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High Score
The authors take us through the making of Space-Invaders and Pac-Man up to Myst and Tomb Raider.
Apart from a chronicle of the early games, High Score focuses not only on the technological wizardry of e-games, but on the business and cultural context in which they appeared: when Sega introduced the Dreamcast, perhaps their best machine at the time, it was almost too late -- they were already up against PlayStation and N64. Even the Tamogochi-like memory card which incubated eggs for pet creatures in Sonic Adventure couldn't quite save them.
The book is succinctly organized. It's actually beautifully presented in a publishing context -- short, well-reported, informative and illustrated chunks. Section One is "Before the Beginning," a tour of the "pre-history" of video games, including an homage to some of the earliest pinball machines and the various breakthroughs like integrated circuits that ultimately made e- games possible.
Section Two focuses on the 70s, and the true birth of the gaming industry, sparked by Ralph Baier and Nolan Bushnell and Pong, one of the first games to become a household word. In the 80s, hit after hit spread through the country's video game arcades (many now closed due to the power of personal computing), and private homes were invaded by Atari, Intellevision and ColecoVision's gaming systems. As the authors point out, the PC and the floppy made it possible for anybody to become a game developer.
In the 90s, write DeMaria and Wilson, the CD-ROM, 3D graphics and broadband revolutionized gaming. "New rivalries" -- and enormous investments from giant companies like Sony and Microsoft -- "create rapidly escalating technologies, immersive realism, and and wide range of crossovers and tie-ins. Developmental budgets skyrocket, interactive games become very big business, and the companies themselves begin to merge and consolidate."
Many gamers are now old enough to appreciate that they have a history. But many people still don't grasp how significant gaming has become. Where else will you read about Dave Perry's launch of Shiny Entertainment in l993, after years of creating games overseas? Perry, who slept in the parking lot at Virgin, won Game of the Year on the Genesis with Global Gladiators.
The authors describe the rise of Tomb Raider and its journey to Hollywood, but that story is well-known. It's the game-by-game, breakthrough-by-breakthrough historical context that makes the book so compelling, and so important. Gaming isn't just about entertainment. It's a common language, value system and way of thinking for millions of younger Americans, something the older and more mainstream culture has yet to appreciate. It's way past time society recognized the astonishing creativity and technology that went into the making of e-games, both in terms of game creators and the games themselves. As you read through High Scores, you get the sense of a history that transcends entertainment. What you see is the birth of a culture. This book does, and in the most readable way imaginable. It's tough to imagine anybody under 40 who reads this site - gamer or not -- who wouldn't love it.
You can purchase High Scores from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I believe that's a technical term.
Please don't call it "e-games". Call them video games or electronic games. "E-games" makes it sound like marketing buzzword speak. You are not Spike Lee. Stop makin' up new words!
Is that something from Katz, or from the book? I'd have a hard time drawing insight from a source that must exaggerate the multi-billion dollor gaming industry by using such a childish word.
Last time you wrote about him, he was watching Divx movies on it. I'm sure he's excited about Warcraft 3.
SIG:Slashdot: indymedia for nerds.
I hope it is the reviewer who confused the Dreamcast and the Saturn, and not the author of the book...
Too bad some people have no sense of humor. (And, for the records, high scores are on topic. That's the friggin topic!)
My favourite part of EWJ was in the manual where they explained that Earth Worm Jim was abbreviated as EWJ, but don't ever say 'EWJ' out loud because that takes too long.
when I was a kid. I read video game magazines and hung out at the arcade or circle K a lot. (just one game at circle k but that let you get in lots of practice)
I don't know that I would call it a culture. I'd be more comfortable w/subculture.
Now that I have kids and a job I don't play much. When I do it is old games- if I'm at home I pull out my Sega Genesis and play Sonic or Dune.
If I'm feeling really crazy I head over to Castles and Coasters. Downstairs the arcade is all the latest games. Upstairs is where they put all the old machines. On a friday or saturday night you'll find 10 or 15 guys who are all 30 something years old (like me) up there playing Galaga, Tempest, Centipede, Red Baron, etc.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
No mention of the company who helped define the 3D shooter plauge we call the games market today?
Only $17.49 on Amazon. I was worried about the price, given that it's an "illustrated history"... books like that tend to be expensive.
However, it's a paperback. Hm.
Yes, Pong's value systems have influenced an entire generation of youth. Whenever i'm faced with a really tough problem in my life, I sit down and think "What would Pong do?"
Then, I pick up something and throw it as hard as I can. Sometimes I angle it off the wall. My problem tends to be solved one way or the other.
Christ Katz, can't you ever have a SMALL point? Can't you ever just say "This is a pretty good book about video games, I recommend it."?
No, with you it has to be "Video games have had more effect on the evolution of mankind than oxygen. This book is so good, that if you hold it and make a wish, it will come true. Columbine."
Bah.
and Nethack, and Angband, and Adom, and all the other clones of Rogue? Those are some of the best games ever! It's nearly impossible to beat, and it randomly generated levels so you never got bored. Do they mention rogue at all in the book?
does it mention berserk the first game ever to kill someone, i mean thats a vital part of video game history. -eidolon
... when Sega introduced the Dreamcast, perhaps their best machine at the time, it was almost too late -- they were already up against PlayStation and N64.
