When you think of video game history, images of Pong or 8-bit titles likely spring to mind. A lot more history has happened since then, though, and that’s something independent book publisher Lost In Cult not only highlights, but celebrates.
“We try to present history in a way that doesn’t feel ‘old,’ or feel associated with the same set of tropes and visual motifs that usually defines capital-R Retro gaming.” Jon Doyle, the publisher’s, CEO and creative director, tells me.
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It’s obvious to see this dedication in Lost in Cult’s newest publication,A Handheld History, which, as the title succinctly suggests, delves into the history of handheld gaming. From Nintendo’s 1981 Game & Watch to Sony’s 2011 PS Vita, it’s a comprehensive catalogue of how handheld gaming first evolved, how it’s developed since then, and how people fell, and continue to fall, in love with it.
Many of the consoles and games given a spotlight in A Handheld History aren’t what many would even call ‘history’ yet — after all, the 3DS eShop was still being actively supported by Nintendo up until March 2023.
Doyle explains the reasoning behind this; “Games history doesn’t just have to be defined by pixel art font and vintage imagery. We can reinvent the classics with current design principles and styles, in the process highlighting how timeless the works we cover are.”
Despite the recency of some of the content covered, Doyle says that researching even basic information was often a struggle. “We had to spend days scouring Internet Archive scans of old gaming mags for things as basic as launch pricing and dates when researching the book.”
Preserving older games and consoles themselves is already difficult, particularly when game publishers had no care for conserving their games at the time, but those small details are much more easily lost.
According to Doyle, though, that’s what makes these projects all the more rewarding. “It gave us the opportunity to rediscover knowledge and stories that teach us more about pockets of gaming that are key to a rounder understanding of it.”
I’ve come to learn that these “stories” are an integral part of A Handheld History the personal experiences of the writers are closely tied to the history of the games and consoles explored in the book.
Many of us first used a handheld console in childhood, so when you see a Game Boy, a DS, or whichever one you used most, you’ll more than likely be taken back to your memories with them. For me, that’s playing Pokemon on my Nintendo DS Lite under the covers at night.
“The truest way to talk about games is to engage with their ability to invite personal attachment — attachment which is often nostalgic.”
Gaming history is often approached in a clear-cut, information-focused way: the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey, launched in 1972. The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console of all time. There’s nothingwrongwith hitting those important beats, but focusing exclusively on the cold, hard facts it leaves out so much of the story.
When you receive a console as a birthday present, or you buy a game for the first time with your own money, you start to create your own history with it, one that’s not recorded in the data.
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On the personal approach they’ve taken with the book, Doyle tells me, “We wanted to uplift the transcendent emotional power of games, creating a space for emotion and empathy”.
History certainly coexists in balance alongside emotion and empathy within the book, allowing the handheld’s history to shine through these personal anecdotes where it perhaps wouldn’t elsewhere.
This deeper look into gaming history is also something that Doyle believes “audiences pine for.” As an independent publisher, Lost In Cult has a limited reach in that regard, but Doyle knows they have an enthusiastic audience who will show up.
“It takes someone like HarperCollins to smartly identify that, and bring us to Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target. […] Traditional publishers have the opportunity to stand at the phalanx of preservationist, intellectual, academic, and cultural movements within the games space.”
Doyle also notes that the majority of gaming books on the shelves from traditional publishers are art books, which, while beautiful, don’t possess the depth and scope that audiences curious about gaming history are looking for. It takes independent publishers like Lost in Cult to collaborate with those big names to bridge the gap and treat gaming history with the cultural significance it deserves in the mainstream publishing space.
Lost in Cult’s A Handheld History offers a new and personalised perspective on gaming history, and opens up significantly more space for intellectual conversations surrounding gaming in the traditional publishing sphere.
Thanks to creatives like those behind A Handheld History, and the rest of Lost in Cult’s works, it looks as though there’s a bright future for game-focused books, particularly those that look at gaming history and our connections to it.
A Handheld History
Lost in Cult’s A Handheld History takes a deep dive into the handheld gaming consoles that many of us grew up on. Covering the various Game Boy consoles, the PS Vita, and many more, it’s full of stories, gorgeous artwork, and important details on these consoles, creating a personal and comprehensive history.
