Why would you read a book when you could play a video game? It's a good question. What if I were to tell you that these books were based on your favorite games, would influence your favorite gamers, and would give you more knowledge of the game industry and its community? The five titles listed below are all wonderful examples of video game books and are loaded with interesting facts that you would have never known otherwise. I implore you to look through this list and pick up whichever one you find the most interesting.
5. All Your Base Are Belong to Us by Harold Goldberg
Named after the awfully bad, yet equally hilarious broken translation taken from “Zero Wing,” All Your Base Are Belong to Us chronicles the history of gaming’s biggest moments. Individual chapters are dedicated to turning points in video game history. Goldberg chronicles Nintendo’s rise to the top, both in the eras of the NES and the Wii, he discusses the early days of Naughty Dog, and Will Wright’s entrance and departure from EA.
Goldberg gives plenty of interesting facts. Did you know that the man who created the first video game, Tennis for Two, also invented the trigger to the first atom bomb? Or that Nintendo’s president invested in the “love hotel” business where customers would rent hotels by the hour, rather than by the night? Learn these facts and more in All Your Base Are Belong to Us. The book doesn’t go into detail about video games’ effect on popular culture, but it does discuss video games’ rise in popular culture.
4. Paid to Play: An Insider’s Guide to Video Game Careers by David Hodgson, Alice Rush, and Bryan Stratton
If you’ve spent any time with video games, you’ve no doubt fiddled around with the idea of getting into the business. After all, playing video games for a living sounds a lot better than working. In Paid to Play, David Hodgson, Alice Rush, and Bryan Stratton are brutally honest and crush your idea of the video game dream job. The authors don’t pull any punches and go in-depth explaining the need for long hours, artistic difficulties, the job’s effects on family life, and the dreaded crunch time. However, while they don’t paint a pretty picture, they are enthusiastic about the rewards.
If you’re interested in entering the industry, and you’re not afraid of being deterred by the harsh reality of the business, this book is for you. The authors interview more than 100 people in the industry, pick their brains for advice, and talk about how these people entered the field of gaming. The book explores all of gaming’s careers, such as programming, designing, art design, development, publishing, and even those poor bastards in game journalism. It is the best-publicized resource for careers in video games and is highly recommended.
3. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash is the only novel on this list. Much of the game takes place in the metaverse, a virtual reality taking place in a world consisting of tens of thousands of avatars. In this futuristic sci-fi gem, characters that need a break from the real world simply put on goggles, which transport them through cyber space to a virtual world programmed by hackers. The metaverse is similar to the idea of MMOs, where thousands of players gather in an online game world. The book is very interesting, because it was released in 1992, seven whole years before EverQuest, eleven years before Second Life, and twelve years before World of Warcraft. The novel gives a glimpse of what people thought of an online game world, back when it was just an idea. It explores the concept and the possibilities as it interweaves between a fascinating story.
The book focuses on Hiro Protagonist, a purposefully tacky-named main character who describes himself as "Last of the freelance hackers and greatest swordfighter in the world." He meets a young woman who introduces him to a drug called "Snow Crash." The effects of "Snow Crash" can be felt in both the real world, as well as in the metaverse, a convergence of two realities, which Stephenson explores further in the book. Hiro and his friend discover the drug's relation to ancient Sumerian culture. The book gets even more trippy from here, and to avoid spoilers, I'll leave it at this: If you're interested in being "in the know," when it comes to game culture, you will pick up this book.
This feature concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to find out what two top books every gamer must read.
