
Trial of the Space Invaders
The Case that Changed Video Games
Simon Parkin(Author)
Sceptre (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 21. January 2027
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-1-3997-1459-4 (ISBN)
Description
In the autumn of 1988, in a New York City courtroom, two video game giants faced off over a question as simple as it was explosive: who invented video games?
For more than a decade, Magnavox had used a set of foundational patents to extract more than $100 million from its rivals. The patents reached back to the medium's origins: a 1966 prototype from which the first home video game console - and, Magnavox argued, an entire industry - had sprung.
Nintendo saw things differently. As Super Mario Bros. conquered the world, the Japanese toymaker set out to prove that, not only had Magnavox not invented video games, but also the patents had even been fraudulently obtained. The case threatened to rewrite the medium's creation story. If Nintendo succeeded, Magnavox's patent empire could collapse.
Based on court records, interviews and previously unseen sources, Trial of the Space Invaders is the untold story of the lawsuit that defined modern gaming. Simon Parkin takes us on a thrilling journey from the birth of a new artform to its turning point, exposing the secret settlement that reshaped our culture.
For more than a decade, Magnavox had used a set of foundational patents to extract more than $100 million from its rivals. The patents reached back to the medium's origins: a 1966 prototype from which the first home video game console - and, Magnavox argued, an entire industry - had sprung.
Nintendo saw things differently. As Super Mario Bros. conquered the world, the Japanese toymaker set out to prove that, not only had Magnavox not invented video games, but also the patents had even been fraudulently obtained. The case threatened to rewrite the medium's creation story. If Nintendo succeeded, Magnavox's patent empire could collapse.
Based on court records, interviews and previously unseen sources, Trial of the Space Invaders is the untold story of the lawsuit that defined modern gaming. Simon Parkin takes us on a thrilling journey from the birth of a new artform to its turning point, exposing the secret settlement that reshaped our culture.
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN OF LENINGRADShortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the Royal Society Science Book Prize
'An astonishing story brilliantly told . . . It is as moving as it is gripping to read'
Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Endgame 1944
'A richly researched and meticulously observed account of a little-explored corner of 20th-century history'
Guardian PRAISE FOR THE ISLAND OF EXTRAORDINARY CAPTIVES:
Winner of the Wingate Prize
'Vivid and moving'
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Eye-opening, insightful and brilliantly written'
Daily Mirror
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Hodder & Stoughton
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
c. 30 integrated illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
508 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3997-1459-4 (9781399714594)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
approx. 01/2027
Sceptre
€14.99
Not yet available
Person
Simon Parkin is an award-winning British writer and journalist. He is a contributing writer for the New Yorker, Guardian and Observer, and is the author of A Game of Birds and Wolves, The Island of Extraordinary Captives, which won the Wingate Literary Prize, and The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the Royal Society Science Book Prize. His first book, Death by Video Game: Tales of obsession from the virtual frontline, was a New York Times Book Review 'Recommend Read' and his podcast, My Perfect Console, interviews with well-known guests about video games, has been picked as one of Time Out and Vulture's best podcasts. He lives in West Sussex.