Customer Reviews

The Ultimate History of Video Games: from Pong to Pokemon and beyond...the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've always been fascinated with video gaming history. Although I was born in the mid 80's, consoles such as the Atari 2600 have always captured my interest even though they were "outdated" by the time I got into video games. The neat thing about gaming history is that you can tell the story from so many different angles - different companies, different time periods, etc. Although I've read many books (and articles) on video games prior to this one, there is still plenty to learn - and there was certainly information in here new to me.

There were many things to enjoy in this book, but there were a few shortcomings. I loved how the book went in-depth on the history of the classic gaming era, but it seemed to go a bit soft when it came to the 8-bit and 16-bit systems. Arcade games are discussed thoroughly in the beginning of the book, but are ignored near the end. Nintendo and Atari have chapters upon chapters of history, but lesser selling systems (such as the Neo*Geo) are restricted to the footnotes. The book also tended to waste too much time discussing court cases. Now, although many of those cases were turning-points for the gaming industry, a few seemed irrelevant (e.g., Donkey Kong vs. King Kong) and were confusing and hard to follow for someone like me without a background in law.

Make no mistake, the first half of this book is excellent. And in the closing paragraph the author says he intended to publish this book in 1995 or 1996. I think, given the little coverage he makes of anything past the mid-90's, his book would have fared better if released earlier. A few chapters (mainly the ones concerning the legal disputes) I could do without. The book also had a bad habit of jumping around in time. It documents the rise and fall of Atari's coin-op division, but then starts over to talk about the rise and fall of the Atari VCS.

Bottom Line: If classic gaming history is your thing, there are better books to be read than this one. But if you want a broader look on video games that encompasses all generations - you may just enjoy this!

I thought I had made the wrong choice when I first opened this book until I got halfway through the first chapter... then realized I was engrossed. The history timeline stretches from the birth of video games up until the PS2/Xbox era. All aspects are extremely well researched and defined, from the game company wars to the video games crash of the 80's. Explaining in depth the drink, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle of the software industry giants... this is not a reference book, its a damn good read.

This book would have got 5 stars if the coverage was right up to date, as the Xbox and PS2 are now over 10 years old there is a decade of games history missing. perhaps time for a UHOVG part II to be released!

This book covers over 600 pages of entertainment history, starting at the beginning of the previous century up until the year 2001. It tells about the development of the entertainment business from the early novelty games and the development of the pinball machine, through the invention of the first computer and television games to the rise and fall (and rise again) of the coin-operated video game arcades which eventually lead to the development of game consoles and hand held computer games. Many of the well known and lesser known companies are present: Atari, CapCom, Sega, Nintendo, Namco, Activision, Electronic Arts, Coleco, Commodore, Mattel, Rare, etc.

The book reads as a novel and the story is told by the people who made video gaming history, through interviews held by the author. There are many anecdotes and quotes that really paint the picture of this colorful history, which will coincide with the history of many of this book's readers, making the book that more interesting to read.

There is a small section of 9 pages with black-and-white pictures showing some of the people who played a significant role in video gaming history. Also there are enticing pictures of a "centipede" assembly hall and a storage facility full of "donkey kong" games; cabinets that are now very hard to find in good condition.

Less glamourous but certainly part of history are the chapters about court cases and congressional investigations into violence, and the reactions of the game mannufacturing community.

Towards the end the book is more about the business than the actual games, listing the numbers consoles sold and the amount of money earned by some of the leading companies. This gets boring and while offering insight into the relative successes, it does not hold much historic value.

American and Japanese readers will probably not notice, but Europe is hardly mentioned in this book, leaving readers from this part of the world feeling underappreciated. While Europe played an important part in video gaming history, especially when America's video game business was failing, almost of none of this information is contained in this book. Even events, like the following, that played a major role aren't even hinted at:

"By 1980, Magnavox had become a subsidiary of North American Philips (NAP), a Dutch electronics conglomerate. As a result, Philips released the European equivalent of the Odyssey² (the Videopac G7000) under its own company name. The Phillips Videopac G7000 was more successful than its American counterpart. There were many different versions of the system around the world, and one version (the G7200) even had a built-in monitor.

"The G7000 inspired a larger following and enjoyed a longer life span in Europe than the Odyssey² ever had in the U.S. As a result, more games were created for the European market. If anything, the console enjoyed an even greater following when it was released in Brazil, where it was called simply the Odyssey. Brazil was treated to practically the entire release library of both the U.S. and Europe, and received a couple of exclusive titles (Clay Pigeon! and Comando Noturno!) as well.

(quote from www.classicgaming.com, 2004)

The lack of complete information is compensated by a strong focus on Atari and Nintendo. Although these companies obviously played an important part in the history of computer games, it appears to be a slightly skewed representation of the entire playing field.

Apart from that I give the book a big thumbs up for detailing a very important part of history and being so well written.

Having been born in 1984, I was open to the video game revolution when Nintendo became a big influence. My life revolved around near worship of Nintendo of America. From buying the systems, games, and gear, I totally immersed myself in the culture of video games. However, I was not aware of the heritage that had preceded my birth and the work and love that had gone into the video game industry. This book has opened my eyes to that and has given me a much greater appreciation for the work done by the great geniuses in the video game industry.

