's signature, will be accepted until the books arrive.



Also, Len, I've been rereading your Phoenix book again (the 2nd edition, yellow cover) and rediscovering how entertaining and thorough it is. Whenever you get a 4th edition printed, I'll be getting it!

Thanks! The 2nd edition is my favorite of the three. My plans for the 4th edition is to make the size somewhere in between the 2nd and 3rd editions and completely redesign it from cover to cover.

[ManciGames]

Lenny, is the $24 deal still good? I realize it's too late for the signature, but can we still get the price? I checked the website but it seemed to be down.

[rolenta]

Lenny, is the $24 deal still good? I realize it's too late for the signature, but can we still get the price? I checked the website but it seemed to be down.

Hey Jayson,

Read the post I wrote right beforre your's -_-

Use this link: http://www.rolentapress.com/ralph/collectorPreview.htm

[ManciGames]

Lenny, is the $24 deal still good? I realize it's too late for the signature, but can we still get the price? I checked the website but it seemed to be down.

Hey Jayson,

Read the post I wrote right beforre your's -_-

Use this link: http://www.rolentapress.com/ralph/collectorPreview.htm

Heh! It's been a long week. Tax season ya know!

Book ordered! Looking forward to it.

[rolenta]

I received a finished (unbound) copy of the book today and it looks fantastic. I have given the printer permission to go ahead and bind them and there's a (slight) chance that they may be shipped to me next week. I will most likely receive them the following week and will probably take them up to Ralph the weekend of April 1-3 to be signed.

[ubikuberalles]

I just got an E-mail from USPS and it said, essentially:

"This ship notification is being sent to you by the U.S. Postal Service® at the request of ROLENTA PRESS.

A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com containing the following information is scheduled to be shipped on 04/04/2005."

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! An autographed copy of Ralph Baer's book is on it's way to my house! I can't wait! :D

[rolenta]

I just got an E-mail from USPS and it said, essentially:

"This ship notification is being sent to you by the U.S. Postal Service® at the request of ROLENTA PRESS.

A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com containing the following information is scheduled to be shipped on 04/04/2005."

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! An autographed copy of Ralph Baer's book is on it's way to my house! I can't wait! :D

Only those who ordered via Priority Mail are going to get these notices. I'm sending out 26 books a day in the order that I received the orders. All the books should be out by the end of the week.

[SoulBlazer]

I can't recall if I paid for Priorty or not, and mine was pretty late, so I don't expect it to ship till the end of the week.

In any event, glad to hear Mr. Baer signed all the books and they are being sent. How many did the poor guy have to sign? LOL

[rolenta]

I received three orders from RI but only one from Providence. That order is going out tomorrow and it's being delivered via Priority so the email notification would have been sent.

179 books were signed

[SoulBlazer]

Well, no e-mail, but that's allright, thanks for the looking up of the info just for me. I owe you one. ;)

Speaking of 'owing people', what did you do for Mr. Baer to make up for the poor guy writing his hand off? LOL

[rolenta]

Well, no e-mail, but that's allright, thanks for the looking up of the info just for me

Send me a private email with your name so I could make sure I received your order


Speaking of 'owing people', what did you do for Mr. Baer to make up for the poor guy writing his hand off?

Published his book?

[SoulBlazer]

Heh, I KNOW you did that. ;) I was just teasing you that you said eariler in another thread you would have to 'do something nice' for him. :)

[o2william]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but I wanted to mention that I got my copy (actually copies :D) of "Videogames: In the Beginning" yesterday. Haven't had time to do more than skim the book yet, but I'm already learning fascinating stuff. (Odyssey2 was introduced in January 1979? That's later than I've always heard!)

If you're interested in early game history at all, you NEED to get this book. Mr. Baer has an amazing store of knowledge, and his powers of recollection are truly astonishing (if you saw him speak at CGE you know what I mean). Plus, he apparently saved every memo, letter and scrap of paper throughout his illustrious career. I've never seen a more thorough timeline (darn near every event is tracked TO THE DAY) in a historical text, and that's after studying history for four years in college. Plus there are lots of great pictures -- no matter how many web sites you've visited or CGE Museums you've been to, you'll see plenty you haven't seen before. Awesome stuff!

Thanks for publishing this Leonard! I'd love to see an edition of Phoenix published in this format.

[rolenta]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but I wanted to mention that I got my copy (actually copies :D) of "Videogames: In the Beginning" yesterday. Haven't had time to do more than skim the book yet, but I'm already learning fascinating stuff. (Odyssey2 was introduced in January 1979? That's later than I've always heard!).

You're right. I just went through Ralph's book and saw that the January 1979 date at the end within his notes, which was something that I didn't edit at all, so I didn't catch it.

