The period between 1983 and 1985 marked the beginning of a series of processes and dynamics that would inform the nature of video game production, distribution and consumption in Italy throughout the rest of the decade and into the first half of the 1990s. Launched in Italy in March 1983, the Commodore 64 quickly became the preferred microcomputer for Italian players, thanks to an aggressive price policy and an often informal but efficient distribution network (Tarantino & Tosoni, 2017). C64s were sold in home appliances stores, in music stores, in general electronic stores, or bought via mail order from Germany. In the same period, a number of publications designed to capture the interest of microcomputer owners started emerging. Books such as Il mio primo libro sui computer [My First Computer Book](Novelli, 1983), Il mio rimo libro di Basic [My First Basic Textbook] (Novelli, 1984) served the didactic purpose of introducing home computing to adolescents and young adults. Magazines such as Electronic Games, HC-Home Computers, and Computer Games offered video game criticism and technical information on the use of home computers in varying proportions. With the translation, released by the prestigious publisher Feltrinelli in 1985, of Micromania. The Whole Truth About Computers (Platt, WELL PLAYED 55 1984), a semi-serious account of computer culture for the general audience, it might be said that computers had become recognized household objects and gained prominence in social discourses.
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