My latest book, Classic Home Video Games, 1989-1990: A CompleteGuide to Sega Genesis, Neo Geo and TurboGrafx-16 Games, is on sale through Amazon for $36, which is pretty cheap for a hardcover from McFarland Publishers (the book was $55 when first published in 2011).

Here's the publisher description of the book:

The third in a series about home video games, this detailed reference work features descriptions and reviews of every official U.S.-released game for the Neo Geo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16, which, in 1989, ushered in the 16-bit era of gaming. Organized alphabetically by console brand, each chapter includes a description of the game system followed by substantive entries for every game released for that console. Video game entries include historical information, gameplay details, the author's critique, and, when appropriate, comparisons to similar games. Appendices list and offer brief descriptions of all the games for the Atari Lynx and Nintendo Game Boy, and catalogue and describe the add-ons to the consoles covered herein--Neo Geo CD, Sega CD, Sega 32X and TurboGrafx-CD. HC, 344 pgs, B&W photos. Foreword by Leonard Herman.

Here are a couple of Amazon reviews of the book:

"The third installment in an outstanding book series that comprehensively chronicles the systems and games released during given eras. Like its predecessors, this book thoroughly informs while entertaining the reader. For me personally, it has expanded my knowledge of the libraries for each console, and in some cases, has sparked a desire to acquire certain systems and game titles that I had previously overlooked."

***

"With Classic Home Video Games, 1989-1990, Brett Weiss continues his exhaustive coverage of the videogame systems of yesteryear. Here Weiss writes about every single one of the games that came out for three historically important consoles: Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, and TurboGrafx.

Since there were so many games released for the Genesis, the bulk of the book covers that system, which was far more popular than the other two. Writing in a clear, concise, descriptive style, Weiss describes each game in detail and critiques most of the games in terms of graphics, sounds, and fun factor. Historical info is included as well.

If you are shopping for retro games online or at a videogame convention, Weiss's book is good to have on hand. It's also a book you can flip through in order to discover games that you've never played before, but might want to. It's also useful as a research tool, and it's fun to play a game and then read what Weiss has to say about it to see if your opinion matches his.

At $55 suggested retail, it's a little pricey, but sturdy hardcover binding and professional authorship make it easily worth the money."

Oklahoma Video Game Expo Sept. 21 in Tulsa

The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987

In addition to working on the next volume in my Classic Home Video Games series, I've completed a book for Schiffer Publishing covering the greatest console video games released from 1977-1987. The working title is The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987. (You can see that I need a long nap after working on the book, which took more than a year to write, including more 12- and 16-hour days than I care to remember.) 

The book, which is scheduled for release sometime next year, will include, obviously, games for the Atari 2600, on up through some of the early titles for the NES. Cartridges for the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Odyssey2, Sega Master System, and Atari 7800 will also be included, along with various dark horse entries.

The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987 features anecdotes, collector pricing, publishing histories, extensive gameplay details, tips and tricks, fun facts, my opinions on the games, quotes from other sources (magazines, books, and websites), full color photography (including screenshots), and more. Each of the 100 chapters is approximately 850-1500 words in length.

The book will also contain 100 honorable mentions, listed in an appendix near the back. Breaking down the book to 200 titles was a blast, but some painful decisions had to be made regarding titles that I enjoy, but that didn't quite make the cut. The bottom line consideration was how much fun the game is today, but I also took into account historical importance, graphics, sounds, and the like.

The Classic Home Video Games series, now at three books and counting, is a reference tool like Leonard Maltin's movie books, but this new volume for Schiffer will be a lavish coffee table book with lengthy entries, bookstore distribution, full-color photography, and all the trimmings.