:)
The Dreamcast was Sega's next-gen effort at the time - it was the Saturn that was originally meant to compete with the N64 and PSX. The Dreamcast was intended to compete with the new systems on the horizon by getting a jump - this is what they did quite successfully with the sega genesis - filled the next gen niche with adequate hardware.
In the 80s, hit after hit spread through the country's video game arcades (many now closed due to the power of personal computing), and private homes were invaded by Atari, Intellevision and ColecoVision's gaming systems.
I hope "personal computing" means "consoles" in this context, because PC gaming is a small fry compared to consoles and would have little effect on arcades. Arcades will never be completely replaced - playing a mech game in a big simulated cockpit - you can't do it at home (well, maybe you can, but I am not that rich
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Playstation and N64? Try the Saturn.
The DC was the first strike in the 'next gen' consoles. DC? Gamecube/PS2/X-Box equivalent. Or, perhaps not. You see, Sega's always had a tendency to strike first. They always broke the ground, and everyone else sat around with their thumbs up their arses, eventually only coming out on top due to releasing systems much later and thus having better hardware availible.
I won't bother detailing the idiocy of Sega's business tactics. *chuckle* "Gee, Bobjiro, ya think we maybe shoulda advertised even a little bit?!"
"gazillion-dollar business" = ~$7 billion
And I'll second the "NO" vote on the term 'e-games'. E-gad.
-Styopa
...but since gaming dulls the thought process in your brain and makes you prone to anger I HAVE TO GO BASH SOMETHING NOW!!! GRRRR!!!!
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
It's games! Just like any other game. Someone put tape over JK's mouth or superglue his fingers together.
Great book, mainly for some of the wonderful pictures of early design documents, photographs and other archival material.
For a better history, I reocmmend Steven L. Kent's "The Ultimate History of Video Games". While it has almost no pictures, it makes up for it by being a much more detailed history based on interviews with the people behind the industry.
Hey, I'm not wasting money and space collecting Atari 2600's and full size arcade games, I am preserving "a value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience."!
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
And, Pac-Man isn't the only game like this. Look at all the "secret moves" in games. Does someone figure out you can do up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-select-start on Contra, or is that reverse engineered or leaked? Or, how you can flip-out Galaga to have FF ships. Or, how you can make a ghost Guile on Street Fighter.
Anyone?
Click here or here.
Sega always cought a bum rap... I hope the author of this book didn't confuse the timing of the Dreamcast like it implies in this article. The Dreamcast wasn't pitted up against the N64 and the PlayStation, it was released WAY after that.... Most people get Sega's timing WAY wrong because they were so far ahead of the game.
:)
People compare the Sega Genesis to the Super NES. The Genesis was released WAY before the SNES was, and was pitted against the NES for sales, not the SNES. Sega had 16-bit first, and fastest.
The SATURN was set to battle against the PSX and the N64, not the Dreamcast! They were all released about the same time (with the exception of the N64, because we all know how Nintendo likes to promise things on a certain date and deliver them a couple years later...) The Saturn failed miserably against the other two because for one, it was $399 at launch, and two it was so hard to program for. The only good games for Saturn came from AM2... Sega's in-house developer... with titles like Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Rally Champoinship, and Daytona USA 2.
The Dreamcast was released years after the PSX and N64, and was the first 128-bit console on the market.... WAY before PS2 or GameCube. The Dreamcast was an innovative console and graphics- and sound- wise obviously ate the PSX and the N64. If the Dreamcast would have been released at the same time as the N64 and the PSX, Sony's PSX would have flopped worse at the time than XBOX is right now.
Sega had always been my favorite, and always had the most amazing stuff out first... but let's forget the massive amount of failures that they also released besides the Saturn... namely Sega CD (although it was one of the first CD systems), Sega CDX, Mars 32X, and the Master System II.
No mention of Rogue? *boggle* If the subject is computer games and they start with pong and not Rogue then they're missing a big chunk of history.
Would this be a chunking vulnerability? I donno.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
"Brevity is a virtue."
"I will not coin new e-Buzzwords or i-Acronyms."
"I will not preach to the choir."
Well, I can always hope, can't I?
Now, I play those same games on MAME or on arcade games in my basement (I have 4 games and a pin) and I feel like a loser. I have kids and a family, and don't get out a lot, but I miss being able to see high scores of people you knew.
Now, everybody plays games on consoles in their living room. If you get a high score, its like, so what. Sure, there is online gaming, but that scales out too big, then you don't know anyone.
What gaming needs is the equivalent of a bowling alley. Someplace to go be online, play games, hang out, drink beer, meet girls. Wired this month had a great article on how urban Korean has spawned a series of gaming parlor's where people would go an dplay warcraft or whatever in a social environment.
Until we can integrate gaming into the natural behaviour patterns of man, something will be missing. Until then, I am very sorry, but were just a bunch of losers playing video games in our living rooms.
www.avacal.com -- the home page of pete shaw
I highly recommend looking also at Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of Video Games which covers the history of console games more completely. There's also Game Over which details the history of Nintendo from a playing card company to the giant it became in the early 90's. There are others, but more are needed.
