Product Description

This is a photo-filled look back at our favourite electronic games, the personal histories of the people who made them and the history of an industry that rose from obscurity to mass-market popularity in 30 years.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #954427 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 328 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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 the Author
Rusel DeMaria (Grants Pass, OR) has been an observer and/or participant in the electronic gaming industry since its inception. Beginning in 1980, he began writing professionally about games. He has written nearly 60 strategy guides and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of that book genre. In addition to his books, Rusel has been a senior editor and columnist for several national magazines. Johnny L. Wilson (Seattle, WA) is Group Publisher for Wizards of the Coast's magazine group, which includes Dragon, Dungeon, Top Deck, Star Wars Gamer and Star Wars Insider. He is perhaps better known as the former editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World (1992-1999), the premier magazine for computer-gaming fans.

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Customer Reviews

Insular nature of authors shines through...
After reading this book I came to the conclusion that although the authors really had a passion for gaming they knew next to nothing about anything outside the US. There is nothing in this book about the rise of the European games development community in the early 1980's. The book's sub-title is 'The Illustrated History of Electronic Games' should have been 'The Illustrated AMERICAN History of Electronic Games' due to it's rather insulting neglect of the European gaming industry. Other than that, it's great!

USAiii
This book is pretty enjoyable to read, but it is very much a book of American video games history. Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world are almost wholly neglected.

Of course, being an American book by American authors it's fairly understandable. But the rest of the world is neglected up to the point that it seems the authors don't even realise there's other lands once you sail across the seas...

Reccomended, but not a complete history as it claims.

Indeed very entertaining!
If you're looking for info about computergames throughout the history, well, then you must get this book! It is fascinating to read and see pictures from the very beginning and it really shows how much this industry have grown throughout the years!

I noticed the review from Amazon.com where they said that they (the authors) have overlooked the Japanese and European developers, but frankly, I didn't noticed at all... and that must be sign that this is a very good book :) !