The story of video games is often told as the successive rise of computers and consoles from famous names like Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft. But beyond this familiar tale, there’s a whole world of weird and wonderful gaming machines that seldom get talked about.

Curious Video Game Machines reveals the fascinating stories behind a bevy of rare and unusual consoles, computers and coin-ops – like Kimtanktics, a 1970s wargame computer made out of calculator parts, or the suite of Korea-exclusive consoles made by car manufacturer Daewoo. Then there’s the Casio Loopy, a 1990s console that doubled up as a sticker printer, the RDI Halcyon, a 1985 LaserDisc-based machine that could recognize your voice, and the Interton VC 4000, a German console made by a hearing-aid company, as well as a range of bizarre arcade machines, from early attempts at virtual reality to pedal-powered flying contraptions.

There are tales of missed opportunities, like the astonishingly powerful Enterprise 64 computer, which got caught in development hell and arrived too late to make an impact on the British microcomputer market. And there are tales of little-known triumphs, like the Galaksija DIY computer kit that introduced a whole generation of Yugoslavians to computing before the country became engulfed by war.

Featuring exclusive interviews with creators, developers and collectors, Curious Video Game Machines finally shines a light on the forgotten corners of video-game history.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Foreword by Damien McFerran
• Note from the Author
• Timeline
• 1 How to Make a Wargame out of Calculators (Kimtanktics, 1977)
• 2 Atari’s Forgotten Consoles (Home Pong, Video Music, etc. 1975–77)
• 3 Germany Joins the Console Race (Interton consoles, 1975–78)
• 4 Grandfather to the Game Boy (MB Microvision, 1979)
• 5 A Box that Broke Atari’s Monopoly (Atari VCS dev kit, 1979)
• 6 Yugoslavia’s Open-Source Computer (Galaksija, 1983)
• 7 It’s Like a Living Entity More than it is a Machine (RDI Halcyon, 1985)
• 8 The Power of Nick and Dave (Enterprise, 1985)
• 9 Any Colour as Long as it’s Pink (Super Cassette Vision Lady’s, 1985; Master System Girl, 1994; Casio Loopy, 1995)
• 10 The Console Made by a Car Company (Daewoo Zemmix consoles, 1985–91)
• 11 Attack of the Famiclones (Dendy, Pegasus, etc., 1980s–Present)
• 12 Video Games on VHS (ActionMax, Video Challenger, etc., 1987–99)
• 13 When the Noodles Came to Life (Barcode Battler, Barcode Battler II, etc., 1991–94 approx.)
• 14 The Hologram Cowboy who Travelled Through Time (Time Traveler, 1991)
• 15 Virtual Reality Dies Before it has a Chance to Thrive (Virtuality, 1991)
• 16 The Second Life of the CD32 (CUBO CD32, 1995)
• 17 Fly Me to the Balloon (Prop Cycle, 1996)
• 18 Turning the Whole World into a Video Game (Avatar Machine, 2008)
• Acknowledgements
• Recommended Reading
• Endnotes