The history of video games is sorely underreported and under appreciated. Already many electronic games are disappearing as hardware and platforms become unavailable. The Abandonware scene is alive and well, but quietly our gaming history is disappearing. I encourage all Slashdot readers to read up on your gaming history and try to preserve a great and thriving culture.
But is it filled with the same sort of in-your-face 'look this is important because it compleatly re-defined our culture' that the review is? Or is it a good text that objectivly outlines the history and development of video games that the modern historian would find interesting and perhaps as a source text for future historians after the real cultural impact of video games has been discovered?
If it's the former, I would'nt want to read it. Speculitive works on the cultural attributes of technologies that are still emerging are typically usless. It would be like writing a book in 1909 on the cultural impact of the automobile.
Somehow I suspect this is more of the reviewer inserting his own 'golly gee look how technology is changing our lives' world view... but you never know.
The Internet is generally stupid
They are a gazillion-dollar business, already surpassing films in revenues.
A Gazillion-dollar business? Is this fancy new research techniques where you use child like number references instead of looking up the value yourself? "Multi-Billion" I would have bought. I even would have bought "Trillion." "Gazillion" seems a bit over the top.
Now its time to be proud!!! Im proud (very proud) of many things, i played Final Fantasy 1 in the NES when it was brand new, same with Ultima for the PC and NES, im proud to spend hours (as a child) trying to read a Final Fantasy 2 dialog (i didnt know english back then... not like i know it very welll now =P). IM PROUD!!! IM PROUD!!! IM VERY PROUD!!! Im proud i played pacman, arknoid and defender in the chips!!! and proud that i got the first intellivision!!!, but what im not proud of, not at all, is of born after pong was realased... I will never forgive me... TIME to PAYBACK!!!, AMO her i go to play 20 hours a day!!! (I need to sleep)
Sigs are for morons... Wait a minute...
Anyone?
I loved Raid on Bungeling Bay on the C64!!!
Does anyone know if there's a flash version somewhere, or anything outside of a C64 emulator that is playable?
Brings me back...
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
There is a java port of Raid on Bungeling Bay. I spent many hours playing this on the c64, one of my favorite c64 games. Also played Trolls and Tribulations. quite a bit. (When I was much younger, lol)
You really know its a small world, when your neighbors invent Myst. Video games has been part of my culture here in the Pacific Northwest, I have made many friends who are either directors of large game companies, owners, and some who are just hard core programers and gfx artists. Funny, most of my friends growing up are in the tech field, support, sys-admins, or programmers. Dont even get them started on the "Old Days" of computers, everything from vic-20s, tsr80s, apples2e/2gs converstations...
left, right, left, right, a, b, start
than the l337 |v|4Z73|2 himself, John Katz...
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so
Aren't there clans that combat on the net?!
Can't the PS2 via TONY HAWK ]I[ internet up and play other consoles?
At the mall down the street they have a bunch of machines networked and when I'm there when the kids are, thats where they're playing.
When you have a high concentration of young'ins (i.e. college dorm) you get them crowding around arcade games, consoles in rooms, heck, even crowded around my mac going head to head on a tron light-cycles ripoff (called nort!). When you get older, and have a house, and move out, etc. etc. networking is where its at.
We are not losers playing video games by ourselves! We are losers playing videogames with other losers!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
First, I'll reiterate the call against the use of the term e-game. E-nough, thank you.
Second, I want to address this tendency that Katz has to assume that those of us who've been out of high school more than 5 years are clueless cretins totally out of touch with the current progress of (so-called) culture in this country. Here's a clue for you, Katz: I'm 38, I remember all too well what high school was like, and I've managed to survive quite nicely, thanks. I was not a member of the oppressed fringe that you clearly identify so well with, and I do not think that that oppressed fringe is going to have any greater impact on our society than any previous oppressed fringe did. Which is to say that yes, some of the fringe elements have had enormous impact, some have eaten a bullet before they turned 21, and the vast majority will join the great consumer-base that is the foundation of American society and culture. I know, it ain't pretty, but there it is. Now get off your high-horse and recognize that your 'audience' here on Slashdot includes more than lamers who couldn't get past the fact that they were hazed in high school (like I was, but I grew up).
Believe nothing, not even if I say it, if it violates your sense of reason -- Buddha
Anyone notice that the excitement you feel toward some sort of gaming opportunity peaks at a certain point? For the most part, I'm as excited about Game X coming in Q4 2002 as I was for Game Y in 1998. Warcraft III looks great, but my enthusiasm toward it is a pale shadow of my excitement at picking up Shining Force/Shining Force 2 for the Genesis, or Phantasy Star IV. Is this just the way of things as technology advances - excitement levels off, even as the capabilities of games improve? Am I simply a nostalgic twit? Or can revolutionary games actually make a gamer more interested in gaming as a whole, than he/she was 4 years ago?
