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Lovers of computer and video driving games will love this! The Driving Games Manual from Haynes Publishing. One hundred and seventy-four pages, between decorated hard covers, jam packed with full colour ,full-on action, illustrations of screenshots and moto photos to excite even the most laid-back ,seen-it-all, racing games player. As a student of the video game genre, the Driving Games Manual takes you through four decades of spectacular games development from 1974.

But more than a detailed history of the car video game, Driving Games Manual is a Guide that will enthuse the ‘newby’, and also help hone the skills of the more experienced driving player. As a Guide, it reveals in wonderful clarity the speed of change in both software and hardware. We have the arcade consoles period of rise to eminence, and the continuing improvement of the console design to provide a realistic racing experience in the home.

A key benefit of this ultimate guide to car computer and video games is that,being a book, it can be constantly to hand as a reference source and treasury of tips and facts, and it offers a break from the tension and excitement of the on screen racing action. At leisure, in your armchair at home, you can explore the intricate nature of car set-up,for instance, or develop a strategy for your track technique with basic and defensive racing lines, and many other driving techniques.

As with any cutting edge technologies, driving games have impressed at each stage of their development, but they have had to evolve to stay ahead and realistic. This they have successfully done,and in so doing have endured to this day commanding a huge global following.

If you grew-up driving Gran Trak 10 or the first Gran Turismo, the grand daddy of them all,or Pole Position (1982), the graphics were spellbinding for their time,and now we have Gran Turismo 5 … and others. This evolution in graphics,audio and A1 is entertainingly covered in the The Driving Games Manual. You will also be able check-out all time best driving game titles and The Driving Games List of more than 400 releases for both arcade and home since the early 1970s.

For me (and clearly for Bruno Senna who provides an insightful foreward) The Driving Games Manual is a must. Excellent value from most main book retailers, this book will keep you entertained for hours and hours.

If you wish to purchase a copy online- and what a Christmas gift!- you can go to Driving Games Manual: The Ultimate Guide to All Car-based Computer and Video Games

Remember this little chap?

The days were when players huddled around illuminated tabletops and booth-like hardware to play our favourite arcade games. This is not to say this is not a great way to play your games.I just love those tables! But there is a cheaper,dare I say FREE, opportunity to play many arcade games. You can try this out at

PADTube.com – Find and download the software you are looking for at PADTube.com!

You have a sleek state-of-the art PSP to hand, but you hanker for a little of the old ’80s arcade cabinet magic. This ingenious flat pack kit can be assembled quickly to accommodate your handset and give that classic ‘feel’ while games playing. For more information on this attractive artworked package you can go to the Fireboxsite and buy this fun item for £7.95.

Why not take advantage of the voucher offer and click below?

This is one to remind most of us of visits to the seaside,and more particularly the funfair.

This for me evokes the sights and sounds of very happy times spent every summer at Brighton (the New one,get it?). The indoor funfair at New Brighton was often a riot of colour and sound with the Waltzers in full flow,and the Dodgems darting here and bumping there with a cacophony of squeals both mechanical and child-human, and the gravity defying Starship ride with its swirling,rising and falling spaceship pods.

And when the attraction of even the Gallopers had paled a little,or money was becoming short, there was always time for the penny arcades, where the candy and teddy bear grabbers were plying their trade.Mesmerised and often frustrated as kids ,we would press our faces close to the glass of the cabinet, while we prayed that,just this time,the silver mechanical jaws would manage in their slow pursuit to close round a small toy,or a candy bar, or plastic finger-ring, or other such treasures, and then draw its trophy precariously across the uneven terrain littered with the snags of other toys and sweets,to the short shute which separated wonderland from real-life.

Whether as parent,grandparent or over indulged ‘big’ kid wishing to relive great days,you will want to bring memories flooding back from the second-half of the last century. So, imagine that sweet candy floss smell and the odour of oil and burning electrical connections. Listen once again to the sounds of laughter and shrieks of excitement ,from a time when the sun always shone outside.At the Fireboxwebsite you can see a miniature candy grabber selling at £14.95 ,if you feel you can stand the excitement with your family.Other games, including some of the other Arcade Legend games, are also on site.