| Title | : | The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0399578900 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780399578908 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 2017 |
Author Jonathan Hennessey and illustrator Jack McGowan present the first full-color, chronological origin story for this hugely successful, omnipresent artform and business. Hennessey provides readers with everything they need to know about video games--from their early beginnings during World War II to the emergence of arcade games in the 1970s to the rise of Nintendo to today's app-based games like Angry Birds and Pokemon Go. Hennessey and McGowan also analyze the evolution of gaming as an artform and its impact on society. Each chapter features spotlights on major players in the development of games and gaming that contains everything that gamers and non-gamers alike need to understand and appreciate this incredible phenomenon.
The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution Reviews
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There is a LOT of information to digest in this. The first third of the book is a history of technology throughout the 20th century, even going into such detail as how a CRT monitor works and the like. It's probably another third of the book before we enter the console era of video games. This would actually fit well in a STEM curriculum. If you're looking for more of the ins and outs of the industry, I'd suggest something like Console Wars.
Received an advance copy from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley. -
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The other day at work, I picked up my trusty bottle of iced black coffee (lightly sweetened, no milk). I took a sip - and immediately, my mouth went whoa, something is wrong here! Did the coffee go rancid? But no, it did not have that nasty "gone-off" taste; it was just bitterer than I was used to. I picked up the bottle and eyed the label: it said UNSWEETENED.
There was nothing wrong with the coffee - it was actually so smooth that drinking it black and unsweetened was perfectly acceptable to me - but I hadn't signed up for black coffee. I hadn't mentally prepared for black coffee because it wasn't what I had asked for or even expecting.
That's kind of how I feel about this book.
THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF VIDEO GAMES caught my eye immediately when I was looking at ARCs I might want to read because of the 80s styled cover and the intriguing title. I'm an ex-gamer with a geeky streak you could right a souped-up Delorean down; there was nothing about that title that did not intrigue me.
Unfortunately,
Yzabel was right on the money when she says that, for a while, at least, the focus of this book is not about video games themselves, but the various technological advancements that made the invention of video games possible. Which, okay, is interesting, but not really what I signed up to read about - and it goes on for waaaay too long. The actual video game parts don't really begin until around p. 70 or 80, which leaves a significant portion of the book being not about games. (That was a really awkwardly worded sentence, but bear with me, guys.)
I did enjoy learning about the games. Hennessey discusses most of the major systems, although I was surprised he left out Virtual Boy and the Power Glove. Also, the vintage Tiger handheld electronic LCD games don't even warrant a mention? I had one of those long before I ever had a Gameboy. He does, however, discuss the "arms race" (my phrasing) between Nintendo and Sega, the oversaturation of the game market in the 80s followed by that fatal market crash, the switch from cartridge to disk, and the emergence of Playstation and X-Box following Sega's exit. Oh - and Pokemon GO, ofc.
The art is also fun. Even in the parts that aren't about video games, the artist will have little Easter eggs placed here and there to remind you that, yes, you are reading a book about video games - or at least, you will be, soon. I was pleased to see Banjo Kazooie, the guy from Balloon Fight, and Rayman, as well as a Tapper appearance when one of the panels is set in a bar. Some of the panels will be in 8-bit or 16-bit styles randomly, too, which captures that 80s nostalgia feel.
I just wish more of the book had been about games.
Thanks to Netgalley/the publisher for the review copy!
3 stars -
A history of video games in graphic novel format. This book focuses on the innovators in the gaming industry, along with the devices and games that have been the most influential. A fun and informative read.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. -
This is pretty much as advertised on the cover: a history of video games in graphic novel form. Having grown up during the first explosion of the genre--I was born in 1968--and having a lifelong interest in tech and geek culture, I was familiar with quite a bit of this already. But I hadn't properly appreciated how far back its roots went. Heck, I never even heard of Dumont’s cathode-ray amusement device before.
The book is perhaps on the short side, but it's still impressively thorough. Every major event up through Microsoft’s acquisition of Mojang (makers of Minecraft) is covered. There are all sorts of allusions and homages to classic games in the artwork even if they're not necessarily covered in the text.
