New book from the Hewson brothers!

[Gryzor]

From Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers by Andrew Hewson & Rob Hewson — :


From Paradroid to Pinball Dreams. Andrew Hewson shares experiences & insights from his pioneering videogames career in this new book.


Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers is a new book by Andrew Hewson, founder of Hewson Consultants, 21st Century Entertainment and the founding Chairman of UK videogames trade body ELSPA (now UKIE).
If you were a Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad, Atari ST or Amiga gamer, then the chances are you played games published by Andrew's companies:
Throughout the 1980s Hewson built up a reputation for quality games and great box artwork, publishing numerous smash hit titles, such as:
Some of the Hewson smash hits of the 80s and early 90sAfter Hewson shut its doors, company founder Andrew Hewson went on to setup 21st Century Entertainment which revitalised a whole gaming genre - the Pinball simulator.
21st CE built it's reputation primarily on Pinball gamesAndrew Hewson was also the founding chairman of ELSPA, the original industry trade body in the UK. ELSPA responded to concerns about violent videogames by establishing a movie-style age ratings system for games and continues to represent the UK games industry today under its new identity as UKIE.
Andrew Hewson was the founder and 1st chairman of ELSPA, which later became UKIE
Hewson believed strongly in promoting the creators of the games they published. Over the years many legendary developers worked on Hewson and 21st Century Entertainment published titles, including several who launched their careers with the companies:
Steve Turner created a series of hits for Hewson and composed the music for multiple titles.
Mike Male was one of the first to create games for Hewson. He was an air traffic controller at Heathrow by day and focused on sims.
Andrew Braybrook created some of the most innovative games of the 8-bit era
Raff Cecco created the brilliant Cybernoid, Exolon and Stormlord. Nick Jones music for Exolon is a classic
The founders of DICE released their first games, Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies, through 21st Century EntertainmentWe are delighted and humbled to have many of these brilliant people on board to contribute to the book and with your help we will continue to seek out more special guests. The confirmed list so far includes:Steve Turner (Graftgold)

• Mike Male (Night Flight 1 & 2, Heathrow Air Traffic Controller, Southern Belle)
• Nick Jones (Co-developer of Exolon & Cybernoid)
• Andreas Axelsson (Co-founder of DICE)
• Fredrik Liljegren (Co-founder of DICE)
• Barry Simpson (Software Manager at 21st CE)
• Stewart Gilray (Assistant Producer at 21st CE, now CEO of Just Add Water)
• Paul Chamberlain (Software & Operations Manager at Hewson, now Executive Producer at Sumo Digital)
• Oliver Frey (Illustrator for Zzap 64 and CRASH)
• Roger Kean (Zzap 64 and CRASH)
• Ben Daglish (Composer - Firelord)
• Jeroen Tell (Composer - Eliminator, Cybernoid 2, Stormlord)

We have other big name contributors agreed in principle and will provide updates throughout the campaign as we get their official confirmation.
Andrew has not been active in the games industry since the late 1990s, so why is he writing this book now, and what is it about?
"When I started in the games industry with a ZX80 and a typewriter, it was an era of open platforms and cutting edge innovation. Today, thanks to digital distribution and the re-emergence of open platforms, we are returning to the kind of industry in which small creative teams can flourish. This book is an opportunity for me to share my experiences from two decades at the cutting edge of gaming with the industry pioneers of tomorrow." - Andrew Hewson
Andrew Hewson started out by writing books and had a popular column in Sinclair User magazineWith a new era of digital distribution and indie innovation upon us, Andrew feels it is important that Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers is about more than just the history of Hewson Consultants & 21st Century Entertainment and the games which defined those companies.
The book will be crammed full of fascinating stories from the era, many of which are being told publicly for the very first time, but it will also have a deeper and broader appeal. It's a book which digs beneath the surface to examine the forces which made those companies such prolific hit-producers, unearthing a rich tapestry of insight and expertise for the gaming pioneers of tomorrow.
With contributions from numerous industry legends already confirmed, and more in the pipeline, it also a book about the people which made it all happen, including the most important group of all - you, the consumer. Kickstarter backers will have the opportunity not only to help shape the book, but to actively contribute to it (see the reward tiers for details).

Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers is a story of triumph and disaster, ecstasy and turmoil and perpetual market forces in an industry which is constantly reinventing itself, from one of the pioneering figures of the UK games industry.
------------------
Backed it right away, hope it gets published! I also contacted them because they had omitted the Amstrad from the description, they replied immediately and rectified it (though to be fair there's a nice 464 in the video).