Book Description
As computer games become more and more like Hollywood productions, the need for good story lines increases. Research shows that stories are highly valued by game players, so today's studios and developers need good writers. Creating narrative - a traditionally static form - for games is a major challenge. Games are at their heart dynamic, interactive systems, so they don't follow the guidelines and rules of film or T.V. writing. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames addresses these issues and is the first book written to demystify this emerging field. Through the insights and experiences of practicing game writers, the book captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today's game industry. This unique collection of practical articles provides the foundations to the craft of game writing. The articles, written by member of the International Game Developer's (IDGA) Game Writer's SIG, detail aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and non-linear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters. Throughout the articles there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have. The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, and is a detailed guide to all the techniques of game writing. This book is an essential read for anyone wishing to get into this exciting field, particularly for new game writers wanting to hone their skills, and film and T.V. scriptwriters who want to learn how to transfer their skills to the games industry.
Customer Reviews:
Great for knowledge on how video games are made.......2007-03-12
Great book for seeing how video games are made!
Good, but Focused.......2006-12-30
This is a good book. It suffers from having multiple authors in that it lacks the consistent tone that most writng books have, but all the writng is still good.
It is focused on the interface betwen the writer, the game, and the team, and is long on cautionary points. It will be of value to anyone who is writing, producing, or leading all or part of a game team, particularly if they lack practical experience.
If you are only interested in a book about writing for games, Lee Sheldon's 'Character Development and Storytelling for Games' is probably a better choice, but if you are intending or actually writing game, or working with a game writer, this is a good read and a potentially vital resource.
A 'must' for any video or computer game writer........2006-10-14
Computer games are becoming more like Hollywood productions, requiring good plots and valued story lines which use good narrative styles. In Chris Bateman, Editor's Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames are practical articles on how to do so, written by members of the International Game Developer's Association and covering all kinds of game writing, from comedy to plots. A 'must' for any video or computer game writer.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Bringing a Story to Computer Games.......2006-08-10
The days of the super simple games like Pac-Man are long gone. Today's games must entertain with all the finesse and skill of a Hollywood movie. This is not to say that a game must be all narrative, neither is a movie.
This book is the first complete guide to writing stories for games. They are not stories alone, that would just be a book. But nor are they just action games. They are games with a story.
The book is edited by Chris Bateman, an expert in market oriented game design and narrative. He has gotten an even dozen of game developers to contribute in various aspects. They range from game developers to writers, to educators, to journalists. Each is able to bring his/her own insight to the book and to the writing profession.
As computers, software, game engines (and always more memory) develop, games can grow more powerful, more lifelike, more movie like.
Book Description
Fired from a job he hated at a company he loved, videogame designer Paul Reynolds is drowning his sorrows in late-morning margaritas when he meets an alluring, pink-haired conwoman named Chloe. With her gang of techno-pirate friends, Chloe helps Paul not only take revenge on his former employers, but also extort a small fortune from them in the process. What more could a recently unemployed, over-worked videogame designer in Silicon Valley ask for? In return for Chloe's help, Paul agrees to create counterfeit comic books for one of her crew's criminal schemes. In the process finds himself drawn right into the center of their wild, seductive, underground world. He falls in for their fun loving, drug fueled "off the grid" lifestyle almost as fast as he falls head over heels for Chloe. Wary of the Crew's darker side, but eager to impress both the girl and the gang, Paul uses his game design expertise to invent a masterful con of his own. If all goes according to plan, it will be one for the ages. But can he trust any of them, or is he the one who's really being conned? Inspired by author Rick Dakan's own eventful experiences in the videogame and comic book industries, "Geek Mafia", satisfies the hunger in all of us to buck the system, take revenge on corporate America, and live a life of excitement and adventure.
Customer Reviews:
What Swordfish wanted to be.......2007-06-13
G33k Mafia is a blast! This book is written with the freedom of the Illuminatus! Trilogy (but without the sheer confusion of the absurd), with the free-wheeling sensibility of Still Life With Woodpecker (but without quite so much ideology), and a bit of every fun con-job movie you've ever seen tossed in with a dash of BoingBoing for fun.
It's an indie press title, and occassionally it shows - but that's almost always in things like a missed typo here, or a homonym replacement there. They're few and sporadic, and don't detract from the quality of the story.
And the story - well. Its only ideological treatise is that "freedom is good", in a very chaotic-good kind of way. In a rare instance, the backjacket blurb does a good job summarizing the plot - "comicbook writer cum game designer is about to get fired when sexy con lady and her gang of friends help him screw over those about to screw him over - and his life is never the same" is an even shorter summation.
Either summary does this story a disservice - it's a plot-driven vehicle with quirky characters, all of which remind me (at least a little) of people I've met. And that vehicle drives down a twisty road - not so twisty that you can't guess about where you'll end up (that's pretty obvious from the beginning), but you won't end up exactly where you thought you were headed, and the way you get there's got a few surprises up ahead.
Well worth the price of admission. It's what Swordfish wanted to be - and failed.