All in all, this is a high quality book. Hopefully you'll find it as interesting as I did. Recommended! -
It's decently written, but the pacing is... odd.. To be about 40 pages into a 180 page book before the first real video game shows up is kind of strange. So much of the book is preoccupied with the technologies that preceded video games that there's little time for the actual development of video games past, say, the mid-80s. It just seems very strange to me that there's more space given to the invention of CRTs than to the invention of the XBox.
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“The Comic Book Story of Video Games” is definitely not light reading, but it is entertaining and full of information. I believe I learned something new on almost every page. This is perfect for kids interested in engineering and technology, as well as adults. It could also fit easily into a STEM curriculum. Highly recommended for all of us video game nerds out there!
This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher. -
While I think this was informative, and visually appealing... I'm struggling with how I feel about this book.
I had similar problems to other reviews here... pacing, etc. But, I think my main problem stems from the naming. I'm not sure this should be called a "comic book story". While it does wag the comic book trappings of art and text surrounded by panels and blocks, it doesn't do anything with them. This would be much better described as an "illustrated micro-history", rather than a "comic book"...and I certainly wouldn't label this as "story".
I'm going to blame the text. The text was overly dense and wordy. There were so many times when I had to stop reading to reread a single sentence to make sense of it, "Why did you say it that way? Why did you mention that? What do you mean?" Speech bubbles were almost non-existent. And, the art was used for nothing more than to colourfully illustrate the captions. Without the art, the book would be unchanged. This didn't feel like two creators working together, but an artist being given the task of trying to illustrate an already fully formed work.
I guess, this problem outlines another that I have, in that I'm not sure who this book was written for? As a casual micro-history, it doesn't have enough personal anecdote or story to keep a reader interested. As a reference book, it doesn't have enough content for any serious research. As a work for teens, the writing is too dense and dry. As a work for adults, the writing is too full of slang, and obscure references. I think this is pitching at a VERY niche audience. Someone over 20 (me), has history playing vintage video games of the 70s/80s (me), and also reads comics (me). But then again... it really wasn't for me.
There were things in the book I did like. I really liked the inclusion of iconic video game characters randomly appearing in background scenes... but, I also found it sometimes muddied the timeline.
I also really liked and related to the explanation of the gaming systems: nintendo intended for children, sega genesis geared to teens, and playstation marketed to 20-somethings, as that followed almost exactly my own personal history, and really gives weight to why these game systems have been major markers in my life.
I'm conflicted. -
This is exactly what it sounds like! It’s a comprehensive story explaining basically every inch of the video game evolution. Some of it was a little difficult to follow—when it was a close-up view of one of the founder’s faces I had no clue who it was without the caption. Otherwise, it was fantastic and mostly easy to follow.
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Від нон-фік комікса я очікую наступних речей:
* багато інформації у стислій та зрозумілій формі
* чітку структурованість
* послідовність.
Так от. Цей комікс не такий.
Він скаче з одного часового періоду в інший, з однієї події на іншу та жонглює особистостями як той циркач, підкидаючи їх все більше і не переймаючись чи ми, читачі, всі їх підхопимо. І весь цей сумбур якось ледь ледь тримається купи, пов'язаний темою комп'ютерних ігор. От тільки проблема в тому, що тобі треба ну дуже сконцентруватися щоб зрозуміти до чого це автор веде і як він це пов'язує з вищезгаданою індустрією. Історія технологічного прогресу? Безумовно. Історія ігор? Досить віддалено.
Те, про що я хотіла прочитати почалося приблизно з 100 сторінки. А в коміксі їх загалом 180...
Можливо це чисто мої очікування не співпали з реальністю, але факт залишається фактом і задоволення від читання я отримала мало. -
Full review to come!