If so, what are the games that accomplish this? Are there any game revolutions any more? I remember Doom, and then Duke Nukem changing the way I thought about action games, and FF2 changing the way I thought about RPGs, with Daggerfall later obliterating that standard (even though its complexity was maddening at times.) Games are looking more beautiful and more realistic all the time...but in my experience this isn't enough by itself. Are games generally getting better, or worse? Is GTA3 a game that "ups the gaming ante," so to speak? Neverwinter Nights? What are some others?
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
Next we'll see something on slashdot about the cultural universality of frontal lobotomies or something.
which is oblivious to the C64, BBC, Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum, (insert 'home computer' here)
The inventor of the first video game - developed at a defense contractor, of all places - is still in New Hampshire:
1 &A rticleID=43867&SectionID=17&SubSectionID=327&S =1
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/main.asp?Search=
E-games are now both historic and significant, representations of the birth of a culture.
E-games? What the fuck is an E-games?
Christ, Katz, give it up. I know the only thing you want to hear is some talking head on CNN saying "The term [whatever] was coined by super-cool post-Columbine geek champion Jon Katz." It's not going to happen. Shut your fucking cakehole and stop making words up already.
--saint
He should write more reviews. I usually don't care for his articles, but I like this review.
I have some moderation points sitting in front of me. Is there any way I can mod down a couple sentences in this article?
They embody a value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience. Huh?
But then I figured it out. I realized that I just needed to run it through babelfish a few times and then I got the original decrypted message:
They include a worthy system, inspiration of lie-hesitate, common language and experience. And they finally receive their defeated.
I wonder if Katz writes all of his articles that way?
What is music when you despise all sound?
"Electronic games have spread the psychology of interactivity, re-defined narrative, and are a huge and growing swath of pop culture."
How can something so good be so bad?
One of my laptops runs ME. I use it for games. I like the challenge of pinball on it, which will "Tilt" first: the game or the machine.
Christ Katz, can't you ever have a SMALL point? Can't you ever just say "This is a pretty good book about video games, I recommend it."?
No, with you it has to be "Video games have had more effect on the evolution of mankind than oxygen. This book is so good, that if you hold it and make a wish, it will come true. Columbine."
Yeah, that was pretty much my feeling upon reading the review (although I was stunned that there wasn't a 9/11 reference anywhere).
Honestly, videogames have not made that much of an impact on world (or even American) culture. They sure as hell do not "embody a value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience". The majority of people over the age of 30 do not currently play videogames and only vaguely remember the games they played as kids. Look, I'm not making any value statements here (i.e., videogames are only for kids). I'm just stating the way it is. To be some sort of cultural phenomenon, there has to be a broad cross-section of the population (across several demographic lines) that is heavily influenced by it. Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon. Tomb Raider is not.
And I'd like to point out that it's really not necessary to try to put this book in some sort of global scope. Just tell us whether it's a good book or not. A book reviewer doesn't need to try to convince us of how the human race has been shaped and defined by videogames. The first couple of paragraphs of the "review" don't even discuss the book.
GMD
watch this
how the heck do I post a message without havink to reply?
You still have to 'reply', but only to the original article. Just click the big REPLY button at the top of the page, just under Katz's drivel.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Gaming is a big industry! Yay! Developers get money and we get great games, right?
Not really.
Big business is a double edged sword. Game publishers will only fund games that they know will make money. So instead of a great new game, you get a clone of the current best sellers. Innovation gets the boot in favor of the same games with prettier graphics.
The only people that can really bring out innovation are major game gurus like the incredible Warren Spector, or Sid Meiers. The best chance for you to bring out innovation is to make a mod of a current game on your own time, and hope you can get enough attention for a publisher to take a chance on one of your ideas.
This is what is currently bugging me about the video game industry... FPS aren't doing it anymore. We need FPS/RPGs like Deus Ex. FPS with a MAJOR TWIST like the Thief series. Deathmatch is dull, CapTheFlag has been done everywhere. We need a new style of online gaming for FPS. I ahven't seen DoomIII, yet, only heard about it. What I've heard from E3 is that its REALLY SWEET graphics, but they only went around and shot one or two enemies. Booooring.
Innovation is what this industry needs. How do we get it??
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I knew many of the people chronicled in this book, and I can say that it is well-written, well-documented, well-illustrated, well-designed, well-made, and, well, just plain good. Even the fact that Katz likes it can't change that.
But don't forget that video games are bad for you. It was reported on Slashdot, so it can't be wrong!
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
take lamp
take keys
take bottle
west
south
south
unlock grate
down
west
west
take cage
light lamp
west
west
catch bird
east
east
take rod
XYZZY
Oh, we all know ABACABB also!
It's all good.
CmdrTaco: Curse it all... Another slow news day. We must do SOMETHING to keep the traffic up.
Timothy: You aren't thinking....
chrisd: Please God no, not again.
CmdrTaco: Drastic times call for drastic measures boys... Release the Katz..
chrisd: *sobbing*
CmdrTaco: May God forgive my soul.
