BaD #16: Game History

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BaD #16: Game History

On 02/24/2020 at 08:40 AM by daftman

For those of us whose interest in games goes beyond just playing them, these two books are fascinating reads. Game Over chronicles the rise of Nintendo and its dominance of the 8-bit market (the tale of how Nintendo came to possess the Tetris license is particularly interesting) whereas Console Wars covers Sega's assault on that dominance with the Genesis. The book adopts an odd narative style, as if it were a novel rather than a historical account, but the information it purveys is great stuff. Neither book is perfect—Game Over, published in 1993, is colored by the Japanophobia of the time and Console Wars has a little hero worship going for Tom Kalinski, Sega of America's president during the majority of the Genesis era—but together they provide a great starting point for the amateur game historian.

Comments

The Last Ninja

02/24/2020 at 11:32 AM

I have both of these books, they're both very fascinating. Early game history is just so interesting. Nintendo in the 80s was the underdog, and they totally dominated the market (they actually saved gaming). And then Sega was the underdog in the early 90s who actually beat Nintendo (for a short time). The console wars now are not nearly as exciting as those between Nintendo and Sega in the 90s.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/24/2020 at 04:41 PM

The Tetris thing sounds interesting, but I always think with these books I'll end up already knowing what happened and/or just reading stuff I could find on the Internet. Let me know if I'm wrong.

We definitely need to start preserving old video games though.

daftman

02/24/2020 at 08:16 PM

When it comes to Nintendo history, yeah, you can find that info a million different places online. You'd have to dig a lot deeper to find the Sega history but I'm sure it's out there. What you get with books like these is the convenience of having it all compiled neatly for you and in the case of Console Wars in particular, the author did a lot of interviews himself, since the account largely deals with Sega of America. Plus...I just like reading from a book better than a browser screen, you know?

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/25/2020 at 05:14 PM

All solid points.

KnightDriver

02/25/2020 at 09:14 PM

I don't think I've ever read that subtitle for Game Over. It sounds like some kind of invective against video gaming. I've always wanted to read it though. My library has it. I have no excuse.

Isn't that Neptunia game an embodiment of the 90s console wars? I seem to remember that. That's another book I should read. It's maybe that I think about gaming so much, I burn out and don't want to read more about it. I've got to finish the book about Doom I started earlier this year. Some dope didn't return the book to my library, now I can't pick up where I left off.

daftman

02/25/2020 at 11:32 PM

Masters of Doom? I've been meaning for years now to get that book. Also Racing the Beam about Atari. There are a lot of good video game books these days.