"The book would be suitable as an assigned reading in courses on game studies and media studies. For magazine teachers and scholars, it offers an interesting theoretical consideration about the role magazines play in tackling the initial indeterminacy surrounding the introduction of new artefacts and technologies and interpreting their symbolic significance for mass audiences." (Stephanie Williams- Turkowski, Journal of Magazine Media, Vol. 19 (1), 2019)

"In the well-known story, the computer game industry 'crashed' in 1982-1983. This important book tells us that this did not happen outside the US. Instead, the lively UK computer game scene continued unabated, and Kirkpatrick shows how it gave rise to both the language and attitudes of today's computer game culture." - Jesper Juul, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark



"This piece is unique. It finally enables us to understand how the notions of 'gamer' and 'gaming' became established. A future videogame history textbook.' - Veli-Matti Karhulahti, University of Turku, Finland