The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
by Steven L. Kent
List Price:
Our Price: $11.79
You Save: $8.16 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Steven L. KentEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-06
ISBN: 0761536434
Number of pages: 624
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Reviews of The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
Book Review: A somewhat lacking history of videogames industry
Summary: 2 Stars
The actual title of the book would have been "The Ultimate History of U.S. Videogames Industry". The whole text is very U.S. and Japan centered, while Europe is almost absent: Acorn, Rainbow Arts and Infogrames, just to name few, are not even cited, while Sinclair and ZX Spectrum deserve three lines of text on the overall 500 pages.
The point of view is extremely focused on Atari, Nintendo and Sega: Mattel Intellivision is dismissed in less than three pages, Philips VideoPac is completely non-existent.
Many ground-breaking all-time classics are not present at all: Galaga, Moon Patrol, Dig Dug, Tomb Raider, Sid Meier's Civilization, Elite, SimCity, Command & Conquer, Quake...
Interactive Fiction is ignored altogether: even Infocom's "Zork" is nonchalantly bypassed despite its million copies sold.
The book is very well documented on various trials between industry firms, which may or may not interest the reader: but again, this is the history of the industry, not of videogames themselves: for this, you have to definitely look elsewhere.
More The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
Inside the Games You Grew Up with but Never ForgotWith all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade. The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. From the arcade to television and from the PC to the handheld device, video games have entraced kids at heart for nearly 30 years. And author and gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning.
This engrossing book tells the incredible tale of how this backroom novelty transformed into a cultural phenomenon. Through meticulous research and personal interviews with hundreds of industry luminaries, you'll read firsthand accounts of how yesterday's games like Space Invaders, Centipede, and Pac-Man helped create an arcade culture that defined a generation, and how today's empires like Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have galvanized a multibillion-dollar industry and a new generation of games. Inside, you'll discover:
?The video game that saved Nintendo from bankruptcy
?The serendipitous story of Pac-Man's design
?The misstep that helped topple Atari's $2 billion-a-year empire
?The coin shortage caused by Space Invaders
?The fascinating reasons behind the rise, fall, and rebirth of Sega
?And much more!
Entertaining, addictive, and as mesmerizing as the games it chronicles, this book is a must-have for anyone who's ever touched a joystick.
Pokemon Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Computer history
In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters, Second Editionby Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman
Apress; Published: 2006-09-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.04
Price in other shops:
Microserfsby Douglas Coupland
Harper Perennial; Published: 1996-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the Worldby Steven L. Kent
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2001-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.87
Price in other shops:
Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Dateby Robert X. Cringely
Collins Business; Published: 1996-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.12
Price in other shops:
The Soul Of A New Machineby Tracy Kidder
Back Bay Books; Published: 2000-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops:
The Second Coming of Steve Jobsby Alan Deutschman
Broadway; Published: 2001-09-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.90
Price in other shops:
Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Ageby Michael A. Hiltzik
Collins Business; Published: 2000-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industryby John Markoff
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.83
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984by Van Burnham
The MIT Press; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.07
Price in other shops:
Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Lifeby Chris Kohler
BRADY GAMES; Published: 2004-09-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $128.88
Game Design: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition) (Wordware Game Developer's Library)by Richard Rouse III
Jones & Bartlett Publishers; Published: 2004-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.00
Price in other shops:
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentalsby Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman
The MIT Press; Published: 2003-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $37.01
Price in other shops:
Guinness World Records Gamer's Editionby Guinness World Records
Time Inc Home Entertainment; Published: 2008-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $28.45
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Designby Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten
Lone Eagle; Published: 2008-01-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.89
Price in other shops:
Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centersby Brian Ashcraft
Kodansha International; Published: 2009-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.25
Price in other shops:
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Cultureby David Kushner
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2004-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Paid to Play: An Insider's Guide to Video Game Careersby Alice Rush, David Hodgson, Bryan Stratton
Prima Games; Published: 2006-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.46
Price in other shops:
ARCADE FEVER The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Gamesby John Sellers
Running Press; Published: 2001-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.69