High Score

Remember Pong, Raid on Bungeling Bay, or Earthworm Jim? E-games are now both historic and significant, representations of the birth of a culture. They embody a value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience. And they are finally getting their due. It is unbelievable how far video games have come in the past 30 years, from pinball systems to the console wars raging between Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, or how important they are culturally. In these games are the stories of the transition from one age to another. Electronic games have spread the psychology of interactivity, re-defined narrative, and are a huge and growing swath of pop culture. They are a gazillion-dollar business, already surpassing films in revenues. They have altered the consciousness and cognitive traits of at least one generation, perhaps two. High Score: the illustrated history of electronic games, by Rusel Demaria and Johnny L. Wilson, is a beautifully organized history of this astounding and little-chronicled phenomenon, from primitive pinballs to the powerful new 3-D entertainment consoles. High Score: the illustrated history of electronic games author Rusel Demaria and Johnny L. Wilson pages 326 publisher McGraw Hill/Osborne rating 8/10 reviewer Jon Katz ISBN 0072224282 summary history of e-games

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.

Comments

Please

[British]

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!

Value system?

[Gannoc]

Remember Pong...They embody a value system, mind-boggling inspiration, common language and experience.

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.

apparently...

[argStyopa]

"gazillion-dollar business" = ~$7 billion

And I'll second the "NO" vote on the term 'e-games'. E-gad.

Open letter to wife:

[El_Smack]

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."!

where is gaming going next?

[peteshaw]

What I wonder is how modern gaming will manage to integrate a social aspect. Back in the 80's the arcades were someplace you would go, and spend your money, and hang out. I loved the old games too. I remember being in awe of these two 30 something guys who mastered missile command and sould play it until they flipped the score over a million.

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.

Note: Only illustrated history, not definitive

[Torgo's Pizza]

I was talking to John Romero about this book last week (turns out that he provided a lot of the pictures) and we both agree this is a fantastic book to get your hands on. While High Score provides lots of glossy pictures, including five or six covers of Akalabeth (minus the ziplock bag), High Score doesn't cover the entire history of gaming. It's a great starting point for researching a fantastic industry.

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.

Is this a book review or an editorial?

[GuyMannDude]

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

Becoming a big industry is a double edged sword.

[FortKnox]

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??

Author's comments

[demaria99]

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