The Ultimate History of Video Games

Paperback, 626 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2001 by Three Rivers Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-7615-3643-7
OCLC Number:: 2729541

(1 review)

Based on more than 500 first-hand interviews with the creative geniuses and inspired crazies who transformed a back-room novelty into a cultural phenomenon, The Ultimate History of Video Games is the definitive account of the brilliant, quirky, wacky world of electronic entertainment. Readers will discover the behind-the-scenes story of the games they grew up with - from Pong, Pac-Man and Mortal Kombat to Pokemon and beyond. They will follow the exploits of eccentric designers, insanely great programmers and manically driven entrepreneurs who wagered everything on a modern-day art form that no one thought would succeed. But succeed they did. This one-of-a-kind book is filled with invaluable insight from such industry giants as Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Pac-Man designer Toru Iwatani and hundreds more. It also includes such recent developments as the explosive launch of Sony's Playstation 2, the sudden fall of Sega and the coming …

Based on more than 500 first-hand interviews with the creative geniuses and inspired crazies who transformed a back-room novelty into a cultural phenomenon, The Ultimate History of Video Games is the definitive account of the brilliant, quirky, wacky world of electronic entertainment. Readers will discover the behind-the-scenes story of the games they grew up with - from Pong, Pac-Man and Mortal Kombat to Pokemon and beyond. They will follow the exploits of eccentric designers, insanely great programmers and manically driven entrepreneurs who wagered everything on a modern-day art form that no one thought would succeed. But succeed they did. This one-of-a-kind book is filled with invaluable insight from such industry giants as Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Pac-Man designer Toru Iwatani and hundreds more. It also includes such recent developments as the explosive launch of Sony's Playstation 2, the sudden fall of Sega and the coming thunder of Microsoft's Xbox. Entertaining, addictive and as mesmerizing as its subject, this book is a must-have for anyone who's ever touched a joystick.

1 edition

dankeck reviewed The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven L. Kent

Review of 'The Ultimate History of Video Games' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I'll echo what a lot of other reviewers said. The first half of this book is absolutely fascinating, but as it progresses into the 1990s it gets increasingly dull. The behind-the-scenes look at Atari and other early electronic gaming companies gets supplanted by a tedious series of announcements by Sega, Sony, and Nintendo at trade shows. It's probably not the author's fault; there were probably just less interesting things going on (or the employees of these companies were less willing to tell juicy stories than ex-Atari employees were.)

Subjects

Video games
Electronic games

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