Wonderful plot.......2007-05-30
Very entertaining, the characters were well thought out and a great departure from everyday. It made for excellent thrill and suspense. Some typo's but like most of the reviewers before me, would not even hold you back except for the temporary shock at actually seeing an obvious typo. It would be an excellent movie, I hope to watch it some day.
great suspense story with a geek flair.......2007-05-15
A definite thumbs up for those that enjoy the suspense, thriller genre. I especially enjoyed how the story evolves around high-tech scams with a lot of human element mixed in. Dakan does a good job of giving you enough technical mumbo-jumbo to make it believable, without going into the deeper issues/details where most authors get tripped up. Like 24...I hate how they're always saying "open a socket into his PC." A socket? Obviously the writers don't know what a socket is, how it's used or have the time/energy to look it up. Maybe they're thinking of a socket wrench?
Regardless, Geek Mafia is a good story and a pretty quick read at just under 300 pages. I highly recommend it.
The perfect summer book........2007-05-10
One of the most fun fiction book I've read in a long time. Kind of a "Point Break" for geeks.
However, there are grammar and punctuation errors throughout. There are even obvious typos! So if that kind of stuff drives you nuts, you may want to skip it.
Didn't bother me at all, and I read the whole book in 3 sittings. Would be a great movie.
A fun little story.......2007-02-28
Paul Reynolds' business partners have just told him that his services are no longer required at the company he helped establish. A band of free-wheeling, high-tech scam artists, led by the beautiful Chloe, offer to help him obtain the severance package he feels he deserves. Now Paul is becoming ever more involved with Chloe and her crew, leading a more exciting -- and dangerous -- life than he ever imagined.
I first learned about Rick Dakan's Geek Mafia through some online advertising he did. Whether he ever recouped this investment, I admire an author who is aggressive enough to put advertising money where his pen is. And Geek Mafia deserves Dakan's vote of self-confidence. The novel reads like a fun Hollywood motion picture, filled with colorful characters, fast action and escalating double-crosses. Geek Mafia may also share some implausibilities with summer popcorn flicks -- how is it that beautiful women always fall so quickly and soundly for the nerdy nice guys in these stories -- but so what? The point here is simple enjoyment, and Geek Mafia delivers.
Book Description
Pac-Man. Frogger. Super Mario Bros. These classic videogames are burned into the collective consciousness of an entire generation, thanks to countless hours spent at pizza parlors and bowling alleys across the country. Now artists such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Ashley Wood put their memories to paper, canvas, and wood to create original works of art inspired by the art of the videogame. Chuck Klosterman shares his thoughts in his distinctively insightful and entertaining style in a foreword on how videogames created a new playground for artistic expression. With more than 100 thought-provoking, amusing, and simply fun pieces of original art, i am 8-bit is a pixilated stroll down memory lane.
Customer Reviews:
Take pop appreciation to a new level.......2007-01-12
Coffee table or bookcase, this book is for the most artistic of videogame fans, as well as those that appreciate mixed media with their pop culture. Joust, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Q-Bert and more are all displayed like you've never seen them by talented artists. The nostalgia is thick and sweet smelling; a feeling that few will appreciate to it's fullest. Highly recommended for artists and nerds alike. Also check out Arcade Fever and Supercade for the history behind our favorite up up down down history.
IN 8-BIT WE TRUST!.......2006-08-23
"I AM 8-BIT" is a must have for those old school fanatics who long for another golden era... one of the best books ever made. Buy it now!!!
art is neato........2006-05-14
this book is a great collection of established and up and coming artists interpreting classic video games. what more could you want?
Pop Art a la '80s.......2006-05-13
First and foremost, this book makes a wonderful inexpensive gift for anyone who grew up in the '80s playing the 'ole 8-bit video systems and still has a bit of nostalgia for those simpler times. It's also pretty neat as a bound exhibit of how pop culture can be transformed into art that's actually quite captivating. About 70 artists contributed works, and the medium of choice is definitely oil and acrylic paint, with a fair number of mixed media pieces thrown in. The styles vary wildly, with influences ranging from surrealism to manga to skateboard art to graffiti to crafting to abstract to pixelation and on and on. It's actually a pretty decent overview of modern pop art sensibilities.
In terms of subject matter, far and away the most prevalent "inspirations" are from the Donkey Kong/Mario Bros. franchise, with Pac Man coming in next, and Frogger, Zelda, and Dig Dug also getting much play. However, some of the best pieces are from less popular games, like Tim Tomkinson's "Duck Hunter S. Thompson" mashup of a portrait of the gonzo journalist with the Sega "Duck Hunter" graphics, Jim Rugg's faux poster for a pro wrestling event featuring characters from the Nintendo wrestling game, or Jason Sho Green's pen and ink "Tantric Tetris". On the whole it's a very fun, well-designed book, nicely produced, and sure to bring a smile to many 30somethings. It's worth noting that I like Chuck Klosterman too, but his foreword is pretty slim, maybe 500 words, so don't buy it for that!
Rad, Awesome, and Other '80s Reactions Inspired by This Book.......2006-04-24
Where do I start? I found this gem listed under books from Chuck Klosterman, who I think speaks for an entire generation of 30-somethings raised on bad rock bands and crappy John Hughes movies. I gave it a shot, and wasn't disappointed!