Replace "video game" with "masturbation" throughout this piece and you might be on to something. Good Lord, man! Video games are boredom killing machines. They make television look positively benevolent. Just imagine what wonders the youth of the world might be making if they weren't sitting slack-jawed in front of televisions sets, virtually kicking the shit out of BEM's. Maybe that is the cultural heritage of video games. Passivity and amusement. Frankly, I'd rather they were masturbating. I can see some value in that.
You are getting a bit jaded. I mean no insult by this. Honest. It has happened to me as well. DOOM was a "wet my pants" game. My wife used to quietly laugh at me when I would duck and dodge in my chair, or peer at my monitor at an angle trying to see around a corner. No game since has enthralled me like DOOM did. Is that because DOOM was so good that nothing as good has been made in the last 9.5 years? No. I've just gotten used to FPS games and know what to expect. It's no longer "Gee, whiz! This is all so new!".
It's kinda like sex. The first few times you get some it's an amazing, life-changing thing. After (counts on fingers) 19 years of an active sex life, it's not quite so amazing anymore. It's still fun, and it still fills a need and all, but I don't think about the last tiime for weeks afterwords like I did 19 years ago.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
[I personally remember playing that game at school (on our single Apple ][) whenever I could get the chance. It wasn't until years later that I saw those symbols again and realized what the game had really been about!]
Its always impressed me that Artificial Intelligence has found so much use in video games, I hope this book has some mention of AI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_bloc
Okay, I started to read the paragraph without actually checking who the article was by. I got to the following line:
E-games are now both historic and significant...
And I was like E-GAMES??? Who the hell uses terms like that? And then I thought, "this has got to be Katz." Sure enough, it is.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
You are not Spike Lee.
Have you ever actually seen Jon Katz? Sure, there are a couple of photos on the web, but those could be anybody.
Using Concordance (the software used to unmask Joe Klein as the author of primary colors; also used to classify works of literature) I have concluded that, in fact, Jon Katz IS Spike Lee. Or at least that these articles and the screen plays attributed to Spike Lee were written by the same person. It explains so much, I'm surprised it didn't occur to me earlier.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
Have you ever been to a Dave And Buster's? They have locations nationwide and are the new wave of arcades. They carry the newest games and have a restaurant inside them as well as multiple bars, also pool tables and other things.
:)
This is about as close as you are going to come to the old arcade days.
Unfortunately too, games now are different. Game makers no longer make games that increase in difficulty over and over, and allow you to play for long periods of time on one quarter. Most new games are tailored to require a coin drop within a few minutes, tops. If you don't believe me, try to name a new game that would let you play through it till the end on one play like Ms. PacMan or any of the other old-school arcade games... so now, the old "high-score" mentality is no longer there in my opinion. Now it's more of a 3-minute attraction that you pay 50 cents to a dollar to play, and then you move on.
But if you are looking for a place to (and I quote you here) "play games, hang out, drink beer, meet girls", Dave And Busters' is THE place you are looking for... check it out.
And no I don't work there, I just think it's a cool place to hang out and have fun.
Mark
The last videogame book I read, Game over, excluded large and signifigant parts of videogame history: it behaved as if the Intellivision, Odyssey2, Sega Master System, and Turbografx never existed. Also, it focused on the united states, leaving the gaming culture of the rest of the world in question. Is this book the same way?
What gaming needs is the equivalent of a bowling alley. Someplace to go be online, play games, hang out, drink beer, meet girls.
I dunno about that one, dude. Have you actually seen the chicks that hang out at bowling alleys? Many of them are shaped like bowling balls themselves! And talking to these chicks is your plan for not feeling like a "loser" anymore? I don't know about you, man.
All in gest, peteshaw .... :)
GMD
watch this
Jeeze... I can't believe I remember this...
...Especially since video games turn off the beta-waves in the frontal lobe causing one to lose creativity and of course concen--
..and in retrospect, the end of the 19th century lead to the belief system that...
Up, Up, Down, Down, A, B, B, A, Select, Start
Hmm... Donuts... *drool*
What was I talking about?
Oh yeah, Konami Rocked! With that uh... Iran Contra thing, darnit Ollie...
-.-
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
The title starts with "High Score!" not "High Scores:" in case any of you are searching your preferred online bookstores for it.
After checking my figures online, the correct value is ka-jillion. This obviously makes more sense than Katz' absurd gazillion.
I completly agree with you! Latley, I've been playing Space Quest V, and Day of the Tenticle. Somehow I find them more fun to play then the latest Quake, even though the graphics are below atrocious.
I believe gaming is becomming something like Television is now. Empty, repedetive, lack of creativness, and mind numbing!
I find it intersting that you point out that industries will only fund games that will make money, which usually is a mimic of another game.
We need more games like Black & White!
People discover the meaning of life between getting piss drunk and the following hangover.
The history of video games is sorely underreported and under appreciated. Already many electronic games are disappearing as hardware and platforms become unavailable. The Abandonware scene is alive and well, but quietly our gaming history is disappearing. I encourage all Slashdot readers to read up on your gaming history and try to preserve a great and thriving culture.
You don't need to worry about losing videogame history. It is simply becoming a part of our contemporary value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience.
