Re: Good books on games?

Ah, wonderful suggestions!  I too have the "Game Over" book (revised
edition).  While some accounts seem dubious, I'd say it stays very, very
true to the facts.  There are some errors on the author's part, but the
only ones I think that are worth noting are the video game trivia - the
Japanese version of Mega Man eating sushi for powerups?!  That gave me a
good two-minute laugh!  Still, don't let this sway you all from picking up
this book.  It is still a great read.

On that same note, scour your local used bookstore for another GEM -
"Zapped:  The Rise and Fall of Atari."  I luckily found it in superior
condition at a thrift shop in Seattle.  It's just as well written as Game
Over, and it focuses on the pre-1984 crash era of gaming.  Truly a hard
find, but worth it for the interesting bits on Steve Jobs and Steven
Spielberg, if memory serves me.  It even mentions Skip Paul, as does "Game
Over," a big-wig at Atari, and one of the people behind Sega
GameWorks.  I met him several times while I was employed as an on-the-road
trainer for them - seemed like a nice enough fellow.

Anyways, while we're on the subject of game books, I've also collected a
number of 8-bit and 16-bit strategy guides over the years (before all this
Prima/Brady business) and if anyone wants to list some of the books
specifically tailored for the Turbo, please list them.  I'll dig them out
later this week, and give a critique.  They are a fun read, as some of
them mention technology that we find quaint today.  They are also fun
because some mention games that never game out, or were hung up in
devlopment.

Anyways, sorry for the rambling, but it's nearly midnight and I'm
bushed.  Have a good night, all!

-Mark Magdamit
xxxxxx@u.washington.edu
xxxxxx@hotmail.com

On Sun, 10 Sep 2000, Dan Mowczan wrote:

> A few come to mind.
> 
> "Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured your dollars,
> and enslaved your children", by David Sheff.  Random House, 1993.  Great
> book on the history of Nintendo, their American operations, and their effect
> on the US Market, esp. retail channels.  Lots of information on the Tetris
> scandal, retail price fixing, etc.  Its an amazing read if you have the
> time.  Paperback is still in print I believe.  (Did you know Nintendo
> consumed 3% of the semiconductors produced in Japan in 1992?)
> 
> "Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of Videogames", by Leonard Herman.  Rolenta
> Press.  Leonard is a truly amazing historian, and covers basically a upto
> the publication history of all systems and the market during their release.
> An excellent book, although it may not have too much information on the
> social impact.
> 
> Dick Bueschel's books on pinball, named Pinball 1 and Pinball 2, are
> excellent, although perhaps not within your scope.  Dick before he passed
> away was quite the historian of pinball and its effects, and commentary is
> contained in his analysis of the history of the game.  Many social impacts
> are discussed throughout.  Unfortunately, Dick passed away far before
> finishing the intended 10 volumes, leaving late-model history for someone
> else to discuss.  Incidentally, there's a video called History of Pinball
> that's pretty good and has some good factual information.  But, again, this
> is probably before the period you seek, and I digress.  There's a few good
> books on pinball artwork too, for example, backglasses of wartime periods,
> happier periods, social outcry, etc.  Again, I digress.  There's a ton more
> pinball stuff because its impact is far more measurable due to the time that
> has passed since that period.  Tough to measure something so recent...
> 
> http://www.videogamespot.com/features/universal/hov/index.html has a
> "History of Video Games", written by the afformentioned Leonard Herman and a
> few others, worth checking out, has a few useful things for what you might
> need.
> 
> I also swore to god there was either a paper, magazine article, or small
> book written on the effect of Pac-Man on American society, had lots of
> information on kids pilfering their parents coin collections to play,
> associated crimes, and other outrageous but factual accounts -- now I have
> no idea where it is.  Perhaps an old issue of Arcade magazine or something
> of the sort.
> 
> -Dan
> 
> -- 
> Dan Mowczan, xxxxxx@home.com
> 
> > From: "Landis" <xxxxxx@rochester.rr.com>
> > Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 13:53:27 -0400 (EDT)
> 
>