In typical Chuck fashion, he analyzes video games and why they had an indelible affect on the childhoods of guys like me who spent about $3 million in quarters on Yie Ar Kung Fu (and why, 20 years later, guys i tell this to completely understand). For Klosterman fans, this is worth half the price right here.
But that's just 2% of the book! The rest is filled with totally awesome art that's hard to describe because I've never really seen anything like it--it's not advertising art, or game screenshots, or concept art from games. I guess it's just like the sub-title says, artwork inspired by what the artists played as kids in the 80's, but it's still hard to understand until you actually see it.
And what's really cool are the pieces that have quotes from the artists explaining their inspirations, why they used a particular game, or just random game memories--really funny stuff!
My favorites are:
1) Excitebike: Cool blocky render of a classic. Made me remember how I'd build my own track and line up all those turbo things.
2) Mega Man: I recognize this artist, Tim Biskup, from Juxtapoz and Super 7 magazines. Cool!
3) Don't Be a 2nd Player Hater (Luigi for Sheezy): Luigi pimped out like Snoop. Hilarious, yo!
4) Pac-Man in Hospice: This gives me nightmares. Especially the Frogger frog.
5) Record Dug Digger: Cross between skateboard art (in a good way) and NY graffiti. Trust me, it's awesome!
Other games I recognized include more mainstream stuff like Joust and Space Invaders to games that are a little more esoteric, like Contra, 720, Kid Icarus, and that weird robot thing that came with the NES. If you're a fan of the classics, I highly recommend it!
Book Description
A feast for the eyes with literally thousands of vivid, high-resolution screen shots, this book provides a comprehensive visual tour through the world of PC and video gaming. Sorted by genre, 150 of the most exciting current software titles are reviewed with information of interest to players, parents, and industry professionals. Each game is featured in a two-page spread that includes detailed game summary, analysis, and strategy, nine representative in-game screen shots, games with similar skill and strategy requirements, appropriate age range, ESRB content ratings, complete technological specifications, and more. Feature stories are included throughout the book, covering game-related topics such as multiplayer online gaming, games in movies, and the future of gaming. The book also includes useful reference tools such as an illustrated glossary, an overview of game publishers, and information on current and upcoming hardware platforms such as Sony's new PS3 and Nintendo's Wii.
Customer Reviews:
Really Good, and about time!.......2007-01-05
I found this to be a really good book! Its got some really nice editorials, which most reviewers dont give to much credit for. Most of them open the book and say "Oh, its just a catalog" but if you look and read through, it has some articles about the future of gaming and research on gaming. And a quick look at video game heros.
The book, has a list over major tittles of 2006, which in its self is really good, because it gives you an idea of what games you might like, if you liked a specific tittle.
And Volume 2 Will be more in-depth then the first, and they are going to make a nostalgia one too! Which im looking forward too!
This book is a really nice guide to parents and alike, as it gives you insite to what games are good for your children ect.
Needs less cataloguing and more history.......2006-12-27
This book reads more like a catalog than I expected. I was hoping for a comprehensive history and documentation of video games, but instead, it feels like the same information you get from a video game review website.
Great resource.......2006-12-16
Based on the reviews in the book, I just found a game that is perfect for mye nephew. I'm looking forward to Volume 2
Book Description
In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames. Moreover, this approach can be applied beyond videogames: Bogost suggests that any medium--from videogames to poetry, literature, cinema, or art--can be read as a configurative system of discrete, interlocking units of meaning, and he illustrates this method of analysis with examples from all these fields. The marriage of literary theory and information technology, he argues, will help humanists take technology more seriously and hep technologists better understand software and videogames as cultural artifacts. This approach is especially useful for the comparative analysis of digital and nondigital artifacts and allows scholars from other fields who are interested in studying videogames to avoid the esoteric isolation of "game studies."
The richness of Bogost's comparative approach can be seen in his discussions of works by such philosophers and theorists as Plato, Badiou, Zizek, and McLuhan, and in his analysis of numerous videogames including Pong, Half-Life, and Star Wars Galaxies. Bogost draws on object technology and complex adaptive systems theory for his method of unit analysis, underscoring the configurative aspects of a wide variety of human processes. His extended analysis of freedom in large virtual spaces examines Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and Joyce's Ulysses. In Unit Operations, Bogost not only offers a new methodology for videogame criticism but argues for the possibility of real collaboration between the humanities and information technology.
Customer Reviews:
I've Become... Smarter.......2007-01-01
A bulging boutique of bottom-up beats bearing from baroque battles to bogus babalities.
Criticism Reloaded.......2006-03-29
Unit Operations is every bit as brilliant - and damn fun a read - as those of us lucky enough to've had early glimpses at Bogost's project had hoped.
It's tempting to write a review of this book in the form of a treatment for a mega-million-dollar console game, and that temptation seems to me no accident: this book will change the way you pay attention to ALL, in both senses of the word, coded systems you yourself use.
The backstory of the book's authoring is itself almost too Hollywood (or new Hollywood, since EA, Blizzard, and LucasArts are the MGM, WB, and Disney of our era): author was a Chief Technology Officer for an A-list interactive marketing agency in L.A.; author leaves the biz to become a professor working on recombining the DNA (and languages and ontologies) of software development with the DNA (and languages and ontologies) of literary and cultural criticism; his mutant creation is now on the loose.