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Actual Rating 3.5 stars
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Необычный формат для такой темы. Ожидал поверхностного упоминания значимых вех в истории видеоигр, но по итогу узнал много новых занятных деталей. Из минусов отмечу затянутую первую треть комикса, которая посвящена развитию технологий в целом ещё до появления первых консолей. Именно комиксное оформление иногда помогало проиллюстрировать какой-то факт, но по большей части не привносит ничего полезного кроме пасхалок с различными видеоигровыми персонажами почти на каждой странице
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A pretty dense information dump of a graphic novel. I'm a sucker for narrative and when narrative is lacking, as it is here, I have trouble focusing. Just page after page of this guy (and I mean guy in the literal sense, since the history of video games, at least in this iteration, is very dong-owning-focused. Obviously Hennessey and Mcgowan can't rewrite history to include more women, but as a woman who's been playing video games since 1987, it kind of sucks that the history is so masculine) made this game and then this guy made this other game. Also, no mention of
Nethack, which I guess is okay when there are cameos by
The King of the Cosmos and
his son. I think I've been spoiled by
Halt and Catch Fire when it comes to technology histories. I want plot and females and stories I can identify with, not just a timeline recounting of what happened when that (inadvertently) makes me feel that I'm always going to be excluded from one of my hobbies. Where are
Cameron and
Donna when I need them?
Mutiny 4 evs!
The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack Mcgowan went on sale October 3, 2017.
I received a copy free from
Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. -
This was a fun, informative overview of the history of video games. I appreciated that Hennessey went far back to give relevant context to the technological advancements and inventions that would eventually lead to video games being created. However, the pacing is really unbalanced. There's a ton of page-time dedicated to the infancy and early days of video games but almost next to nothing about the past 15 odd years.
What made this a "good" instead of a "great" read was the art. Sometimes, McGowan's art helped illustrate something Hennessey was describing, but mostly, his art did little to support or enhance the text. He had a propensity for throwing in random video game characters which was fun, but again, didn't really add any extra value. The overall quality was middling - not offensive, but not particularly noteworthy.
This would be a fun pairing with Box Brown's
Tetris: The Games People Play. -
It is really what it says it is - a history of the electronic gaming evolution. So if you, just like me, wanted to see different video games released in different eras and what compulsed their popularity, you will be disappointed.
This is still a great coffee table book, and I would love to have something like this in my living room to pull out from time to time and learn some new nerdy facts, but it was not a book that you could easily read in one sitting.
I found it rather boring to read all at once, but as I said before this would be a great book to read from time to time and feel good about yourself for learning new things and fun facts.
Other than that, I felt like there were a lot of illustrations of people and not enough of games!
Afterall, I wanted to see games and gaming consoles more than the portraits of all the important people in 19th and 20th centuries… -
This reads like a history book, rather than a comic book or graphic novel. It focuses a lot on the computer & tech advancements, and some of the personalities involved with the creation of game companies (Atari, Sega, Nintendo, etc) rather than a lot on gameplay or games.
I liked it! I thought it was a really cool compilation. My complaints were that it felt a little dense and dry at points, where I wished it would be lighter given the subject. BUT for anybody seriously looking to delve into the tech history and console history of video games - I say go for it. -
Красивий комікс наповнений цікавою інформацією не лише про відеоігри, а й про їх авторів, обставини їх створення, розвиток ігрових платформ та супутні історичні процеси. Захопливо!
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I really did enjoy this, but it's not quite a 5-star read because it spent just a little too long on game peripherals in the beginning (yes, the silicon industry is relevant but did we really need to go all the way back to the cathode ray tube?) and not enough time on modern gaming at the end. I also found that the narrative jumped around a little too much and was sometimes hard to follow but the art and panelling were decent.
Something that I was hoping for and was happy to see was detailed origins of all the big characters, like Pacman being made to appeal to a female market by including fruit and Mario as the plumber in the first DK. It was also nice to get to know the origins of the companies like Nintendo and Sega, and how far back people like Wozniak were involved in gaming.
Highly recommended!
========================
Mid-week at the library: A small selection of graphic novels for a cloudy May week.