GMD
watch this
This is the first nostalgia videogame books I've seen that has a significant focus on the old computer games-- Raid on Bungeling Bay is a good example of an old fav of mine, stuff like Star Control 2, the old SSI Wargameas, all that stuff--with lots of boxart and behind-the-scenes design stuff and what have you. Other good books like Supercade, Phoenix, Arcade Fever, etc mostly focus on the consoles and the arcade.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
This book seems to miss out almost completely on the global perspective. Computer games didn't just happen in the USA. Many very important titles came out of Europe in the 80's, especially the UK - none of which seem to be mentioned. What about such classics as Manic Miner, Uridium, Jet Pac, Monty Mole, Paradroid etc.
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
For those of you wishing to know more about the history of PONG, you should check out PONG-Story. It's got a lot of great information about Ralph Baer, Atari, etc. A must for any PONG aficionados out there!
One of these days someone is going to do a "History of Video Game Histories" it seems like these things pop up every couple months (years?)
Hooray fanboy cash..
I thought closed, proprietary systems under rigid intellectual property control were evil (I think they are)? Apparently not when it involves shooting things, blowing things up, side-scrolling, or texture-mapping.
We have to remember that it is all related. The "values" of the video game industry are the same as those of the MPAA, RIAA, and Microsoft.
(Real conversation, BTW)
A Friend: Well my wife finally broke down and bought me a Thrustmaster.
Me: Cool, how is it?
Friend: Very good, responsive and configurable, but it is a really stiff stick.
(pause)
Friend: But what would you expect from a company called Thrustmaster?
{ I still chuckle when I think about that conversation... Games and innuendo...who'd a thunk? }
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
The industry doesn't need innovation, there is plenty of that. First let me say I am not a gamer. OK, so I grew up with arcades in the 80's, then Atari, then Nintendo, but it pretty much stopped there. I had better things to do. I don't play that many games on the PC, although I have spent many many hours playing Quake Team Fortress. I even created my own map. Create your own map!? That is innovative. But for some reason, that is boring now. You know what made the old arcade games (and Quake TF) fun? Good gameplay. It doesn't have to be innovative, it needs to be FUN. And when a game is fun, what do most gamers do? They spend an entire weekend playing the damn thing 24/7. A month after a game has come out, it has been played to death and people are waiting for the next great thing.
Now this isn't true with all games, of course. Some have staying power. But how many games do you have that you can play once you have "beaten" it. I'll bet not that many. The consumers are driving the industry.
Maybe I don't fully get it because I am not a gamer. I don't want to be, quite honestly. Games turned into a big business, just like arcade games did. Believe me, there were plenty of stinker arcade games too. But I can still play a few games on my Galaga arcade machine, have an absolute blast, and walk away from it.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
And for him, that's a good thing. I mean, the guy misses the point...never mind.
Anyway, just wanted to clear up something he said at the beginning of his review.
He talks about the Dreamcast being done-in by The PS1 and N64. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Dreamcast was done in by a couple of things:
1) Sega was woefully undercapitalized for the Dreamcast battle. The DC initially did extremely well (who can forget the fun of 9/9/99), but Sega simply didn't have the dollars to carry this thing forward until it "stuck" with consumers.
2) Sony did the classic FUD with their PS2 announcement. They were so rattled by Dreamcast's initial success they basically announced the PS2 almost 2 years ahead of its ship date in the US (I suspect that's why the PS2 is so mediocre; it was a response to a competitor rather than a new, stand-alone idea).
But it wasn't the PS1 and N64 that killed off the DC, not by a long-shot.
I was skeptical (I buy all book on video game history, I have an entire collection), but not only is this thing accurate, it has a lot of pictures and good text.
Best of all, it doesn't cost $50.
I recommend it.
Are katz's, not the books. The book is quite accurate.
You think you're being fair at first.
But then it occurs to you that he's fairly clueless, but knows how to use a word processor.
ON deeper analysis, you conclude he is a fucking moron simply because he thinks he's smart.
The games that you mention were NOTHING.
Video games were invented and perfected in the US.
The Japanese figured out how to make them smaller and more reliable though.
The europeans? They invented old, overpriced, overrated video games lacking in any sort of fun.
They are a gazillion-dollar business, already surpassing films in revenues.
Only if you compare apples to oranges. The entire revenue of the video game industry, including sales of software, consoles, accessories, etc. (around $7 billion), is greater than the movie industry yearly box office totals.
However, the movie industry has more revenue sources than just box office returns, such as VHS & DVD sales and rentals. To really compare the two, we should also add in yearly sales of vcrs and dvd players.
They don't make "primitive" pinball games anymore. "Primitive" meaning those astounding engineering marvels that look like giant Swiss watch conglomerations inside. Each game being an utterly unique piece of engineering art, with its "software" made out of gears and switches. "Primal" is a significantly better description, and in that sense, I think games have lost a lot since those days. You can feel a pinball game for real, it's not haptic, it's a hunk of metal that you can push and pound and "tilt". Keeping an eye on the butt end of a pinball player, watching him/her play shows that they move most of their entire body. It looks more interactive than Quake because from a physical reality standpoint it is more interactive. Modern games are incredible in their own right, but with primal pinball it is 100% reality, there is no abstraction. Something amazing will be lost forever when the last Midway mechanical pinball machine plays its last ball.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
I would, however, consider buying a book Katz didn't like. If he doesn't like it, it is a point in its favor.