Your mission, reader, is to...
To what? Because in the game of Unit Operations, the first-person shooter is transformed into something of an Eleatic archer: where before our attention would just race to the next target, Unit Operations teaches us new ways to listen to the Bow.
The open-source software movement has from its beginning been particularly well-attuned to games with written language's units of operation. Unit Operations provides a long-awaited common ground for both technological and literary culture.
Not since first reading Geertz' Interpretation of Cultures have I had the sense of encountering so path-breaking a work in the level of its critical innovation and the clarity of its readings.
Book Description
It was a time when technology was king, status was determined by your high score, and videogames were blitzing the world...
From Pong to Pac-Man, Asteroids to Zaxxon--more than fifty million people around the world have come of age within the electronic flux of videogames, their subconscious forever etched with images projected from arcade and home videogame systems.
From the first interactive blips of electronic light at Brookhaven National Labs and the creation of Spacewar! at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; to the invention of the TV Game Project and the myriad systems of Magnavox, Atari, Coleco, and Mattel that followed; through the rise of the Golden Age of videogames and forward into the imagination of millions, Supercade is the first book to illustrate and document the history, legacy, and visual language of the videogame phenomenon.
Exuberantly written and illustrated in full color, Supercade pays tribute to the technology, games, and visionaries of one of the most influential periods in the history of computer science--one that profoundly shaped the modern technological landscape and helped change the way people view entertainment.
Supercade includes contributions from such commentators and particpants as Ralph Baer, Julian Dibbell, Keith Feinstein, Joe Fielder, Lauren Fielder, Justin Hall, Leonard Herman, Steven Johnson, Steven Kent, Nick Montfort, Bob Parks, Carl Steadman, and Tom Vanderbilt.
Customer Reviews:
large, big book.......2007-05-10
this is a rather large book, more of a visual treat than a book. It has a generous helping of photographs, all of them in colour. That alone is worth the price of the book. A good coffee table book.
Highyl recommended!.......2007-01-12
If you have any love of video games beyond your couch, this book will make a great addition to your library. If you have a superiority complex and need to out-snob your friends about the history of Pong and where the name Donkey Kong comes from- buy this book now. Also recommended- Arcade Fever, I am 8-Bit, Everything Bad is Good for You.
A trip down memory lane.......2006-02-22
A really fun book ... and one that conjures memories of the old days of video gaming. I had forgotten some of the games and graphics of those early years, and it was fun and interesting to read and see them again. This book is as much about the photos and graphic layout as the text, but make sure to read it ... the text is insightful, well-researched, and thorough. I can relate to Van Burnham's personal recollections and her weaving of those experiences into the history of videogaming makes this book memorable and remarkable. Gotta go ... I've got to figure out how to get my Colecovision hooked up to a plasma for a round of Mr. Do!
An Affable Arcade Tome.......2005-04-08
Great for a trip down memory lane, but certainly not a "scholarly" approach to the videogame era. Still searching for a book that takes the most academic approach to this medium, but this one is certainly appealing if a bit irreverent in terms of its overall presentation.
Supercade SuperNostalgia.......2004-09-21
Whatever they say about poor snapshot graphics, this is definitively a great book.
The shape, the colours, the weight itself..and obviously all what is written inside, is pure golden age videogames history.
The most famous (and not so famous) arcades are reviewed, with lot of infos about.
Absolutely recommended for arcade fans, I loved so much reading this book. The nice thing about it is that you will read it again and again and again.
A whole era completely in your hand. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. A must have. A piece of modern history.
Amazon.com
Steven Poole's substantial examination of the world inside your console combines an exhaustive history of the games industry with a subtle look at what makes certain kinds of games more engaging than others. For example, what works in which genres--the RPG (role-playing game) versus the god game--and the relationship of video games to other forms of media.
A writer and composer, Poole makes the case that video games--like films and popular music--deserve serious critical treatment: "The inner life of video games--how they work--is bound up with the inner life of the player. And the player's response to a well-designed video game is in part the same sort of response he or she has to a film, or to a painting: it is an aesthetic one." Trigger Happy is packed with references not just to games and game history but also to writers and theorists who may never have played a video game in their lives, from Adorno and Benjamin to Plato. At times this approach verges on the pedantic, dwelling at length on points that will seem obvious to serious gamers ("We don't want absolutely real situations in video games. We can get that at home"; "The fighting game, like fighting itself, will always be popular"). Nonetheless, Poole's book may be favored bedside reading for both the keen gamer and the armchair philosopher looking to understand this cultural phenomenon. --Liz Bailey, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
The Edge calls Trigger Happy a "seminal piece of work." For the first time ever, an aficionado with a knowledge of art, culture, and a real love of gaming takes a critical look at the future of our videogames, and compares their aesthetic and economic impact on society to that of film. Thirty years after the invention of the simplest of games, more videogames are played by adults than children. This revolutionary book is the first-ever academically worthy and deeply engaging critique of one of today's most popular forms of play: videogames are on track to supersede movies as the most innovative form of entertainment in the new century.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Piece of Literature.......2004-02-10
This book is not a list of dates and events, it is an insightful look into what videogames really are, and their paradoxes and parallels to the real world. I normally dislike reading books without a story, but I literally had trouble putting this down. "I should go to sleep... one more page... okay, lemme just finish this chapter." Buy it now.
