Contagiously enthusiastic, Matthew Thomas Payne's Eugene Jarvis: King of the Arcade is a thrilling roller-coaster ride through game designer Eugene Jarvis's dazzling career, a spectacular series of innovations spanning the heady early days of arcade video games, the industry crash, and the reimagining of coin-op games as arcades competed with home consoles. A quick and compelling read, the book is sure to be enjoyed by anyone interested in the origins of arcade games and the flamboyant, vertiginous, post-arcade world of coin-op entertainment leading up to the present.

Mark J. P. Wolf, Professor, Concordia University Wisconsin, USA

Whether you're a games scholar, game collector, or just someone who's burned through too many allowances at the arcade, Matthew Thomas Payne's book is for you. Payne is your expert guide through Jarvis' pixelated worlds and industry adventures, from Defender through to Godzilla Kaiju Wars VR. Inside Jarvis himself spills the secrets behind his design philosophy and arcade alchemy. Through extensive interviews with Jarvis and his collaborators, coupled with meticulous research, Payne shows the dedication and commitment to game design that make games that amaze, excite and thrill to this day.

Alan Meades, Professor of Game Design Canterbury Christ Church University and author of Arcade Britannia: A Social History of the British Amusement Arcade

Payne's wonderful profile of Eugene Jarvis identifies the heart of his game design and influence: arcade-sploitation, striking design around excessive difficulty and spectacle, from his early Defender and Robotron games to his present-day arcade game development.

Jesper Juul, Associate Professor, Royal Danish Academy, Denmark