unwrappingwords's review
3.0
The History of Video Games is a short book, giving more of a broad overview of video games than anything too incredibly detailed. And it works well for an overview, with sections dedicated to particular personalities, and a chapter discussing gender in games, paying particular attention to the issues with gender and Gamer Gate.
The majority of the information in here is pretty well known, with long-time video game fans likely knowing it already, just from being in that world. Plus, if, like me, you’re 30+ and lucky enough to grow up with consoles, most of this you would have absorbed by being in the world when most of these consoles were released.
Some of the stats are interesting, but for the most part the first two sections of this book were largely dry. I did like learning about the earliest forms of games, but I think I prefer these sort of books when there’s more of a personality behind them, and it lets you in on the author’s relationship with the subject matter, too.
I also don’t know the criteria for the “Personalities” section, but this section was heavily male dominated, and it would have been great to see a few folks in there who weren’t men. Overall, this is a hard sort of book to do right – there’s some interesting elements to it, but the majority of information feels like repetitive if you’ve watched a single documentary on the industry. It also isn’t quite inclusive enough to reach outside a gaming audience, though it might make a good gift for someone who is perhaps just getting into video games or a bit on the younger side.
Thank you to Pen & Sword for providing me with this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Views remain my own.
The majority of the information in here is pretty well known, with long-time video game fans likely knowing it already, just from being in that world. Plus, if, like me, you’re 30+ and lucky enough to grow up with consoles, most of this you would have absorbed by being in the world when most of these consoles were released.
Some of the stats are interesting, but for the most part the first two sections of this book were largely dry. I did like learning about the earliest forms of games, but I think I prefer these sort of books when there’s more of a personality behind them, and it lets you in on the author’s relationship with the subject matter, too.
I also don’t know the criteria for the “Personalities” section, but this section was heavily male dominated, and it would have been great to see a few folks in there who weren’t men. Overall, this is a hard sort of book to do right – there’s some interesting elements to it, but the majority of information feels like repetitive if you’ve watched a single documentary on the industry. It also isn’t quite inclusive enough to reach outside a gaming audience, though it might make a good gift for someone who is perhaps just getting into video games or a bit on the younger side.
Thank you to Pen & Sword for providing me with this ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Views remain my own.
calypte's review
3.0
This book gives a brief history of the video game 'phenomenon' as seen through several viewpoints, including how available tech shapes the possible games, individuals who drove the whole thing, and how ideas for fun can be helped or hindered by capitalism and big companies. There's a large dollop of nostalgia - especially for those of us not far off ages with the author, I suppose - but also a great deal of slightly dry facts and figures and lists of 'popular' games.
Overall, fun and well done, but not in-depth enough for hardcore gamers, and maybe just a bit too info-heavy for the more casual fan. Tough one to do better, right enough.
Full review is up on my blog.
Overall, fun and well done, but not in-depth enough for hardcore gamers, and maybe just a bit too info-heavy for the more casual fan. Tough one to do better, right enough.
Full review is up on my blog.
thebookishhistorian's review
4.0
[A free copy was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review]
The History of Video Games starts as just about every other book about the history of video games. It definitely isn’t a bad start, and it makes sense - there’s only so much to write about something fairly new in our own history. It’s written well, though, and there’s a nice chapter included which focusses a bit more on people who contributed to the rise of video games.
Where this book stands out a bit more, is the chapters áfter the history. It has a chapter about gender and the problem of sexism in the video games industry, which was very well written. After that comes a chapter about the impact video games have and had on our culture, including the way they influenced movies and music.
This book isn’t groundbreaking in any way, but it was a nice and quick read with some interesting chapters about the most recent history of video games - up to 2019.
The History of Video Games starts as just about every other book about the history of video games. It definitely isn’t a bad start, and it makes sense - there’s only so much to write about something fairly new in our own history. It’s written well, though, and there’s a nice chapter included which focusses a bit more on people who contributed to the rise of video games.
Where this book stands out a bit more, is the chapters áfter the history. It has a chapter about gender and the problem of sexism in the video games industry, which was very well written. After that comes a chapter about the impact video games have and had on our culture, including the way they influenced movies and music.
This book isn’t groundbreaking in any way, but it was a nice and quick read with some interesting chapters about the most recent history of video games - up to 2019.
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