In my research on the O2, I've never seen a month that the O2 came out. Only that it came out in 1978. It is possible that it came out in late 1978 and was shown for the first time at the Winter 1979 CES. I don't know. If anyone knows the exact dates, please let me know.




Thanks for publishing this Leonard! I'd love to see an edition of Phoenix published in this format.

Thanks. I'm glad you like the book. As for the next edition of Phoenix looking like that, it's unfortunately out of the question. Originally I wanted to produce a full-color edition but the costs are just too prohibitive. Also, the minmum quantity would have to be more than all three editions of Phoenix combined.

[ManciGames]

Lenny, have all of the shipment notifications been sent yet?

[rolenta]

Lenny, have all of the shipment notifications been sent yet?

Only for Priority. Your's went out yesterday but I believe it was Media.

[rolenta]

Got mine yesterday as well. It's nothing short of awesome! Excellent job with it, Len. Did you design all the layout as well?

Thanks Scott. Rusel Demaria (High Score) did all of the inside layout but I had to make alterations to it. The colored borders in the Appendix were my idea.

[ubikuberalles]

I got my copy yesterday and to say that I was stoked would be an understatment. :)

First impressions:

- I'm quite pleased with the look and feel of the book. Each and every page is in color and printed on glossy paper.
- The layout of the book is excellant. It's easy on the eyes and very readable. This makes it very easy to flip through the pages and randomly read sections.
- The text is very readable. Ralph Baer has a writing style that's easy to pick up and I found myself reading through several pages before forcing myself to stop.
- The resolution of some of the scanned images is not very good. In particular, the scanned image on page 51 (figure 41) is mostly unreadable. Overall, however, the scanned images are very good.
- Lots and lots of appendices! :) As you can tell, I like appendices, especially in history books. Although some of the appendices are rather dry (appendix five lists all of his videogame patents), I found, overall, the appendices very interesting and quite readable.

I like what I got and I highly recommend the book to any video game fan. It's very readable and highly engrossing. I've learned a lot in the short time I've had the book and I expect to learn a lot more before I finish. Figure 122 shows samples from old PR binders and they state that "It's his fault we stay up late". Well, Ralph did it again and I'll be staying up late reading his book.

Good job!

[LAGO]

I've not got mine yet :/ but I don't imagine I was one of the first to order ... oh well I hope I get it soon :)

[ubersaurus]

I got mine today...had to come to work so I haven't been able to delve into it, but I do like all the photos.

[SoulBlazer]

My copy of the book came today but I'm not going to get a chance to start reading it until tonight.

And it was so cool seeing a personal message from Mr. Baer on the inside. :)

Thanks fro all the hard work!

[rolenta]

I've not got mine yet :/ but I don't imagine I was one of the first to order ... oh well I hope I get it soon :)

Only one order from TN and it was sent out on Tuesday via Media Mail

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I got mine yesterday and literally made myself late for work because I started to read it on the spot. Outstanding book! I highly recommend everyone who has any interest in the history of this medium we're all so entranced with to pick it up.

I'm really, really glad that Ralph finally got to have his say on these things.

Now who wants to take bets on Bushnell suddenly writing his autobiography in the next 2 years? LOL

[LAGO]

Got my book just a little bit ago in the mail. Haven't got to read it yet but I was telling the fam that it was signed by Ralph Baer and I just got this stare, the look thats like umm ok ... oh well I can't wait to tear into the book.

[Lady Jaye]

Got my copy today! (in fact, it arrived yesterday, but we had to go pick it up at the post office)

Cool book!!! The layout is really, really nice!

I hope Mr. Baer likes the final version too!!!

(btw, I was surprised to see that there was a CD in the book too -- that's a great hidden extra!)

Thanks again, Len!!!!!!!!

[LAGO]

Yeah I liked the surprise CD also. Nice little bonus feature.

[SoulBlazer]

Have'nt finished reading the book, but it's very enjoyable to read so far. It's amzing how much of what Mr. Baer thought of or tried to make is commonly accepted now. And how differently things could have turned out if just one little thing had happened in a different way.

The CD was a nice bonus as well. Let us know if anyone actually makes their own Brown Box based on those plans. ;)

[rbudrick]

Got my copy a few days ago....VERY cool book. I was a little flustered when I didn't see the autograph right off, but it was there. :)

I've read about 20 pages in so far...I don't think Baer made the best case for saying Spacewar doesn't count as the first videogame because it wasn't on a cathode ray tube. I know the courts were all in his favor and such, but a videogame is a videogame is a videogame. Except Vectrex games. And every portable. ;)

-Rob