Growing Up 8-Bit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, United States -- Virtual Viewpoints Press and author Loren Halek are proud to present his first book, Growing Up 8-Bit, available today on Amazon Kindle. The book chronicles the authors experiences related to notable games he played that came out from his birth in 1976 to the end of 1990. Interspersed in many of the stories related to the game are real-life insights into the author’s life and upbringing during this time.

The book is split up into chapters for each system, game and event talked about to make it easy to jump around for readers if they wish to. With over 100 systems, games and events chronicled in the book there is plenty to read about.

This is a piece of an excerpt on the Atari 2600 game Yars Revenge that came out in 1981 and the author gave a Gaming Milestone title to. This will give a sense of the writing style of the author and the general feeling of the book as a whole. “If you’ve never played Yars Revenge, can I suggest trying to find a 2600 and a copy of this game? Hours upon hours of my early life was spent with this game on the 2600. My grade school friends and I used to get together on weekends and just play this game, handing the controller between us. I was young when this game came out, so I can honestly say I don’t think I knew the story behind the game until I recently looked on Wikipedia. I remember seeing the comic book that came with the game, but heck that I remember what the story was. Basically these two alien races are fighting each other over the fact that one destroyed a Yars world and they’re seeking revenge.”

The author has this to say about the book: “I hope people will find enjoyment in remembering back to the games they played in the 1970s and 1980s and maybe spark memories of other games I did not cover in the book. I also hope they will enjoy my unique perspective spelled out in the Preface and enjoy the book as a fun trip down memory lane.”

The book is available via Amazon’s Kindle service. You do not need a Kindle in order to read the book, as Amazon has clients available for the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android platforms. There are future plans for the book to be available on the Nook, but currently the publishing platform promised for Summer 2010 is not available yet. You can purchase the book at either the US or UK versions of Amazon via those links.

Growing Up 8-Bit is the first of at least three books covering the author’s experiences in gaming. Each upcoming book will talk about games in the successive decades (1991-2000 and 2001-2010).

About the Author - Loren Halek

Loren Halek, a native Minnesotan, is a full-time IT professional. In his free time for over a decade he has been writing reviews for various websites, starting off as a movie and DVD reviewer and then moving into games. He currently is Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of the gaming website Colony of Gamers ( http://www.colonyofgamers.com). He’s written over 300 gaming reviews and countless other articles since 2002.

Press Contact/Interview Opportunities

Loren Halek, Author growing.up.8bit@gmail.com