A dive into the history of Italian video games in the 8-16-bit age, written by Ivan Venturi.

Absolutely subjective account of the birth of video games in Italy, a bit historical, a bit technical, very anecdotal, 1980s to early 1990s. 
 
Ivan Venturi, a pioneer of the Italian video game industry, narrates the birth and evolution of the video game industry in Italy, through his own direct experience from the 1970s to the 1990s: first, as a kid who was fond of arcade video games, then as an amateur developer on Commodore 64 and later the first programmer of the newly founded Simulmondo, up to the company's production management and the end of that experience that marked the history of Italian video games. Also, interviews with other professionals of the time (Interviews), and a brief summary of what happened next (16/32/64-bit Memories). At least until the publication date of the book!

KRING - LIFE OF VIDEOGAMES: 8-BIT MEMORIES ENG

A collection of the development notebooks of Ivan Venturi's-old-C64-games. Drawings, hexadecimal codes, bad words, thoughts of a young (at that time) videogame developer!

Ivan Venturi, Kring's old developer, was one of the first Italian video game programmers. He sold his first video game for Commodore 64 in 1987. Later, he co-founded the first Italian video game software-house called SIMULMONDO and became its production manager. 
For a few years he continued to develop C64 games (at that time it was hard to find people still able to make things for C64 -- but C64 games still had good sales). 
These are the scrapbooks Ivan made while developing those C64 games. 
 
If you are a retro-gamer, you will probably really enjoy them!

KRING - C64 SCRAPBOOKS

Complete your journey together with the Kring with the official artbook, a tribute to their journey together into the depths of the universe. 
Born of the developer Ivan Venturi's demon and now in your hands.

KRING - ARTBOOK

KRING is a psychedelic hand-drawn game which contains more than 10 different games. Clicker, Shoot'em Up, God Game, Runner, Platform, Beat'em Up and many other genres. A lot of secrets to unlock to discover new gameplay. You are the Kring God! Conquer the galaxy and defeat the Legendary Gods!

<video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/479787e302a558b496bb43e5ee83f83a.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=416 height=100 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/479787e302a558b496bb43e5ee83f83a.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/479787e302a558b496bb43e5ee83f83a.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video> KRING is a wacky clicker-arcade-adventure game with over 10 different games inside. CLICKER: basically, you have to click-click-click as much as possible, all the time, everywhere. ARCADE: in the various sections, you'll play lots of different arcade mechanics (always with the clicker-game 'twist') ADVENTURE: you'll go on an incredible adventure, raising the KRING army and then leading them against the Legendary Gods, to get your revenge! <video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/316eecaff791681db0a319d135f4507f.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=600 height=338 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/316eecaff791681db0a319d135f4507f.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/316eecaff791681db0a319d135f4507f.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video> You'll play CLICKER, BULLET HELL, TOP-DOWN PLATFORM, SIDE-SCROLLER PLATFORM, SHOOT'EM UP., BEAT'EM UP ... and other games where it's really hard to define the genre!<h2 class="bb_tag" >Meet the developer's demon</h2>.When a video game is created, the smaller the development team, the easier it is to enter the &quot;Identity,&quot; the soul of the developer. Kring was made by one person, one Ivan Venturi, an old-but-very-experienced Italian game developer. You play Kring and enter his Developer Identity: Dev.Id. Dev.Id is the developer's demon that unlocks Cheat Mode, the alternative game mode. To summon it you will have to type something in the main menu, but what? Perhaps this demon has released a game, perhaps on Steam, and is waiting for the game name to catch up with it. <video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/b51b5458bd8051dea69474c0c53ef0a5.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=600 height=338 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/b51b5458bd8051dea69474c0c53ef0a5.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/b51b5458bd8051dea69474c0c53ef0a5.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video><h2 class="bb_tag" >Learn about Random Design</h2>Kring was built piece by piece without following any initial blueprints or designs, and every part of the game was made following what was going through the head of an old guy who has been making games for a while. Crazy, psychedelic mini-games and off-the-wall game design. Read the instructions eh, be sure to read them! <video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/53c07465d94155ccdfed3f3850de4e84.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=600 height=338 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/53c07465d94155ccdfed3f3850de4e84.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/53c07465d94155ccdfed3f3850de4e84.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video><h2 class="bb_tag" >Minigames</h2>9 Minigames on Kring and 4 minigames in Limbo (for now!). Whether it's slaughtering Kring in the dimensional tunnel or going into Limbo to shoot flowery bullets at Gnarzl, all it will take is the clicks of your mouse to shake the universe ( very low magnitude, you're a lame god after all ) <video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/fcb27ce2b29f80ee8de1f31e756d6341.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=600 height=338 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/fcb27ce2b29f80ee8de1f31e756d6341.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/fcb27ce2b29f80ee8de1f31e756d6341.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video><h2 class="bb_tag" >Breed the Kring</h2>.As a loser god you are condemned to care for these...particularly unintelligent creatures. Raise, Feed and Protect the Kring breeds to unlock the next ones (there are 9, will you be able to unlock them all??) <video class="bb_img" autoplay muted loop playsinline poster="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/20eaad0ebf1e70f310aa0efe9bc688f3.poster.avif?t=1730120747" width=600 height=338 ><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/20eaad0ebf1e70f310aa0efe9bc688f3.webm?t=1730120747" type="video/webm; codecs=vp9"><source src="https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2068030/extras/20eaad0ebf1e70f310aa0efe9bc688f3.mp4?t=1730120747" type="video/mp4"></video><h2 class="bb_tag" >Give it to the SuperLegendary MegaGods</h2>.The Cool Gods have insulted and mocked you for too long, show them who the real SuperFool God is! Embark your BRAVE (...) Krings in the Tartarch and guide them into deep space, the portal planet, the dimensional tunnel and many other places as absurd as they are dangerous. Who knows, if you can get them to the end of the journey, maybe you will have a way to get revenge on the MegaGods.