Kent begins with the major pinball companies to give you a grounding in the leading companies that would eventually move into the coin-op and then consumer video game businesses. The book chronicals the making of games from a ragtag group of MIT students to Nolan Bushnell's grand experience of Atari and then all the way up to Microsoft proposing X-Box. The major focus of this book is the early years of gaming. Much of the material chronicals the work of the early Coin-op and console manufacturers. This is a very refreshing view of the industry, showing the original roots of the market.

I definitely suggest this book. Kent's light-hearted style is augmented by the thoroughness of his work. This book is brimming with direct quotes from the major players in the gaming industry. If you have had an interest in the work done to make the video game industry as popular as it is, this book is a definite suggestion. Read away!

This was a great book. it has a lot of characteristics of a good novel, telling the story of video games, from pong to pokemon, as the title suggests. however, i was looking for a book i could use to research my term paper on the history of video games. unfortunately, this wasn't organized in a way i could use it like that. if i wanted to find information on nintendo, i had to skim the book until iot started talking about nintendo.
i found this book especially interesting, since i am at the age where video games are common, but i was never subject to early games, anyuthing before about the SNES. my first video game experience was the N64. so this book really gives me a lot of background info on how current games evolved.
overall, i would reccommend this book, but not for research. i actually wouldn't mind reading it like any other book, from start to finish. it would be worth checking out of your local library, at least.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and i must say that I am very glad that I purchased it. I'm not totally finished with it, I'm a little over half way through. I felt that this book was a fairly complete source of videogame history, but after reading other reviews for the book, I must agree that this book did leave a lot out. There's simply too much information to cover in just one book though. It would be ridiculous to try to cover the entire history of videogames in just one year. What I found most impressive about this book is how entertaining it is. I do not enjoy reading at all, I'd rather read a text book than a novel simply because I'll learn more from the textbook. However, I read half of this book, which is about 300 pages in just a couple days, and that time actually consisted of all of my free time. There are so many interesting facts in this book. I love it and would recommend it to anyone who is curious about the history of videogames.

Just about wrapping up my read of The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven L. Kent. Kent traces the history of video games from the early versions of pinball that made the novelty circuit back in the day to the latest consoles of today.

It was extremely interesting reading about the early days of computer gaming, from open source code sharing with Spacewar, which was developed at MIT, to the creation of arcade coin-op gaming post pinball and the rise (and fall) of Atari. The book delves into the histories of the greats, from SEGA to Nintendo, Bally and Williams, and even goes into a bit about the C64, which revolutionized gaming as we know it. Unfortunately, I think the only reason why the C64 was mentioned was because the guy that founded that company eventually bought Atari. Little was mentioned about PC gaming. Infocom... ignored. Origin... almost ignored... Myst and Doom had some highlights, but not much.

That's not to say it wasn't a good read. It was. The use of quotes throughout the book were great and enlightening. I learned a ton. But Kent seems more interested in telling Nintendo's story, and the fact that he pretty much ignored PC gaming only scores this book a 7 on my scale. Ultimate it is not. A shame, too.

This book I read the summer before going to school to study video game programming and design. I loved the fact that it chronicles the card games and peg board games which led to the invention of the Pinball machine (a modification of the pegboard machine made illegal due to it's ties to the mob in NYC, with flippers it is no longer a game of chance)

Speaking about it with one of my professors, a producer at Xbox, he said that it was an okay book, but is the product of the whole "the victors are the ones who get to write the history books" - in other words, he thinks it is told from a one-sided point of view, the side of the manufacturers who did well.

I think it is a dynamite book regardless.

This is really two books in one. The first half is a detailed history of the rise and fall of Atari. It is chock full of interesting details, and rightly focuses on the fascinating personalities who drove the company that did more than any other to take video games mainstream. The author's years of covering the industry and these people paid dividends in this section.

By contrast, the second half of the book, which mainly covers the rise of Sega, Nintendo and Sony, feels rushed and is far less comprehensive. Many part felt like rewrites of news articles, rehashing history rather than bestowing new insights. I don't want to sound too harsh, because this is a good overview, but this section falls short compared with the high standards set by the Atari history.

I also have a couple format quibbles. Many direct quotes are offset from the main text in bold. This is distracting. Some quotes simply repeat what had just been stated in regular text. I understand the need to back up assertions with quotes, but some of the comments are bland and don't really add anything. Other sections begin with quotes that are only tangentially related to the ensuing text, or were from speakers who don't make further appearances or whose comments are not elaborated on. Another complaint is the use of excerpted passages from contemporary news articles that don't give the source up front but force the reader to look up footnotes in the back. If a passage is important enough to offset from the main text, the reader should be told right away who wrote it and in what publication.

Also, I thought the title was slightly misleading, since this is more a history of the video game *industry* rather than of video games themselves. A subtle distinction perhaps, but while there is background on certain titles, especially from the Atari years, I had expected more on actual games.

Overall, the book is informative and interesting though I believe it falls short of its lofty claim of being an "ultimate" history.

Since I have bought this book I havent been able to put it down. The book is filled with in depth information about all the major video game companies. From "Tennis For Two" to the Xbox, its all here in this well written book, including stories about the mafia, drugs, in-fighting,mistakes made, court cases,rise and fall of companies, and lots more interesting stuff that I would have never of known about if I hadnt had bought this book. The book is full of quotes from people in the video game/software business, that help show two sides of the stories. I have read many books on video games, but most just skim the surface. This is by far the best. The only reason that I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is the lack of pictures and illustrations, there are only a few pages of black and white photos in the centre of the book, most of wich are of programers or company managers.
So if you are into Video Games, give this book a go.