[SIGCIS-Members] THIS FRIDAY @ 2PM ET: Jesper Juul on Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer

[Laine Nooney]

Join us Friday, February 7, as *ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories *hosts
scholar Jesper Juul for a talk about his book *Too Much Fun: The Five Lives
of the Commodore 64 Computer.* The event will be at 2PM ET on the
*ROMchip *Twitch
channel, https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal.

Get tickets HERE
<https://www.tickettailor.com/events/romchipajournalofgamehistories/1498794>
and sign up for our newsletter
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never miss an update. **Tickets serve as calendar reminders for the event;
they are not required to attend. Head to
https://www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal to join the talk on Feb 7**

*About the Book*
*The surprising history of the Commodore 64, the best-selling home computer
of the 1980s—the machine that taught the world that computing should be *fun
*.*

The Commodore 64 (C64) is officially the best-selling desktop computer
model of all time, according to *The Guinness Book of World Records*. It
was also, from 1985 to 1993, the platform for which most video games were
made. But although it sold at least twice as many units as other home
computers of its time, such as the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, or Commodore
Amiga, it is strangely forgotten in many computer histories. In *Too Much
Fun*, Jesper Juul argues that the C64 was so popular because it was so
versatile, a machine developers and users would reinvent again and again
over the course of 40 years.

First it was a serious computer, next a game computer, then a computer for
showcasing technical brilliance (graphical *demos* using the machine in
seemingly impossible ways), then a struggling competitor, and finally a
retro device whose limitations are now charming. The C64, Juul shows, has
been ignored by history because it was too much fun. Richly illustrated in
full color, this book is the first in-depth examination of the C64's design
and history, and the first to integrate US and European histories.
Containing interviews with Commodore engineers as well as an insightful
look at C64 games, music, and software*,* *Too Much Fun* will appeal to
those who used a Commodore 64, those interested in the history of computing
and video games and computational literacy, or just those who wish their
technological devices would last longer.


*About the Author*Jesper Juul coedits the MIT Press Playful Thinking
series. His previous books include *Half-Real*,*The Art of Failure*,
and *Handmade
Pixels*. He is Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy in
Copenhagen and has taught at MIT and New York University. His first
computer was a Commodore 64, on which he wrote games and demos.

*Upcoming Events*
February 14 @ 2PM: Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman discuss their
co-authored book, *Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and
Almost Bankrupted Barbie *[MORE INFO
<https://www.tickettailor.com/events/romchipajournalofgamehistories/1498801>
]

February 22 @ 11AM-11PM ET: ROMchip Twitch Fundraiser Stream, ft Phil
Salvador, merritt k, qdot, Paolo Pedercini, tinahacks, Jason Scott and
more! Come through for 12 hours of games, prizes, and historical hijinks. [MORE
INFO <https://donate.romchip.org/>].


*About ROMchip**ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories
<https://www.romchip.org/>* is a free, online scholarly journal for game
history. *ROMchip *develops, edits, and publishes ad-free, open access game
history research for a range of audiences. It supports any discipline of
work enlivening the history of games in local and global contexts, and
embraces diversity in how game history is studied, documented, collected,
preserved, and practiced. *ROM**c**hip* is a donation-based organization
fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation
<https://hackclub.com/fiscal-sponsorship/> (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499).
--
Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/>

Associate Professor |  MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU
<http://www.nyu.edu/>  | they/them
Managing Editor  |  ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories
<https://romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal>  |  Join our Newsletter
<http://eepurl.com/crCul1>

-Need to make an appt? Click, don't email:
https://calendar.app.google/V9ZuMRWEKnnUBdQ56
-Probably typed by voice recognition, so please cherish typos
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