Invasion of the Space Invaders

Invasion of the Space Invaders: An Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machines is a 1982 nonfiction book on video games by the British author Martin Amis. The foreword is written by fellow arcade game enthusiast Steven Spielberg. Writing in The Village Voice, U.S. author Paul Collins described the book as "completely endearing in its utter dorkiness",[1] while English writer and videogame enthusiast Simon Parkin in The Guardian described it as "a valuable snapshot of early critical thinking about video games".[2]

The book comprises three parts: a survey of the 1980s arcade scene in New York City, London, Paris and elsewhere, with Amis's musings on video games as a phenomenon; cheat sheets with tips and tricks for 20 prominent games, including Space Invaders, Defender and Pac-Man; and a look to the future with the impending arrival of home gaming.[3] Amis's fascination and enthusiasm for his subject are apparent, but he does strike an admonishing tone at times, even going so far as to say that video gaming is "morally ambiguous". Contrary to some claims, Amis never "disowned" the book, despite its great dissimilarity to the rest of his oeuvre.[2]

The book was written concurrently with Money.[3] Originally published by Hutchinson, it was allowed to go out of print; as a result, second-hand copies were able to command "stratospheric" prices until it was republished by Jonathan Cape in 2018.[2]