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| Satoshi_Miwa 1752th Post
 
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
  
    
    
    
    
|  "The Ultimate History of Video Games - Review"
, posted Sat 14 Dec 16:04
In the broad scale of human history, the medium of Video Games haven't really been around for a long time. In fact the 30 years that have passed since Pong and the Odyssey exploded onto the scene is but a drop in the bucket in terms of Histroy. But it's been a colorfull history, complete with ups and downs and Empires built and the ruined. It has been a business that has changed at a constant rate, a rate of change that still moves forward today.
And Steven L. Kent's book, the Ultimate History of Video Games is perhaps the first book that attempts to cover all of these events in one book that serves as the general guide to Videogame history through all eras. And for the most part it accomplishes this, while still remainging an entertaing read.
The strength of Kent's book is that it's the first universal book of Video Game history. While other books have covered specific events like the fall of Atari and the rise of Nintendo (Or the Golden Age), this book covers all that and more. You will read about the roots of games, from the early Pinball and amusement machines to the birth of Space War. And then it follows through to the rise of Atari, the fall of the industry, up to the birth of the NES and the 16 bit War between Sega and Nintendo. By covering such a wide range you truly get a sense of how intresting game history truly is. Especially welcome is the attention paid to Sega, as it covers the Rise of the Genesis in North America, and how the Saturn failed horribly over here at the same time.
However while the broad scope of the book is appreciated, it does lack some specifics. The intresting tale of Nintendo's NA launch could take up a whole book (and in fact did, David Scheff wrote a book about Nintendo's history called Game Over), and the story of the Playstation fiasco was not covered in as much depth as I hope. The Neo Geo was also only given a breif mention, something undeserved of it's status in history. And the book is primarly from the NA perspective, meaning that such titans as Dragon Quest and FF are only given breif mentions.
But these are small nits when compared to the wealth of information in book, and the understanding it gives into the industry. It's the perfect starting point to read, and is recommended to all who wish to learn more about the history of games.
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"Re(1):The Ultimate History of Video Games - R" 
crime in Gotham City doesn't exactly seem to be affected by a man dressed as a bat flapping around the place. But no-one disobeys a man wearing a necklace of human nipples.
