High Score - Softcover

DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1435454391 ISBN 13: 9781435454392

Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2013

Synopsis

HIGH SCORE, THIRD EDITION is a lavishly-illustrated full-color retrospective with photos that bring to life the people and stories behind the most popular games of all time, including Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, SimCity, Quake, Myst, Tomb Raider, and more. This is the inside scoop on the history, successes, tricks, and even failures of the entire electronic games industry. This book presents a comprehensive, visual history to the video games that have shaped the industry. It highlights the games, companies, pioneers, and visionaries who have made the industry what it is today. This latest edition will has been completely updated to include newer influential games such as World of Warcraft that continue to define the direction of game development.

About this title

Review:

It's doubtful that anyone who doesn't play video games obsessively would deem them worthy of historical record, but High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games celebrates the fact that electronic games have been around for over 40 years now and, despite the hopes of parents and girlfriends everywhere, they're more popular than ever.

Unfortunately the authors of this impressively thick volume have made their ambitious task, of illustrating the history of video games, easier for themselves by concentrating almost exclusively on US-developed hardware and software. It's a bit like a history of cinema that tries to ignore Hollywood. Indeed the book seems to go out of its way to ignore Japanese and European companies in favour of pages of text on obscure American titles. When even Sony's PlayStation garners only three paragraphs of text and two pages of screenshots it's really time to raise an eyebrow of surprise and suspicion.

There's something of a flaw with the "illustrated" aspect of the book as well, with many titles only shown via gaudy box art instead of actual screen shots. But it's clear that the intention of this book was not to chronicle the history and artistry of video games around the world. It's simply the pet project of a couple of American PC games fans. If you share similar tastes you'll love this book, if not you'd be better advised to try a more inclusive tome such as Steven Poole's Trigger Happy or the more accessible The Ultimate History of Video Games. --David Jenkins

From the Back Cover:

The Ultimate History of Electronic Games

"...overflowing with color screenshots, package art, reproductions of old game ads, shots of old machines, and photos of collectibles. Every picture triggers another memory, and before long you're awash in blissful recollections..." Computer Gaming World, August '02

"...300+ pages offer a visually compelling record of the origins and development of electronic entertainment, so buy it for the pictures of rare game boxes and screens... it's a great nostalgia trip for old-timers and a primer on the industry's storied past for the less ancient reader." Computer Games, August '02

"This is a great work that shows the humanity, creativity, and passion inside the art and business of games. The public is playing a lot of games today and Rusel's and Johnny's fine book gives them a terrific look behind the scenes." Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and 3DO

"As an industry veteran, I am excited to see that Rusel and Johnny have poured their hard work and talent into creating this visual and textual compendium of the history of computer entertainment. Just as I was, I think you will be amazed to see how far we've come in so few years. The pictorial content of this book represents a glimpse at great milestones of our recent past that are quickly going to be impossible to see, perhaps ever again, outside this volume." Richard Garriott, computer gaming pioneer, developer of the Ultima series of games, and founder of Origin Systems

In this lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective, you'll learn how electronic games blossomed from their humble origins as a hobby for programmers at computer science laboratories to a multi-billion dollar industry. Along the way you'll learn the fascinating human stories told in their own words of the people who created the games, built the companies, and had a vision that changed the world. Here is the inside scoop featuring stories that have never been told in print before of the triumphs, the tricks of fate, and even the spectacular failures that have led to today's high-voltage games industry. High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games is the first history that covers not only arcades and home gaming systems but the popular PC games industry as well.

You'll find never-before-seen photos that bring to life the people and stories behind the most popular games of all time, including...

-Space Invaders
-Pac-Man
-Centipede
-Zork
-Donkey Kong
-Dragon's Lair
-Asteroids
-Legend of Zelda
-Doom
-Super Mario Bros.
-Ultima
-King's Quest
-Wizardry
-SimCity
-Quake
-Myst
-Tomb Raider
-...And Many More!

About this edition

• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1435454391
• ISBN 13: 9781435454392
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 464