Video Game History Books

[Schloss Ritter]

Nice one, Treasurefan. Here's a followup to one I listed above.

Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988: A Complete Reference Guide

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Home-Video-Games-1985-1988/dp/0786436603/

A follow up to 2007's Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984, this reference work provides detailed descriptions and reviews of every U.S.-released game for the Nintendo NES, the Atari 7800, and the Sega Master System, all of which are considered among the most popular video game systems ever produced. Organized alphabetically by console brand, each chapter includes a description of the game system followed by substantive entries for every game released for that console. Video game entries include publisher/developer data, release year, gameplay information, and, typically, the author's critique. A glossary provides a helpful guide to the classic video game genres and terms referenced throughout the work, and a preface provides a comparison between the modern gaming industry and the industry of the late 1980s.

[bilbi]

Has anyone picked up a copy of

http://www.amazon.com/1001-Video-Games-Must-Before/dp/0789320908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292029789&sr=8-1

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die (UK version has a paperback)

a comment from a reader: "the book is obviously skewed towards very recent games: there are more than 100 entries from 2009 alone while there are only a few dozens from the classic days" has stopped me from buying this for now, but has anyone here bought it and can comment?

[E-Day]

I am not interested in buying it simply because of how few classic games there are in it. And I am sure most of the modern games are shooters anyhow.

[Ferneu]

Also, judging from the title, it looks like it ran with the untrue but popular opinion that Pong was the first video game. Whereas, it is now known that video games date back a decade to three earlier, depending on your definition. The earlier games just mostly weren't marketed to the general public like Pong.

I have read that book and, while it was not what I was expecting, mister Kent does mention, in a lot of depth, the games that came before Pong.

[rolenta]

I'm really surprised that no one mentioned my book, Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames. When it was originally published in 1994, Phoenix was the first-ever comprehensive book on the history of videogames. Steve Kent even mentioned this is the foreword to his book. The latest edition is the third, which was published in 2001. In 2008, Game Informer named Phoenic the 2nd best videogame-related book ever written. A 4th edition is planned to be published sometime in 2013.

[Schloss Ritter]

Yes, I do remember hearing about that book, but I likely never got around to linking it here before I forgot about this thread. It's cool to hear that a new edition will be coming, giving us that missed earlier ones a chance to pick it up.