High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games [Paperback]

Rusel DeMaria (Author), Johnny Lee Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2002

This is a photo-filled look back at our favourite electronic games, the personal histories of the people who made them and the history of an industry that rose from obscurity to mass-market popularity in 30 years.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Ultimate History of Electronic Games

"...overflowing with color screenshots, package art, reproductions of old game ads, shots of old machines, and photos of collectibles. Every picture triggers another memory, and before long you're awash in blissful recollections..."--Computer Gaming World, August '02

"...300+ pages offer a visually compelling record of the origins and development of electronic entertainment, so buy it for the pictures of rare game boxes and screens... it's a great nostalgia trip for old-timers and a primer on the industry's storied past for the less ancient reader."--Computer Games, August '02

"This is a great work that shows the humanity, creativity, and passion inside the art and business of games. The public is playing a lot of games today and Rusel's and Johnny's fine book gives them a terrific look behind the scenes."--Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and 3DO

"As an industry veteran, I am excited to see that Rusel and Johnny have poured their hard work and talent into creating this visual and textual compendium of the history of computer entertainment. Just as I was, I think you will be amazed to see how far we've come in so few years. The pictorial content of this book represents a glimpse at great milestones of our recent past that are quickly going to be impossible to see, perhaps ever again, outside this volume."--Richard Garriott, computer gaming pioneer, developer of the Ultima series of games, and founder of Origin Systems

In this lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective, you'll learn how electronic games blossomed from their humble origins as a hobby for programmers at computer science laboratories to a multi-billion dollar industry. Along the way you'll learn the fascinating human stories--told in their own words--of the people who created the games, built the companies, and had a vision that changed the world. Here is the inside scoop--featuring stories that have never been told in print before--of the triumphs, the tricks of fate, and even the spectacular failures that have led to today's high-voltage games industry. High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games is the first history that covers not only arcades and home gaming systems but the popular PC games industry as well.

You'll find never-before-seen photos that bring to life the people and stories behind the most popular games of all time, including...

• Space Invaders
• Pac-Man
• Centipede
• Zork
• Donkey Kong
• Dragon's Lair
• Asteroids
• Legend of Zelda
• Doom
• Super Mario Bros.
• Ultima
• King's Quest
• Wizardry
• SimCity
• Quake
• Myst
• Tomb Raider
• ...And Many More!

About the Author

Rusel DeMaria (Grants Pass, OR) has been an observer and/or participant in the electronic gaming industry since its inception. Beginning in 1980, he began writing professionally about games. He has written nearly 60 strategy guides and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of that book genre. In addition to his books, Rusel has been a senior editor and columnist for several national magazines. Johnny L. Wilson (Seattle, WA) is Group Publisher for Wizards of the Coast's magazine group, which includes Dragon, Dungeon, Top Deck, Star Wars Gamer and Star Wars Insider. He is perhaps better known as the former editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World (1992-1999), the premier magazine for computer-gaming fans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill (April 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072224282
• ISBN-13: 978-0072224283
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars mixed bag, October 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (Paperback)

I agree with those who love this book to pieces and also those who find serious fault with it. The fact is, it's really really nice in a lot of ways. I love the layout, the lavish color photography, etc. And it does TRY to cover everything. Unfortunately, there are just a few too many holes for my liking, and a few too many things that were just glossed over. First of all, it's really annoying to me how they insert this 120 page section on the history of individual computer game companies, one after another, into the middle of an otherwise mixed, chronological history. While computer game history suffers from such less-than-optimal organization, console game history suffers from a lack of sufficiently extensive coverage to begin with. Certain MAJOR consoles don't even get a passing reference; for example, the Magnavox Odyssey 2. It was the sole major competitor for the Atari VCS for two or three years, but according to this book it might as well have never existed. Various other consoles, also, are completely absent or get barely any coverage, particularly those of the 90s. You like arcade game history? Great, you'll be totally satisfied as long as you think arcade games disappeared from the face of the earth after 1985.

Anyway, I have my problems with the book, but I don't regret buying it, not for a second. It's still really really nice to have and page through, and covers a lot of good stuff impeccably.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute treasure!, May 17, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (Paperback)

I received this book from a dear friend and was absolutely overwhelmed by how beautifully well laid out it was. The history of electronic games is well documented and shows how far we have come from the days of "Pong!". For those of you into computer games or arcade games, this is a definite "history" book about our hobby. My personal odyssey began with the Atari 2600 game system, followed by the Atari PC, Apple Macintosh and finally the IBM PC. As I read through the book I was taken back to how fun the games were back then. Memories of playing games from new game companies back then such as Broderbund, Lucasarts and now defunct Origin came rushing back. The endless hours that I spent playing "M.U.L.E." and "Rescue on Fractalus" brought a smile to my face as I saw each game talked about in the book. Reading about the pioneers such as Lord British and his star rising in the gaming scene was quite informative and entertaining. If you grew up playing games on an Amiga or Commodore 64 or an Atari 2600 you will want to get this book to show your kids what it was like before 3D graphics and virtual reality! I will treasure this book for as long as I live!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What I was looking for.....a sum of my youth....., March 28, 2003

By 

Giulio Alè (Milano, ITALY Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (Paperback)

Well...that's what I was looking for...a complete sum of history of videogames in a cool book..without the need to buy a 3000 pages encyclopedia.
I'm a 36 year old guy..I had a VCS 2600 , Intellivision and other consoles..and was a teenage arcades fan, and I found in this book all the glittering past that I still recall. Many photos, many particulars, stories, adds and much more materials than I could believe. The book is the right size, it's HEAVY and it has a great "touch" feeling..
You cannot miss this book if you were mad for arcades and consoles. And if you still recall it...you still are mad for that ! :-)
Recommended for nostalgics like me...and keep it aside your pac man original arcade in the living room..to astonish better your friends :-)