A review by richard76
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, by Tom Bissell
3.0
“Extra Lives” starts off strong. The author has a talent for taking elements, facets or facts of the game industry and putting them together in ways I’ve just never thought about. For example, I usually think of meaningfulness in games in terms of intellectual engagement or artistic merit, but he also talks about the raw visceral experience games can create, the ways in which videogames can be emotionally or even physically affecting. He also talks about how most game designers come from programming or engineering backgrounds (which I didn’t know; I thought most of them came from more purely creative backgrounds), and how writers have traditionally been de-prioritized in the process (which I did know), and how that adds up to profound implications for the games that are made.
But then the narrative kind of goes off. His specific selection of games is puzzling. He seems to have chosen them due to reasons of personal appeal rather than industry significance, which I suppose is fair but limits the impact of his message. For instance, he exiles to the appendix a fascinating and insightful interview with Peter Molyneux, which really should have been in the main text.
The author says it’s because he couldn’t figure out how to weave it in, but that’s because his narrative spirals into semi-autobiographical elements that contribute little to his overarching themes; the text never really recovers. For example, he brings up his cocaine addiction. At first, I thought this was promising, an opportunity to explore the ways in which videogames are – and are not – addictive, and why gamers have such a reputation for being obsessive. But no.
I was also put off his writing style. Whom does he think he’s addressing? He consistently uses esoteric words I don’t understand. It’s hard for me to see the language in this book being accessible to a mainstream audience. While he occasionally employs a very nice turn of phrase, he tends to say things in a much more complicated and convoluted way than necessary. As a writer, I understand and appreciate how nuance can be conveyed with very careful use of wording and sentence construction, but his use frequently goes too far and simply ends up cloaking many of his points in a layer of confusion.
So ultimately, I find the book to be a mixed experience. I do feel enlightened about the video game industry; but I also feel frustrated by questions – implicit and explicit – that the author ultimately fails to address.
But then the narrative kind of goes off. His specific selection of games is puzzling. He seems to have chosen them due to reasons of personal appeal rather than industry significance, which I suppose is fair but limits the impact of his message. For instance, he exiles to the appendix a fascinating and insightful interview with Peter Molyneux, which really should have been in the main text.
The author says it’s because he couldn’t figure out how to weave it in, but that’s because his narrative spirals into semi-autobiographical elements that contribute little to his overarching themes; the text never really recovers. For example, he brings up his cocaine addiction. At first, I thought this was promising, an opportunity to explore the ways in which videogames are – and are not – addictive, and why gamers have such a reputation for being obsessive. But no.
I was also put off his writing style. Whom does he think he’s addressing? He consistently uses esoteric words I don’t understand. It’s hard for me to see the language in this book being accessible to a mainstream audience. While he occasionally employs a very nice turn of phrase, he tends to say things in a much more complicated and convoluted way than necessary. As a writer, I understand and appreciate how nuance can be conveyed with very careful use of wording and sentence construction, but his use frequently goes too far and simply ends up cloaking many of his points in a layer of confusion.
So ultimately, I find the book to be a mixed experience. I do feel enlightened about the video game industry; but I also feel frustrated by questions – implicit and explicit – that the author ultimately fails to address.