Nice... but where's the rest?.......2003-05-04
Poole has a good point to make, and he makes it in the first chapter (that gamers are not social outcasts and games are a form of storytelling every bit as viable as film or literature). Unfortunately, he has about fifty other half-points to make and never finishes a single one of them. He makes a huge deal out of gender (hello... women have made up a nice percentage of gamers since the Pac-Man days!), which seems really counterproductive. His memoir-like descriptions of E3 and its Tokyo equivalent are entertaining, and he is a gifted writer, but 'Trigger Happy' reads like a conversation with a friend who missed an entire generation of gaming.
A bit more please........2003-02-12
February 11, 2003
I'm a game player, but nowhere near the enthusiast that
many young men (and women, says author Poole) have
become today. I don't own an expensive home system,
unless you count my computer, but I am old enough to
remember most of the video game revolution of the 70's.
I found `Trigger Happy' a little too dedicated to the
examination of form (and only a few sorts of forms at
that).
Some of Poole's conclusions about the psychology behind
game-playing and game-evolution are interesting, but others
are downright tedious. (The evolution and complex
significance of the power up?) More interesting areas are
available that he jumps over, unless a companion effort is
in the making. There should be more testimony here. From
gamers, addicts, designers, doctors, marketers, Hollywood,
you name it.
Video games are huge, will become more huge, and might
some day begin playing us, who knows? As a person with a
possible future endlessly jumping over flaming barrels, I'd
like something a little more substantial.
Bland at best........2002-11-21
This book refers to the psychological impact of games, or rather, it tries to. Author Steven Poole even admits to not enjoying playing games, so what business does he have writing a book about them? Somewhat informative, but very dry. Print quality is also average--The pictures look as if they were photocopied in a convenience store.
Doesn't go far enough.......2002-07-23
An intelligent, broad ranging discussion of videogames. Poole is right to regard videogames as a medium, and one that needs to be evaluated on its own terms instead of compared with books or movies. He brings in an intriguing array of references on art, semiotics, literary theory and other topics to the discussion, and his writing is accessible and smooth.
The flaw in this book is focussing too narrowly on twitch games, mostly the combat/exploration games like Tomb Raider or Metal Gear Solid. Poole can't be bothered with god-games like Populous or Sim-City or pure exploration-puzzle games like Myst, and says as much. He misses out on a huge realm of other styles of game and playing experience. This is a shame, because Poole looks like he has the intellectual chops to write a comprehensive book on this subject.
Pool is on to something in the last chapter, when he theorizes that the next frontier is making the player feel responsible for his decisions in the game world. You might feel bad when Aeris buys it in Final Fantasy VII, but it was in a cut scene so you don't feel responsible because it was beyond your control.
For the reasons Poole discusses earlier, this is hard to do in an adventure-style game. If a character dies in a cut scene, it isn't your fault. If she dies in gameplay, you just keep playing it through until she lives. (Kirk didn't accept the no-win situation; why should you?)
However, this is where his distaste for god-games trips him up. Players of Civilization or other management games don't have easy replay buttons. Anybody whose sim-city burns because they under-funded the fire department knows all about actions and consequences. We care about a place if we build it. We don't care about a place if we just wander around shooting things in it.
Also, instilling responsibility in games may be a dead end. Arguably, the whole point of play is to avoid responsibility. Play is a separate realm in which success or failure don't matter in the rest of world. Creating consequences for our actions in a game world would make it too much like work.
This may be why some people find on-line games so addictive. They become like work, instead of play, because there are consequences if you don't play hard enough. You can let down the other players, and your enemies can attack what you have created.
Poole doesn't write about on-line multi-player games, because they barely existed when he wrote this, only a couple of years ago. I think he could write another intriguing book on the subject, if he would just take his eyes off Lara Croft and take a walk through Riven.
Product Description
THE REAL STORY BEHIND VIDEOGAMES Long before there was a Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo Gamecube, there was the Magnavox Odyssey, the worlds first home videogame console. But the story of videogames predates the Odyssey by six years. It begins in 1966 when a television engineer named Ralph H. Baer sat down at a New York bus station and entered history. Videogames: In The Beginning is Ralph H. Baers account of how todays $11-billion per year videogame industry began. A meticulous note keeper, Baer presents in his own words the real story of what led to the Odyssey
and beyond. But he doesnt end there. In this book Baer also examines other products that he has worked on such as Simon, the most popular electronic toy ever created. He also discusses his pioneering work into early forms of CD-ROMs and digital imagery. Whether you are a student of videogame design, a game player, or a fan of inventions and history, you are sure to find Baers history fascinating and informative. Included in this book are: The actual four-page treatise that Baer presented to his employers Original schematics and photos of the first videogame prototypes Original top secret internal notes and memos Original United States patents
Customer Reviews:
"In the beginning" from the man who said"Let there be light".......2005-05-01
Ralph Baer is the genius who ushered in the age of videogames with his "brown box" and the Magnavox Odyssey. If you were unfamiliar with his name, or just want to read about the incredibly influential, varied and imaginative work of a true artisan - get this book!