1) I Hate Fairyland Volume 1 by Skottie Young
2) I Hate Fairyland Volume 2 by Skottie Young (coming soon)
3) Phonogram Volume 1 by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie
4) Unflattening by Nick Sousanis
5) The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey & Jack McGowan
6) Criminal - The Sinners by Ed Brubacker & Sean Phillips (coming soon)
7) A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni & Tristan Jimerson -
This is a creative and visually engaging book that deserves to be read by many video game obsessed people like myself. I learned quite a bit of information I didn't know about the gaming industry as well as the people who pushed it forward in it's infancy. However I do think this book was a little bit on the short side and it focuses too much on the mainstream.
There are several historically important consoles and games that were left out, even if they may seem more obscure. Not a single mention of the Turbografx 16. No Virtual Boy, Sega Master System, Game Gear, Sega Saturn, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, PSP or Vita either. That's a LOT of important information to be left skipped. I think the writer should've spent more time researching and elaborating on more modern consoles and games considering the heavy focus on Atari. Video games got far more interesting after Atari's reign and SEGA almost barely gets mentioned. SEGA had a massive presence as a hardware company and brought a ton of innovation with their games, arcade units and consoles. I'd be interested to see a whole graphic novel about SEGA's history.
Overall this is a great read for history buffs and hardcore video gamers who love the medium of entertainment. It really needs an expanded edition though, because there are some missed opportunities here! There are no shortcuts in history! -
The Comic Book Story of Video Games is a dense and colourfully illustrated overview of the history of video games. Hennessey places particular emphasis on the technological and business aspects of video games, focusing on the commercial successes and failures of various gaming hardware and software. I learned a lot from reading this book and I enjoyed the subtle game references and in-jokes. However, I can't help but feel that the book is missing something. The advent of the Internet, for example, feels like a mere footnote in the narrative. I was also annoyed by the endless panels of smug businessmen sneering at the viewer.
-
What a lovely way to illustrate the history of video games. The art was brilliant as modern-day characters looked on over the past. It was a thorough history right from the start of computing to the launch of the Xbox One. As someone who loves retro games, I enjoyed learning about the history of the companies and their infighting and where it all started from. This book was a pleasure to read. The only slight negative was it was a little jumpy in the years, but it did label everything thoroughly throughout.
-
[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.]
Fairly interesting, although to be honest, in spite of the early chapters being educative in their own ways, I would’ve preferred to see the focus more on the actual video games (and industry) themselves, rather than also on the electricity/industrial revolution parts. The art style, too, was not always consistent, and sometimes too stiff.
On the other hand, I appreciated the inclusion of actual video games characters in panels, as watchers or part of the ‘narrative’; just trying to remember or find out who they were, was in itself another, different dive into history. (Well, maybe it wouldn’t work that well on someone who knows less about such games, but for me, it worked.)
I also liked how the book included some of the backstage workings behind the whole video games industry; they were plenty of things I didn’t know, for instance Sony and its Playstation, I had no idea there had been a deal in the plans with Nintendo for CD games, and that it completely fell through. (I’m not feeling younger, though. Being reminded that this PSX I got in 1998—and I made it a point to get a US model, too, since the European one didn’t run the games I wanted—was even a few years older than that... well...)
Conclusion: An informative and colourful read. I do wish it had spent just a little less time on the really early years, where ‘games’ per se weren’t so much concerned (to be fair, I already know a lot about computer history in general). -
Really solid and generally well-crafted, though the pacing is an issue - once the PlayStation enters the picture, the remainder of the book is a mad dash to check off as many significant milestones as possible. But the first 2/3 is really wonderful, and the whole thing is a terrific primer on the history of video gaming. Recommended.
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Dalla bomba atomica ai pokemon, il volume è un viaggio dietro le quinte dei giochi e dei personaggi che hanno dato vita all'industria dei vedeogames.
Lettura raccomandata per i meno giovani, la nostalgia sarà tanta. -
It was a education mound of awesomeness
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The Comic Book Story of Video Games by Jonathan Hennessey and Jack Mcgowan, published by Ten Speed Press, publication date October 3, 2017.
