landsmarra Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 I have a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card to spend. But which book is worth the money? Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 The Ultimate History of Video Games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagegamer89 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 The Illustrated History of Electronic Games is an awesome gathering of pictures, stories, and info. Ultimate history of video games has a few BLACK AND WHITE pictures, but has more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tantone56 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 I just read ultimate history of video games and it's very good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 The First Quarter (aka The Ultimate History of Video Games) gets my vote. It's a great book, loaded with historical facts even video game experts may have missed. It's also a whole lot of fun to read... the eccentric habits of important industry pioneers like Nolan Bushnell and Hiroshi Yamauchi are utterly hilarious. JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid_sky Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 first quarter is EXCELLENT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulEMoz Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Do any of these books include games from the home computer era in Europe? Commodore 64 etc? Because I got the book "High Score", and you'd think there were no computers outside of America. The amount of classic home computer games that were not included in that book was staggering. It's great as a history of the American classic gaming scene, but I'm looking for something a bit more far-reaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balloon Fight Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I definitely suggest picking up The Ultimate History of Video Games. It's a very good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 If you want an entertaining read, yes - First Quarter (The Ultimate History of Video Games) is fun to read. However - do not use it as a source for solid video game history. Be sure to crossreference with other sources if that's what you're after. It is full of errors (naming the wrong company for the creation of the Vectrex for example), incorrect info (attributing things to the wrong people, wrong time periods/mixing several events together, or repeating heresay), and other problems. I talked to the author about this, and he mentioned he doesn't have control over the book to do a revision. He sold the rights to the publisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elviticus Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Supercade is really cool, I think. Many cool photos and covers a huge amount of arcade and home games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landsmarra Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thank you to everybody who weighed in...here's what I got: Ultimate History of Video Games Supercade Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames High Score! Zap: The Fall & Rise of Atari Arcade Fever I've just started Ultimate History and it's very engaging. As to Phoenix, Amazon had copies going for $100! Why is this? I picked up a new Third Ed. (2001) for $25. Is the original edition the valuable one? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 While not nearly as informative as some of the titles already mentioned, I found Arcade Fever a very enjoyable read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 High Score is a really good read. It also covers disk based computers (Apple, IBM, Commodore), rather than concentrating solely on cartridge based machines. It also has large sections dedicated to specific companies, and is full of large color pictures. It is very cool. Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames is a good book as well. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Does anyone else have a book called Game Over? It really well-done, glossy graphic-packed psychological analysis of video gaming (such as why Xevious was a bigger hit in Japan than US). My sister found it for me and I've never met anyone else who's ever heard of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanized Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I'm looking into getting a copy of "Blue Wizard Is About to Die" myself. It's a game-inspired book of poetry, I hear. No idea on the quality of said poetry, but that's why I'm ... looking into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 The Ultimate History of Video Games. I second that. I really like that book. It has a lot of great stories as told by those who were in the field. Herman's book "Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames" is a perfect compliment to that one but it is more factual in tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shep Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Does anyone else have a book called Game Over? It really well-done, glossy graphic-packed psychological analysis of video gaming (such as why Xevious was a bigger hit in Japan than US). My sister found it for me and I've never met anyone else who's ever heard of it. I never finished that book, but it was very good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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