I've spent over a decade chronicling the history of videogames through the museum exhibit VIDEOTOPIA and I'd suggest you don't miss out on this book. To get such a detailed and intimate look at a true pioneer of the digital age is a rare, rare treat. Ralph Baer is a gentleman, a scholar and an inventor of incredible skill. You'll be amazed at the extent of his creations (and just how many of them that you are familiar with - you just didn't know HE created them!)
Videogames are the sole reason for the information revolution that we are living through today. There might have been an internet without them - but without them, there'd be no one ON that internet except for academics. There is simply no reason for computers to have all the vast capabilities that they have today in speed and visualization if their sole purposes were for word processing and spreadsheets. Videogames are the engine that have driven the industry, and Ralph Baer was the first one to turn the key and fire that engine up.
Owning this book is like being able to page through Edison's notebooks or thumb through Columbus's diaries as he charted a course for a new world... Just like Columbus, Ralph Baer did chart a course to a new world (and just like Columbus - he couldn't conceive of exactly what that world we be like, or where the discoveries would take us)... and you are looking for books within it right now!
Review -- "Videogames: In the Beginning".......2005-04-27
All I knew about Baer was that he's the controversial inventor of videogame console systems. I was skeptical of the stories I'd heard, but decided to give his side a read.
I am now convinced: even if the concept of videogames had never been a part of his life, he is still a man to be revered by us computer nerds, and his life story would still be worth reading, still one the rest of us can learn from - I sure did.
(To read the full review, please visit http://news.computercollector.com)
Book Description
What started as a game of Pong, with little blips dancing across a computer screen, has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry that is changing the future, making inroads into virtually all aspects of our culture.Who are the minds behind this revolution? How did it happen? Where is it headed?
In Smartbomb, journalists Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby take the reader behind the scenes at gaming conventions, into powerhouse think tanks where new games are created, into the thick of the competition at cyberathlete tournaments, and into the homes of gamers for whom playing a role in a virtual world has assumed more relevance and reality than life in the real world.
Customer Reviews:
Just a few points short of a high score..........2006-05-17
THE GOOD: All things considered, Smartbomb is an excellent book. It's well paced and paints an exciting portrait of an exploding industry. Following in the footsteps of "Game Over", "Trigger Happy" and "Joystick Nation" the authors present a dynamic overview of the gaming scene. All the usual suspects are here (Miyamoto, Bushnell, Carmack...). Instead of just rehashing the same stories and personalities found in other books they manage to squeeze out a couple of new gems. Who knew that Will Wright has been working on "Spore" (aka "SimEverything") for 8 years now? Or that he wanted to call "The Sims", "SimDollhouse"? The bits on Miyamoto's family life and a clever retelling of his 'cave games' proved insightful. They also did a great job capturing the inventive atmosphere that spawned video games in the first place. Probably the most interesting (and frightening) section though, featured the American military's take on video games as a recruiting tool. The blunt nature of these conversations and giddy allusions to "Ender's Game" and kid soldiers left my jaw on the floor. The fact that the American government promotes this agenda while demonizing games as corruptors of youth speaks volumes.
THE BAD: As much as I enjoyed reading the accounts of those featured here, the overall aim of the book left something to be desired. While it's true that a Tony Hawk game can sell more copies than a Britney Spears album and no one will know who made it - generating some sort of "star culture" found in other industries won't help. If anything, it will damage the industry. There are already enough megalomaniacs chomping at the bit to earn the label of "the next Carmack" or "the next Miyamoto". The fact of the matter though is that people like Miyamoto and Carmack earned their chops back when teams were smaller, the stakes lower and projects much smaller in scope. Surely there will still be visionary characters that raise everyone else's game but it will most likely be a collection of individuals working together, shaping artificial reality as a cohesive whole. Not very sexy I'm afraid but that's really where we're at.
THE UGLY: This is more of a nit-picky game nerd thing but I found some of the inaccuracies in this book a little disappointing. Crediting Yu Suzuki as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog is like giving Michelangelo credit for painting the Mona Lisa. Luigi appeared in games before "Super" Mario Brothers, and it's QuakeCo"n" not QuakeCo"m". These are admittedly obnoxious things to point out but it made me wonder if some of the other sections of the book which I wasn't so familiar with were in fact accurate.
Criticism aside I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Hopefully more people will point to this book as a document of the exciting, positive aspects of video game development.
The Best Book about the Game Industry.......2006-04-17
Simply put, Smarbomb is well-written and insightful. The words on the page are enjoyable to read, and the portrayals of the movers and shakers of the industry are the kind of writing you usually find in award-winning literature.
This is rare -- writing about games is usually not very interesting nor does it presenting views that challenges or makes you think. Trust me, I know. I've worked as a video game designer, and read far too many books on the topic.
That's probably this book's biggest strength -- because of the way it's written anyone can enjoy it: gamers, game-makers, or people who've never played a game before in their life.