This is my first non-fiction review, so be gentle on me :o)
I'll begin by saying how surprisingly interesting I found the subject to be; I intended to read this to see if my high school Manga-loving students would like this. I've decided that, even if they wouldn't, the robotics-, engineering-, and coding-type gamers would! There were so many interesting factoids in the telling of this history. (I'm tempted to leak a few to you here, but I wouldn't want a spoiler alert tagged to this review.) Suffice it to say, that in 181 pages of story, I annotated 24 or so places with 'interesting factoid.'
The vocabulary might be a bit elevated for some high schoolers, but those with an interest in this topic will probably glean or look up the meanings of the unknown terms; it doesn't happen often enough to turn off a reader. There were a few places where I felt a chronological disconnect to the unfolding of the history, almost as if the author thought the relevance of a fact was more important in deciding its placement than pure chronology; if only that were always the case... at least twice I needed to reread sections because I thought I had 'missed' something, but rereading didn't clarify the information placements. Still, it was historical, so I tried just to absorb the significance of the information without the need to strictly enforce the chronology.
The storytelling depends heavily on Moore's Law without ever explaining it. (see
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/wired-... if you, too, don't know Moore's law.) There were also a few places where I would have liked to have been told the source of the information being touted as fact since I practice a healthy skepticism of weighted adjectives that appear alongside data.
The distractions described were fairly minor to my overall enjoyment of the history of video games (hint: my first personal awareness of video gaming coincides with page 87 or so). I thoroughly enjoyed the many pop culture, political, and historical gaming evolutionary connections the author made throughout the story. Psychology, marketing, politics, war, engineering, computers, electricity, culture... the author included something with which a multitude of readers could engage. (Simply put: something for everyone.)
My enjoyment was OBVIOUSLY enhanced by the clever, detailed, and engaging drawings in this graphic novel. At least twice I full-stopped reading just to appreciate the humor and allusions the drawing provided to heighten the experience. The pictures were not merely embellishments; they sometimes were the story! Some of the best pictures were enough to jog my memory, explain something new, or complete a written explanation. [Note: The cover doesn't do the inside any justice.]
I'm looking forward to recommending this title to my non-fiction readers as well as my computer, gaming, coding, and Manga-ing students (and teachers!)
Jonathan Hennessey -
Is there anyone left who doesn’t believe that video games are a legitimate form of entertainment? Advances in graphics and animation, and a focus on storytelling and character development have made video games a truly creative and unique medium. Yet, it seems to be easy for some to dismiss video games as time wasters, or simple orgies of violence, and overlook the artistry involved in their creation.
From the electric innovations of the 19th century, to the sanity consuming Angry Birds and Minecraft, The Comic Book Story of Video Games provides a complex and entertaining look at how we arrived where we are today. Told in an immensely fun graphic novel format, the book sails through the early days of oscilloscopes and simple gameplay, through the silicon valley book, the rise of arcade games and home consoles, the birth and death of Atari, the ridiculously long-lasting success of Nintendo, and the fierce battles in the console wars.
Graphic novels are a great way to present a nonfiction story. They allow the drier, less flashy bits to be glossed over in a few images, letting the “meat” of the story shine through. Though by necessity less in-depth than a full-length book, they nevertheless provide an accessible and detailed way to tell a story. I would love for more nonfiction to be presented this way.
Most in the gaming world will find this book fascinating. The book is sprinkled with enough gaming Easter eggs to delight gamers, but even more casual gamers (or nongamers) will find this story incredibly interesting.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. -
Although I am not much of a gamer now, I did come of age during the Nintendo NES generation and I have brothers who went through the ranks of Sega and PlayStation. This started out pretty slow, with the history beginning before World War II and didn't really pick up until Atari hits the pages. Then the art explodes with the graphics and evolution behind the modern video games. The artwork is outstanding and is a very apt format for this information. I received this through the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.
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Wow! When I picked up this book, I expected a generic history of the rise of video games, explained through graphic novel format. What I got was something much more dense, detailed, and well-researched than I expected! I thought I was going to read a comic book and learn a little on the way (which would have been great, too! I love comics.) Instead, I read a textbook with so many lovingly-crafted drawings: they're information-dense with names, people, books, and historically-accurate references to wider events. All this, *as well as* easter eggs that video game fans of all genres will be able to pick out.