If this book doesn't cover it, I don't know if we'll ever know.
--- Jason Olshefsky
Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)
First, thanks for all the commmentary. And thanks for the review. I thought I'd take the opportunity to respond to some of the comments I've heard about High Score! And some of what I think are misconceptions.
First, my goal in creating the book was to make it visual - a colorful journey through the history of games. To do so required some compromises. For instance, the stories (the actual text) had to be kept pretty short. It's amazing how much space it takes to write substantial text, and how often it came down to "more story" or "more and bigger graphics." I was constantly fighting with the publisher for more pages. However, since the retail price of the book is only $24.99, and it is all color and oversized, they quite legitimately refused to do a 500-page book. In my opinion, the book provides a lot for the price and McGraw-Hill was a great company to work with. They all worked really hard to make the book as good as it could be.
I also find some people recommending other books, such as Steve Kent's and Leonard Herman's books. I want to echo those recommendations. Steve and Leonard have done great jobs, and it was never my intention, or Johnny's, to redo what they had done. I'm really happiest when someone looks at High Score! and has happy nostalgic moments - which are mostly triggered by the pictures. In interviewing many of the pioneers of electronic games for the book, I was able to get some interesting facts, some cool quotes and, hopefully, the nugget of the history. I hope readers will find that material interesting. However, it is my belief that the greatest strength of High Score! is in the graphics, and that there are other books that have approached the subject with more depth, though none (that I've seen) covering the evolution of PC games. At any rate, I hope it's not "either/or" but more like "both/and".
And High Score! is far from perfect. There are plenty of omissions and even a few mistakes (I'm embarrassed to say). I'd love to do a future updated version of it with more pictures (I have plenty that weren't used), with some omitted games and companies added in, and with more coverage of the history in Europe and Japan. That will depend on the publisher and how well the book does.
Finally, it is my hope that people will enjoy the book. We don't really attempt to make all that many grand philisophical points in it (despite the tone of the review). Johnny and I each have our own opinions about the impact electronic games have had on our world. (And no, we don't use the term "e-games" anywhere that I know of. It's not in my vocabulary and I don't think it's in Johnny's, either.) But I think we kept our philosophy mostly out of the book. It wasn't our intention to do a whole lot of philosophizing - though maybe just a little.
I do think it's interesting to observe the idealistic philosophies of companies like Atari and EA when they started out, and compare them to the business as it exists today. But, again, the main purpose of the book was to have fun, and to share it with others.
Even though the book took a ton of work, and I really wanted it to be something great, in the end it's not a prescription for world peace or a deep exploration of human consciousness. It's a picture book, hopefully a pretty cool one, about electronic games - where they came from, some of the people who pioneered them and how they evolved. So, I hope people will enjoy it for what it is.
Thanks,
Rusel DeMaria
Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-B-A
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Um, these statistics don't back up what you're saying. They give percentages of gamers by age, but everyone in the set is a gamer. His statement was that less than 50% of 30+-year-olds play games. Your statistics say nothing about that.
Virg
...can you drill down on that some more? I'm not sure your belt-and-suspenders approach is going to work. We need to incentivize our people toward efficiencies, not overages.
I seriously do not know why someone moderated you as Informative. Take a closer look at those stats you quoted. The percentages add up to 100%. That's because it is showing the percentage of gamers in that age group. Not the percentage of people in that age group who are gamers. And even so, 22.8% + 15.4% + 5.6% = 43.8% which is less than 50%.
Before you start insulting someone in public, do a sanity check to make sure you don't say something obviously wrong.
GMD
watch this
They don't. They completely revamped the student center on College Avenue (put in some kind of cafe' on the basement floor) and reduced the size and variety of the arcade. The Livingston arcade doesn't even exist any more (I think I spent more money on Gauntlet there than for tuition), and the Douglass one always sucked. The only one left is in the Busch studcutter and it's mostly the new stuff, although the old boys are still around (two of them got "borrowed" and are in the engineering building now).
Virg
The more I read slashdot, the more I think that slashdot desperately needs to add features to allow for the rating or review of articles posted, even if only to influence the authors of the site to provide alternate content in certain areas.
I'd LOVE to be able to rate an article (if not mod it out of existance) that is complete and utter crap, in the same manner that I would rate higher an article that intrigues and excites me. Granted, Slashdot ed's have a primitive ratign system displayed in the number of highly moderated replies versus total replies, but where are the statistics for number of views? clickthroughs? total mod points spent on the replies?
Slashdot is due, even overdue for upgrades. Let's see some new features, new looks, new authors and editors. It's time for a change.
The real news is that this is the first thing I've ever read by Jon Katz that was helpful.
I'd understand if they also requested you not to explain why, but I'm curious, so if you can tell, please do!
Other than that, the most of the games I remember playing as a kid seemed to be in there, although you missed Scram and Ladder! (Really early DOS games - I wanna see if anyone else out there recoginizes them.) But Zork was in there, so that's good. I think Planetfall was too, but I'm not sure - I only got to glance through the book over my brother's shoulder and again on the way up to a store to get him Jak and Daxter for his birthday.
