Product Description

The Rough Guide to Videogames is the ultimate guide to the world’s most addictive pastime. Both a nostalgic look at the past and a celebration of the latest in joystick-wrecking wonders, this book covers the full story from the first arcade machines to the latest digital delights. Easy access to 75 of the greatest games of all time, from Civilization and Pro Evolution Soccer to We Love Katamari and World of Warcraft. The guide profiles the stories behind the software giants, famous creators and the world’s favourite characters, including Mario, Lara Croft and Sonic the Hedgehog. All the gadgets and devices for consoles, hand-helds, phones and PCs are explored as well as the wider world of gaming, from websites and movies to books.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84458 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Review
An ideal introduction for those who want to learn more about gaming and its culture.
--PC Pro

Customer Reviews

Tons of great recommendations
As someone who's been playing videogames since the early 90s, first on my PC and Sega Game Gear, then on the Playstation and many consoles since, I loved this book! It covers old favourites of mine (Monkey Island, Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider) as well as recent classics such as Halo 3 and Uncharted. I learned a lot of interesting things I didn't know about the history of gaming in the Backstory section and about the movers and shakers of the videogames world who made a big difference in the Players section. Most importantly, the book covered tons of games I'd missed that I'm now going to track down and play. Great stuff!

Enjoyable trip into the world of Videogames
Great book, covers historical and current platforms and most gaming genres. Lots of nostalgic fun seeing old and new favourites in the 75 "Canon" games or for those that didn't make the cut, just mentioned in the mini-reviews scattered throughout the book.

For myself coming from a PC gaming background I expected to be skipping through a lot of the book but its written in a style that made the background and reviews of games for the Playstation, GameCube, Wii (to give just 3 of the non-pc platforms covered) interesting even for someone who's never touched any of them.

So definitely worth picking up if you want to know a bit more about the history and development of videogaming and also pick up some pointers as to the games you should be playing!

simply awesome - expand your gaming library!
I hate to sound like some overexuberant fanboy who might fall in love with just the idea of this book, but I'll risk it. This Book Is Awesome. When I picked this up I expected nothing, but then I started flipping through, and there's literally something on every page that you can just start reading without having to start all the way at the beginning of the book, which I love. There are 100 word (about 100 at least) reviews galore on top of the 75 or so canon "best", and lots of bright and shiny pics of the best new games, plus a tonne from games I grew up playing (like the first lemmings!) There's a chapter on the back story of modern games which I thought would be boring, but which turned out to be surprisingly engaging! Exclamation!

There's just a huge amount of material in this book, and it's all so easy to access. If you're looking to expand your knowledge of videogames, and add some of the best to your collection, this is your book. I just can't recommend it enough