Things I love about this book:
It really put things in context. It doesn't just list video games: tt truly starts at the beginning, before the first video game, with the creation of light bulbs, early robots, and the tubes in old televisions. It explains how radar and oscilloscopes were the technology (and inspiration) behind some of the first things we can feasibly call "video games", such as the Cathode Ray Amusement device. It follows the tech from vacuum tubes to transistors and beyond.
However, video games aren't just about the technology used to create them, and technological advancement doesn't happen in a vacuum. This book does an exceptional job situating the growth of computers and video games in their social, political, and economic contexts. The zeitgeists of the times affected the themes, settings, and tropes of so many games in ways that we can easily take for granted today. This book illustrates how different times had different expectations of computers: from the hulking and high-tech behemoths used only for calculations in science and math, to the rebellious folks who thought such obviously *serious* machines could maybe be devices of entertainment as well. Time and opinions flowed and changed thanks to advancements in technology and the boundary-pushing, creative thinkers who dared to want something more and different. They came up with such ideas as combining board game elements with lights and designs on your television to create a whole-new form of entertainment, and in your home no less! It seems like a small leap from coin-operated amusements like pachinko and pinball to our ideas of "arcade" machines like the first Pong and Pac Man, but shifting ideas of the morality of certain types of entertainment--as well as accessibility and appeal--all played parts in the growth (and busts) in video game development. This book covers all that and more.
Besides the top-notch textual content of the book, the art is fantastic. I love how the drawings don't just illustrate the text, they add to it. Some of the drawings are for the pure joy of the reader and video game-lover: with easter eggs and video game character references, the drawings were simply a delight. However, they were also clearly well-researched, as evidenced by how information-packed they could be, too. For example, while the text discusses the end of WWII between Japan and the US, it illustrated the rubble and wreckage in the aftermath of the firebombing of several cities. As the text moves on to talk about how "the use of nuclear weapons on its people left an indelible mark on Japan" and Japan as a "post-apocalyptic society" (p. 21), the art shows the manga "I Saw It" and then game designer Hideo Kojima and his work on Metal Gear Solid. I went down a fascinating rabbit hole researching and learning about cultural shifts in Japan post-war, and the history of such groundbreaking books like "I Saw It" by Keiji Nakazawa and other pieces of art and media that grappled with post-war trauma and how humans use technology. A couple pictures indicate the depth of an already-deep text, and that is why I say that the art in this book isn't just illustrative, it's very often informative, too.
Things I didn't love about this book:
This book was A LOT. The content is stellar, and I absolutely am not saying it should be watered down or reduced. That said, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of threads, events, and especially names of people. The book is largely chronological, but it jumps around a bit in time at points in order to follow a thread, such as a particular person, game, company, or the like. However, I was frustrated when I'd read, then jump back and re-read, and still feel like I didn't have a good handle on things. I felt swept along and sometimes lost. Again, the content is great, but I think I would have benefited from a little bit of restructuring, or better yet, more signposts of just where we came from and where we're going.
There are many touches on the historical contexts for the events described, and though it wasn't what I was initially expecting, I think the context added a lot. However, there were SO MANY names and people. This guy and then that guy and then that other guy.... on and on. If the explanation of society and events put things in context like a good history textbook, then all the names and dates thrown around fast and furious, without much narrative before jumping to someone else, is like a bad history textbook. It's like reading about such general and such battle on such date, rise and repeat, and boom you're supposed to understand a war because of names and dates.
Overall, it was a quality book and the research and passion certainly shine through. I was surprised by the breadth of the book, though I will say this affected some depth (for example, the long and far focus on the development of technology and changes in society meant less focus on just the games and consoles themselves). Additionally, it was a lot to take in, and with so many winding threads, it sometimes ended in a tangle. The structure and pacing didn't quite hold up the thoroughness of this book, but all in all, an informative and fun read.