Fantastic overview.......2006-02-25
I read about the videogame industry constantly as part of my job, but I got more of an overview of the pioneers and personalities involved in the development & running of this industry.
The only complaint I had about the book was I thought it should have given more of a background about the 900 lb. gorilla in the industry--Electronic Arts. Even so, a very enjoyable book for anyone interested in how the videogame industry came about & the personalities behind it.
The history of how this country become involved in video games.......2006-02-07
The video game industry is big money these days, powered by a blend of computer geeks and business mavericks who have turned it into a big business - and Smartbomb: The Quest For Art, Entertainment, And Big Bucks In The Videogame Revolution traces the history of how this country become involved in video games. Authors Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby went on a five-year investigation into the history and technology of the video game explosion, gaining access to design labs and business meetings alike: Smartbomb examines both individuals and trends in a survey of models, legends, and achievement.
Great Read For Anyone That Plays Videogames.......2006-01-16
Smartbomb is a great book for anyone interested in the gaming industry. Whether you're currently working in (or trying to get in) the industry or if you're just the casual gamer that sometimes wonders who are some of the people that put out the top games. The people the authors "hang out with" throughout the book are icons of the gaming industry. Guys like Shigeru Myiamoto (Nintendo), Will Wright (The Sims), John Carmack (Doom), and many others are talked about in the book. Also, the book focus on some of the people and events that have made the game industry a huge success. Events such as CPL and GDC are just two of the many events covered throughout the book.
The only downside (if you can call it that) was the way the setting and time would change randomly within the same chapter. Other than that, the book is flawless.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn a little something about the "behind-the-scenes" business side of the gaming industry.
Amazon.com
This is a look at the revolution that changed the way we play video games. From the prototypical Space Wars, Hunt the Wumpus, and Adventure to modern shoot-em- ups, brain-busters and simulations. J. C. Herz examines what has kept us glued to screens and joysticks. It also explores how video games shaped the way those raised on them (like Herz herself) interact with their world. Joystick Nation gives an overview of video game history, interviews with the brains behind the most influential games, explorations of what makes various types of games work for various people, and even a peek into a major game development company during the critical countdown to a major release. Herz is a witty writer whose personal approach to the topic can resemble a riff by a stand-up comic. You'll find yourself nodding along with her reactions and smiling--maybe even laughing out loud.
Book Description
In a scant fifteen years, video and computer games have grown into a $6-billion-a-year global industry, sucking up ever-increasing amounts of leisure time and disposable income. In arcades, living rooms, student dorms, and (admit it) offices from Ohio to Osaka, video games have become a fixture in people's lives, marking a tectonic shift in the entertainment landscape.
Now, as Hollywood and Silicon Valley rush to sell us online interactive multimedia everything, J. C. Herz brings us the first popular history and critique of the video-game phenomenon. From the Cold War computer programmers who invented the first games (when they should have been working) to the studios where the networked 3-D theme parks of the future are created, Herz brings to life the secret history of Space Invaders, Pac Man, Super Mario, Myst, Doom, and other celebrated games. She explains why different kinds of games have taken hold (and what they say about the people who play them) and what we can expect from a generation that has logged millions of hours vanquishing digital demons.
Written with 64-bit energy and filled with Herz's sharp-edged insights and asides,
Joystick Nation is a fascinating pop culture odyssey that's must-reading for media junkies, pop historians, and anyone who pines for their old Atari.
Customer Reviews:
1997 Look, Still Relevant, Deeper Than Some May Think.......2004-07-31
This is a rich-kids/rich-parents book, in the sense that those who buy it probably will not think for an instant of the fact that 90% of the world will never, ever, play a video game or have a computer. Having said that, I give the book a solid four stars on three planes:
1) Believe it or not, this book is in vogue within Army training circles and has even been recommended to the Commanding General of the Special Operations Command.
2) As a parent of three boys, 15, 12, 9, this book helped me appreciate the "new" knowledge that they have which offsets my annoyance at their being online too much. Every parent of young teens who have at least one computer in their home should read this book or one of the alternative recommended books--it will increase your appreciation for them. On page 117 the book makes it clear that kids have *better* judgment than their parents in evaluating high-tech as well as in navigating cyber-space, because they have different metrics, different patterns that they apply.
3) For my young teen himself, I marked pages 94-97, 102, 105, 109, 118, 123-124, and 129-130. He read those, liked them, and agreed that he would like to read the book. Super!
The book's opening is packed with insights--we're entering third generation of kids, six generation of videogaming, 50 million adults have now been "programmed" by earlier gaming, it is moving us from passive watching to interactive manipulation, and--well before Microsoft got this--it is creating an adult generation (at least in the US and Japan) that is juggling sixteen different information streams at once, with a result that most adults--including US general officers--are in what is called "constant partial attention" mode all of the time.
The author touches upon but does not discuss the offsets of millions (more like billions) in lost-time cost to those who play at work, versus how it changes our productivity. A very nice timeline of game evolution from 1962 to 1996 is provided early on. Somewhat interesting to me is the author's observations that the games and the new computer power have not changed the "basic plots" which tend to pursue the same enduring patterns that Shakespeare and others did...
Relevant to Department of Defense and Homeland Security: on page 35 there is a discussion that confirms my long-held belief that while DoD investments in very expensive earlier generations of computers helped spawn the consumer industry, the time has come for DoD to get out of the unilateral C4I business, and concentrate on improving security and functionality for the generic whole. We must depart from secret unilateral expensive C4I systems, toward open (but secure) generic inexpensive systems that can be thrown away easily while the data is ported over. This merits emphasis--on page 77 the author emphasizes that as hardware and software get fancier, they actually make it *harder and more expensive* to port data forward, and the author suggests that the true test of a new system should be FIRST, its ease of "reach back" to old data, and ONLY then, its ability to excel with new data. This is an extremely important point that I am fairly certain neither CIA nor DoD nor JFCOM take seriously.
Page 41 is helpful in discussing the "wife/whore" mindset that prevents the US in particular from merging tools--one complete set for "work", one complete different set for "play", leading to the obvious point that lots of money could be saved, and functionality cross-migrated, if we could break out of this mindset trap.
Page 89 sums up some really excellent coverage of how the earlier games rocketed in both sales and sophistication because of their commitment to giving out free simplified samples and the open source code. If we are ever to stabilize the world, we need to learn from this: generic open source software, open source intelligence, and open spectrum are the heart of 21st Century peacekeeping and capitalism, and anyone that does not get this is part of the problem. Open source (3) is the key to harnessing COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE (great Google search).
Unexpectedly for me, the author covers the "model Prisoner of War" or gulag/sweatshop of the modern videogame industry, and for those aspiring to working in this field, absolutely worth the price of the book.
Three final points that many will miss:
1) The book does a good job of noting that most games represent a form of cultural imperialism, value-free games that promote dominance through violence, and are not nuanced at all.
2) Boy games and girl games are different because boys and girls are different--boy games focus on violence and take-over, girl games focus on problem solving and peacekeeping. Obvious thought to me: use them to cross train boys and girls with one another's strengths.
3) Games are limited in both possible outcomes, and in terms of who is able to create them. THEY DO NOT PROVIDE FOR THE FOG OF WAR--while useful in terms of improving *technical* skills, they are NOT a substitute for real-world training with respect to *judgment*, *nuance*, and *situational awareness*. These games are lacking INTELLIGENCE in the combat sense. I was reminded by this section of an old Isaac Asimov short story, in which the world evolved to where everyone had to qualify to run an "expert system" and those that did not were "executed." In the conclusion we learn that the ones executed were actually exported to a moon where they WROTE the expert systems, keeping the fiction alive that everything was okay with the machines back home. DoD is in that trap right now.
I liked this book--of the 10 or so recommended to the Special Operations leadership, this book and Marc Sageman's book on Understanding Terrorism are the only two that have been really worth my while.
hyperbolic and factually incorrect.......2004-02-12
Initially, Herz's enthusiasm is infectious, but her hyperbole soon becomes tiresome. As does David Sheff in *Game Over*, Herz finds practically every game and piece of software she writes about to be brilliant and exciting, even decidedly B-grade titles like *FX Fighter*. In addition, the book is full of factual errors. These are not restricted to statements about videogames: while her most egregious error is to claim that George Lucas was involved with the *Wing Commander* series, which Herz also suggests is related to *Star Wars*, she also writes that the 1980s pop group A-Ha are Swedish, when they are in fact Norwegian. While Herz manages to make some interesting comments about videogames, she arrives at them by accident, and later chapters degenerate into undirected rambles. The book's lack of a conclusion demonstrates its equal lack of an effective structure and overarching argument.
Good Enough.......2003-09-01
While not as engaging as the competition, this book offers enough to be read. Some of the stories are the same that you see in many other books, but this book does give you a better grasp of the emotional atmosphere of the 80s and early 90s (the book came out in 97, making it a bit dated, but much of the material is surprisingly relevant today). Easy reading, with the chapters being somewhat artificially broken, good for leisure time.
Pure fluff.......2003-05-10
J.C. Herz may be able to articulate herself well, but the subject matter warrants more than what she offers. The content of the book is already well known my any video game scholar or enthusiast; she has no real new ideas or revelations. And there are other books, such as Kent's Ultimate History of Video Games, that are more suited for a person new to games. She is a gifted writer, however, and her use of metaphor is well done. I would not recommend this book to anyone except those that must read every video game book known to humanity.
Great Book.......2002-11-08
This is a great read for gamer developers in between reading other books about vector math, pixel shading, and what not. Sometimes, you need to take a look back and realize it's not all about how many polygons you can cram into your renderer or how many microseconds you can shave off of your graphics engine. This is supposed to be fun, man!
There are some entertaining anecdotes and Herz's writing style is fresh, witting, stylish, and biting (reminds me of a female version of Neil Stephensen). She makes some observations and remarks that were humorous as much as they were dead-on. The analogy of Pac-man as the all-consuming capitalist icon, for example, send me rolling with laughter and earned me concerned looks from the other people in the library.
Needless to say, this is not a documentary on the history of video games. You will not find a detailed timeline here of what company hired who and make what game that grossed how many copies. Blah, blah, blah... Frankly, who cares? There's enough of those already.
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