Eugene Jarvis: King of the Arcade

by Matthew Thomas Payne, Carly A. Kocurek (Editor), Jennifer deWinter (Editor)

Overview

This book explores the influential work of Eugene Jarvis, designer of the wildly-successful arcade games Defender, Robotron: 2084, NARC, Smash TV, and Cruis'n USA, among others.

Embracing a variety of genres across decades, the video games of Eugene Jarvis offer a series of design lessons in how to craft coin-operated game machines that can survive and thrive even as the arcade was disappearing from the American landscape. In particular, his titles demonstrate the enduring appeal of gameplay challenges, taboo content, and possessing a larger-than-life form factor and accessible gameplay. Drawing upon multiple interviews with Jarvis and his collaborators, as well as scholarly reflections on game design, historic industry data, and archival documents, this book makes the case that Jarvis is the unparalleled “King of the Arcade” for his ability to craft gameplay experiences that cannot be replicated on home consoles or personal computers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765113509
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/20/2025
Series:	Influential Video Game Designers
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Matthew Thomas Payne is Associate Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, USA. He is author of Playing War: Military Video Games after 9/ 11 (2016), co-author of Ultima & Worldbuilding in the Computer Role-Playing Game (2024) and is co-editor of How to Play Video Games (2019), Flow TV: Television in the Age of Media Convergence (2011) and Joystick Soldiers: The Politics of Play in Military Video Games (2009).

Table of Contents

Preface
Foreword
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction: Sex, Drugs, and Arcade-sploitation
2. Challenging Design: The Making of Defender
3. Designing Challenges: Post-Defender Difficulty and the Rise of the Arcader
4. Coin-Op Carnivalesque and Digitized Dystopias
5. Coin-opted Attractions in the Post-Arcade Era
6. In His Own Words: A Conversation with Eugene Jarvis
7. Conclusion: King of the Arcade

Gameography
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher