A selection of ten books that tell interesting stories about video games, development and the gaming industry in general.
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation
Blake Harris describes how in the 1990s, at that time, a very small Sega entered the fight with the hegemon Nintendo and revolutionized the industry. The book contains more than 200 interviews with employees of both companies.
Masters of Doom
The book by journalist David Kushner tells in detail how John Carmack and John Romero created one of the most important video games in history – the great and terrible Doom.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
Kotaku editor Jason Schreyer has collected ten fascinating stories about game development. Schreyer describes, for example, how Eric Baron single-handedly created Stardew Valley and how the development of Dragon Age: Inquisition turned into a waking nightmare. Important: do not touch the Russian translation of the book in any case, read it in the original.
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon
Stephen Kent’s book is a kind of encyclopedia of game scrabble. From it you can learn a thousand and one facts from the history of the industry: who invented Pac-Man, which game saved Nintendo from ruin, and how Atari built its empire. The book is diverse, but not deep: for example, Kent presents a dubious legend about how 100 yen coins ran out in Japan because of Space Invaders.
The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers
This book contains 36 interviews with representatives of the Japanese gaming industry who worked at Konami, Enix, Nihon Falcom and other companies. The collection will be of particular interest to collectors – there are many unique archival photographs in the book.
Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life
Chris Kohler is another Kotaku editor who has released his own book. Japan is back in sight: Chris discusses game development with Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Hojima and many other game designers from the land of the rising sun.
Replay: The History of Video Games
The history of the industry from Tristan Donovan begins already with scientific experiments of the 1940s. It takes into account all the important milestones: Atari and Wii, CD-ROM and 3D, Mortal Combat and Doom. The book, which was first published in 2010, contains 140 unique interviews.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture
Journalist Harold Goldberg describes in his book 50 years of the gaming industry, tracking how the initially marginal phenomenon during this time has become an integral part of popular culture.
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
In the book by writer Tom Bissell, video games are considered as an art form – the author tries to figure out why games attract people and how far game design can go.
Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
Another book by David Kushner, author of Masters of Doom, is on this list. This time, the series is in the spotlight Grand Theft Auto, controversial and scandalous.
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