Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds [Hardcover]

J. C. Herz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

In a scant fifteen years, video and computer games have grown into a $6-billion-a-year global industry, sucking up ever-increasing amounts of leisure time and disposable income. In arcades, living rooms, student dorms, and (admit it) offices from Ohio to Osaka, video games have become a fixture in people's lives, marking a tectonic shift in the entertainment landscape.

Now, as Hollywood and Silicon Valley rush to sell us online interactive multimedia everything, J. C. Herz brings us the first popular history and critique of the video-game phenomenon. From the Cold War computer programmers who invented the first games (when they should have been working) to the studios where the networked 3-D theme parks of the future are created, Herz brings to life the secret history of Space Invaders, Pac Man, Super Mario, Myst, Doom, and other celebrated games. She explains why different kinds of games have taken hold (and what they say about the people who play them) and what we can expect from a generation that has logged millions of hours vanquishing digital demons.

Written with 64-bit energy and filled with Herz's sharp-edged insights and asides, Joystick Nation is a fascinating pop culture odyssey that's must-reading for media junkies, pop historians, and anyone who pines for their old Atari.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is a look at the revolution that changed the way we play video games. From the prototypical Space Wars, Hunt the Wumpus, and Adventure to modern shoot-em- ups, brain-busters and simulations. J. C. Herz examines what has kept us glued to screens and joysticks. It also explores how video games shaped the way those raised on them (like Herz herself) interact with their world. Joystick Nation gives an overview of video game history, interviews with the brains behind the most influential games, explorations of what makes various types of games work for various people, and even a peek into a major game development company during the critical countdown to a major release. Herz is a witty writer whose personal approach to the topic can resemble a riff by a stand-up comic. You'll find yourself nodding along with her reactions and smiling--maybe even laughing out loud.

From Booklist

Herz, whose Surfing on the Internet (1995) was described by a Booklist reviewer as "an endearingly brazen travelogue," urges that video games matter because "two generations of kids have grown up on five generations of videogames . . . this is 50 million adults whose memory and imagination have been colored by Atari, Nintendo, and Sega," just as earlier generations learned about life through pop music, movies, and TV. For both game aficionados and parents who still don't get it, Joystick Nation is full of fascinating information, including savvy analysis of the fluctuating fortunes of video game producers; enlightening background on the prehistoric ('60s mainframe) forebears of several species of video games that scored big with kids in the '70s, '80s, and '90s; and thoughtful discussion of controversies surrounding video games. Herz is young ("born the same year as the first coin-operated videogame"), smart, and female in a field dominated by men; her study of this huge, often ignored entertainment medium will enhance her technoscribe reputation. Mary Carroll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company; 1st edition (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316360074
• ISBN-13: 978-0316360074
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,306,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book misrepresents comments made in confidence., April 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds (Hardcover)

An interview that I gave to Ms. Herz in confidence was published out of context, with my name attached, and without any ability to review it before it went to print. Ms. Herz seems totally uninterested in correcting her mistake which caused me a lot of embarrassment. I can only presume that the book is filled with such inaccuracies.

Michael Wahrman

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and sloppy, February 6, 2001

By 

A. Pai - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds (Hardcover)

I was intrigued by this book's premise & picked it up eagerly a while back. Given how ubiquitious video games have become, I think it's not implausible that they've had some impact on the way we view the world. Like in Aliens when the guy freaks out and keeps stammering "GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!". Not the most subtle example but you know what I mean. :)

In addition to reading about the cultural and social effects of video game saturation, I also was looking forward to hearing some crazy stories and learning more about the people who made all the classics (Defender, Myst, etc.) Unfortunately, "Joystick Nation" book just doesn't go into enough detail to be interesting. Herz is prone to glibly tossing off dubious assertions about our generational consciousness, cultural mores, etc. etc., without arguing for these assertions in a coherent or convincing manner. She makes all sorts of claims about how video games have changed us, but rarely backs them up with any detail. After reading the book (it goes by fast but not because it's so fascinating; rather, it's just so flimsy that you can't help finishing it quickly), I felt like I'd just read the first draft of a sort-of-well-written but lazy college paper. The breezy, conversational style would be ok if Herz had deep or funny things to say, but she doesn't. It's frustrating because Herz superficially acts like she thinks video games are important and interesting enough to really explore in depth, yet her writing and analysis are so flimsy that you're left thinking that the subject isn't truly worthy of consideration. Herz's breathless yammering about her brother's use of the word 'kablooie' is typical of the book's style-- it's kind of cute but I just didn't relate or care. She meets the guy who wrote Defender, but instead of asking him insightful or amusing questions, she just goes on and on about how, like, TOTALLY COOL it was to meet the dude. (It's like Ray Romano's dad says on "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- "I could've eaten a bowl of alpha-bits and crapped a better interview.")

"Joystick Nation" isn't all bad-- Herz is at least readable, and she occasionally has an interesting idea or two-- but it's not worth the cover price. My advice is to save your money and wait for someone to give the subject the level of attention it deserves-- or at least tell a better story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This would've been better if the reasearch was better, July 6, 2000

By 

Daniel Zuccarelli (Mount Laurel, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds (Hardcover)

This could've been a great book. One of those cult things that just goes on for years and years. Instead, this book was dead out of the gate, because even the people that love videogames can't like this book because alot of the information is wrong. Game titles, years, people, etc. Of course not all the information is wrong, but I had wanted to use this book (one of the few on videogames) in a research paper in college and it just wasn't reliable. Too bad, it coulda been a contender(read phoenix instead)... Great title though