Supercade by Van Burnham, MIT Press, £34.95/$49.95, ISBN 0262024926
“THE only legitimate use of a computer is to play games,” said Eugene Jarvis. He would say that, of course: he’s famous for his arcade games, from Robotron and Stargate to Cruisin’ USA. And this is the motto that’s inspired Supercade. You’ll find it set in big friendly letters near the front of the book (stick it up over your desk, if your boss will let you).
In this dour era, when it can seem as though computing and communications have been subsumed into some vastly instrumental, global and, above…