(And trust me, driving while having your little brother try and show you pretty pictures gets annoying very fast - although your book did shut him up :P (I'm kidding - he's usually a good passenger, except when it comes to trying to point to pictures while I'm changing lanes...) However, I'm pretty sure that he really likes your book - even if he doesn't recognize half the old games.)
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Well, if you add half of the 25-34 age group that is 30 and over, that pushes it over 50%.
:)
Maybe you need the sanity check?
If you really want to learn about the history of video games I'd highly reccommend The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steve Kent. While there aren't many pictures, there are quotes from just about every name in the business and stories that will make your head spin.
It leterally covers everything, from the beginings of pinball to the latest generations of systems, and everything in between. Steve Kent is widely recognized as the best gaming journalist there is and it shows in this book. Excellent read. If you're serious about gaming, I'd check it out.
You still have to 'reply', but only to the original article. Just click the big REPLY button at the top of the page, just under Katz's drivel.
I know this is off-topic, but why isn't that button labeled "Create Thread" or something similar? It took me longer than it should have to figure out how to post without replying to someone else.
Maybe I'm just an idiot.
Thanks for the acknowledgement. As you can see from some of the other comments, you weren't the only one who misread the stats. And you're right: the stats are pretty interesting. I would have never imagined that 5% of gamers are over 55!
No hard feelings...
GMD
watch this
Stop it, you guys are killin' me here.
From the way it's described, this book seems to be focused primarily on the birth of north american gaming culture. It's always the same: pinball - arcade - sega/nintendo - pentiums and graphic cards. It's kinda like the freaking cavemen - greeks - romans - middle ages - capitalism - america dogma that western school pump into us.
From a european perspective, I am sure that gaming in the old continent would not have gone anywhere were it not for C64s and Amigas. Earliest gaming experiences for a lot of people involve adjusting the head of a c64 tape deck with their lucky screwdriver, or tapping on those ugly ugly spectrum ZXs, just to get some good old Scramble or Zaxxon action. Or to waste nights playing Blue Max or Elite. I am fairly certain that this book will swoon over all the japanese imported games, skipping all the Amiga lore like Shadow of the Beast, or Alien Breed.
John will bring us an illustrated history of the diference engine.p ing-about-tired-dead-issues.
And the compostible iron horeless carridge, slipers for the peseant, socialism, democracy, and ply press poly organic, (sometimes recicled) pulpus materials for ink absorbtion, polocarbante-biurththame cypher cripled mono plane disk with missing mass at the center (normally 1/4 of the circomrence).
After this he'll tell us about the ARPO net, and this odd thing called Hyper Text Markup Language, low english, and spike-please-don't-say-my-movies-suck-and-i'm-har
Especially seeing as 80%-90% of the worlds population hasn't even made a phone call yet.
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
but...
KATZ, YOU PRETENTIOUS POMPOUS FUCK! SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Only if you're an aspiring PoMo Pinhead.
Signed,
Mike Nomad
Despite advances in home gaming technology, nothing will ever replace the experience of having been a teenager sweating over a good game of Defender, Tempest, or Q*bert (name your favorites), along with tens of other similarly sweating teenagers, in a dark arcade room full of machines having a life of their own in attract mode. Real men play arcade games. Quiche eaters play console games. Real men have their 3-letter nickname flashing permanently in the high score list of arcade games around the world. Quiche eaters have their nickname stored in their personal high score list, with no other name, on PlayStation, GameCube or XBox memory cards.
...games were actually really 3-D. like, you know, kids went outside to play?
-c
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.
Saying WWW takes 9 syllables while saying "world wide web" only takes 4 (or 3 if you slur "world").
I am convinced Jon Katz is really a team of 1000 monkeys banging on keyboards. Each time something is written in MS Office that doesn't have those squigley underline things, a slashdot article is posted.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
u u d d l r l r b a b a sel start
You either grok it or you don't.
-----
PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
IIRC most keyboards have a 1 key. I recommend using it for greater readability.
Thought you'd like to know.
sulli
RTFJ.
Oh but you are wrong. What about GTA3? Who was the lead designer on that game? Can you name 1 person that worked on Never Winter Nights?
Yes, publishers are there to make money, and yes, we get LOTS and LOTS of licences and follow-up games. But there is room for innovation. Even if you name is not Spector, Meiers, Wright or Carmack.
You've got to be kidding!! "from the games dept." That is a pathetic excuse for creative journalism! How about " from the those-were-the-days dept." or "from the ahhh-nostalgia dept." the games dept. sounds like a friggin over-commercialized-give-me-your-money-in-exchange -for-a-piece-0f-shit department store. For the love of God, use some creativity!!
--------------
There's got to be some kinda way outa here.
Said the Joker to the thief.
[ ]
There should be a ban on PCBs (Pseudo Corporate Bullshit) or perhaps on the Marketing Droids that spawn them. Let's run this idea up the flagpole and... DOH!!
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
the subject says it all!
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