Techtite's Hardcopy: Book Reviews

"Admittedly, some anecdotes in this book, in the game world, would be labeled "M for Mature."...There's a claim that Pac-Man was going to be named "Puck-Man," though folks were fearful of arcade vandals replacing the "P" with a...well, you get the drift. "

---from the review

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Also available: High Score! The illustrated History of Electronic Games. Click picture to order, or click here for full review.

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The computer game anecdotes that weren't... In the process of snubbing computer gaming among all the video gaming, anecdotes of how then-little companies like Sierra On-Line had their share of run-ins with then-bigwigs like Atari, are unmentioned. This includes a time and place when Sierra, long before their adventure game craze, made a harmless Pac-Man clone. These days, such "cloning" of a popular game is old hat, though the oblivious, litigious- minded Atari was unamused. In the process, their band of bigwig lawyers led to Sierra On-Line --which would later produce King's Quest, Space Quest, Half-Life, and many other classics-- nearly being sued out of existence. I remember an amusing anecdote elsewhere, where Sierra On-Line founder Ken Williams mused that if it wasn't for a totally computer-illiterate judge, the case would not have been thrown out. Oh well; such musings will have to wait for The Ultimate History of Computer Games, someday...

Can any agnostic witness of the video game craze, actually believe it's lasted long enough to warrant an over-600-page book on the subject? Well, I've been alive throughout the whole craze, I'm a major interactive entertainment fan, and yes, I believe it. From the novelty of Pong to the first generation of video game consoles, and from Playstation One to PS-2; it's been one whale of a ride. Does this book cover it all? You bet, and those agnostic non-gamers may be interested themselves, to read The Ultimate History of Video Games, and learn more about how and why it all started. It may not be a picture-savvy "official hint book" that most video gamers buy, though it is certainly worth the read.

The most interesting part of the video game craze has always been behind the scenes, though, and author Steve L. Kent knows this. So, not only are the games covered, though in particular the corporate power struggles that cost billions of dollars, as well as the arcade fads that thrust companies up into the stratosphere, and down again. The race to make the most technologically-advanced game system is covered, as well as the games that pushed such power's envelope. Anecdotes from every major video game representative are offered, from Microsoft's Bill Gates, to Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts (and later, 3DO). Even the apparently "non-consequential" anecdotes are amusing. One funny anecdote I loved was when Dana Gould, the original voice for the video game gecko, GEX, asked a game store clerk if they had the game. "It's pronounced Jex," claimed the oblivious clerk, "It's about a dinosaur."

Kent's writings here would amuse even the most jaded of video game haters; his prose is effective, and not the least bit boring. There's any number of places where this book would start to sound like a stock market report in the wrong hands. By contrast, Kent may be a journalist who writes for the likes of the Los Angeles Times syndicate, though he's also a major game fan, and such love for gaming can be felt in every chapter of this book. The message seems to be that there was never a mere company logo behind every twist of the video game world; there were people who were behind these decisions, and success and failure had an effect on them far more than any company.

Admittedly, some anecdotes in this book, in the game world, would be labeled "M for Mature." One claim is that Atari, back in its heyday, looked more like a fictional teenybopper film of that time, with rampant drug use and hot tub "meetings." Other mature anecdotes seem a bit too tabloid. There's a claim that Pac-Man was going to be named "Puck-Man," though folks were fearful of arcade vandals replacing the "P" with a...well, you get the drift. However, this sounds made-up. After all, anyone who knows Pac-Man's history knows that "Pac" when translated to English, actually means "eat": the perfect prefix to Pac-Man, who keeps eating all those power pellets. On the other hand, given how most of the anecdotes are from very powerful names in the industry, most of the rumors mentioned should be true.

It's the more G-rated --and confirmable-- anecdotes which are the most fun. Space Invaders became such a rave in Japan back in the day, that the nation suffered a coin shortage. Similar historical factoids include the hard times video games faced in the 1980's, from the video game world's economic "crash" in 1984 to the parental outcry that these bad ol' games were keeping their kids from doing their homework! More ominous, however, is when Doom was made into a scapegoat for high school shootings of the 1990's, particularly Columbine High School. Kent wisely doesn't take sides; he just tells it like it is.

Not that even an over 600 page book can be all inclusive. Fans of computer gaming might be a bit miffed at how their favorites are not mentioned once, unless in fact such games were ported to a video game console. PC and Macintosh computers are mentioned for little more than 5 pages entirely, as the book explains all the PC hits that soon ported to video game systems; if the game wasn't ported, it's not mentioned. This means that the adventure game genre is noticeably snubbed, which any gamer knows was the intellectual peak of interactive gaming, as well as the reason that modern, story-based RPGs and action-adventures no longer look like mere former arcade game ports. However, admittedly, this is The Ultimate History of Video Games, so computer gaming will have to wait for another book...hopefully soon.

Not to imply that this book is even the least bit exclusive when it comes to video games; it most certainly covers it all, or at least everything I ever heard, and then some. Even obscure releases like The Vectrex are given over three pages. I may be a bit miffed at how Imagic only receives little more than a page's worth of mentioning, though yes it's there. Yes even E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial --not the movie, though the Atari 2600 game in 1982, which to this day retains its reign as one of the Worst Games of All Time-- is given three pages of its own, providing (some of many) reasons for its failure. Other pages cover obscure releases like the Colecovision Adam "computer," while the politics of Coleco at the time --particularly with the Cabbage Patch Doll craze-- is also mentioned. If it involved video games, it's 99% sure to be in this book.

Of course, it's unfair to drop this book's rating based merely on its lack of computer games mentioned, like text adventures (Zork) and graphic adventures (Gabriel Knight) and even its own abysmal turkeys (Man Enough, anyone...?). This is a book about video games, and when it comes to every console made from the Atari 2600 to the modern systems --Playstation-2, GameCube, and X-Box-- this book about video games covers it all. There's really nothing bad to say about this book in the least when it comes to video games, with enough intrigue for both game fans and agnostic non-gamers alike. Few book readers should pass this up; it answers questions you never even thought you'd ask.