Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic (Hardcover)

by Brad King (Author), John Borland (Author) "Richard Garriott flopped onto his bed in the small, two-bunk dorm room at Oklahoma University and surveyed his options..." (more)
Key Phrases: Electronic Arts, Richard Garriott, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
King and Borland's crisp study of computer game specialists reads like a screenplay and would make ideal film material. The authors offer an intriguing protagonist in Richard Garriott, who overcame disapproval from his astronaut father and the lonely isolation of being a geek to produce the Ultima Online series. Vowing to create dungeon worlds as rich and frightening as Tolkien's, Garriott went into business with his brother and pursued his goal through lean years and unsatisfying corporate alliances. The authors, both journalists, also profile other colorful characters, such as Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw, creators of the first MUD (multiple-user dungeon), a place where gamers could meet online; John Carmack and John Romero, creators of Doom ("the ultimate visceral experience of kill-or-be-killed"); and Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, Dungeons & Dragons' masterminds. King and Borland cover dramatic events, including attacks by conservative Christians, who felt Dungeons & Dragons was satanic and encouraged worship of the occult, violent behavior and suicide. Equally involving is the gaming world's exclusion and harassment of women until such rebels as college student Vangie Beal formed a women's gaming network called PMS (the Psycho Men Slayers). Garriott comes across as an inspiring figure when he introduces a system of ethics and morals into the games, stressing honesty, compassion, values, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. Even non-tech-inclined readers will be intrigued by the sense of community King and Borland describe, and their epilogue image of Garriott living in a castle, complete with moat, will delight fantasy lovers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
... documents manically creative lives of gamers by tracing the career of eccentric "Lord British," as Garriott is known... -- Wired News, July 8, 2003

A great beach read, Dungeons & Dreamers will leave you feeling proud to be a game geek. -- Philadelphia Inquirer, July 3, 2003

Anecdotal and close-up it's a highly readable peek into a whole 'nother social realm. -- TexasMonthly.com

King... Borland ...pulled off a neat trick – managed to write a book as compelling as a really cool game… -- ComputerUser, August 2003

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072228881
• ISBN-13: 978-0072228885
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #190,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly enjoyable read, October 29, 2003

By	J. Garcia "Hispanicgamer" (So Cal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a 41 year old gamer. I was around for Pong! to Atari to Colecovision to the PC of today. Although I thoroughly enjoy playing computer games, I never knew how this whole medium got started. By drawing from interviews of the gaming pioneers, who played endless nights of Dungeons and Dragons, to the dreamers of new virtual worlds, this book lays out how the electronic games industry got to be the multi-billion dollar entertainment monster that it is today. Most notably, Richard Garriot and his rise from computer programming hobbyist to one of the most succesful "Dreamers" of the Role Playing Games genre. Other stories, such as how John Carmack, John Romero, and Warren Spector are considered game gods. As we strive for more avenues of entertainment today, this book has the insitefulness of sharing what drives these digital storytellers to dream up new worlds for gamers to play in. Pick up this book if you are interested in an entertaining history behind computer games roots. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good overview, a little too much on the Garriott, September 2, 2004

By	Christopher Lye "semi-literate culture vulture" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Overall, the book provides a good overview of the evolution of the genre detailing the early use of university computing resources for covert sessions of SpaceWar, Adventure and Colossal Cave thru to the emergence of the Professional Gaming League.

Where the narrative starts to get bogged down is when it gets to Richard Garriott (aka Lord British), the creator of the Ultima series of games. (For the record, I'm a huge Ultima fan - the original Ultima packaging, with a knight on a black warhorse facing off against a dragon emerging from hot lava, was the reason I bought my first computer.) Once the authors get to Garriott, the pace slows as we explore his life in extended detail from his early family life to the release of Ultima Online. In contrast, significantly less time is spent on the other pivotal computer games like Doom, Half-Life and EverQuest. While I'd be the first to point to Garriott's role in the development of this genre, all roads don't necessarily lead to Lord British.

Net/Net: Decent overview of a topic that has often been eclipsed by the more glamorous console videogames industry. Would have appreciated less detail on Garriott, and more on the other games.

Full Disclosure: Reviewer works as a marketer for Windows and Xbox games at Microsoft.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read about Computer Gaming history, November 9, 2003

By A Customer

This book is a well-crafted and focused look at the rise of computer games in popular culture. Anything involving the gaming community will generate flaming and name-calling but this book tries, and succeeds, in writing some of the early history of the gaming culture. Rather than cover too much, it limits its focus to mainly Richard Garriott and his Ultima series and Doom. It examines the people, decisions, accidents and politics that brought these two gaming worlds into existence.

As I read it I remembered the great fun I had playing the early Ultima games and the sheer amazement I felt the first time I played Doom. I have played computer games since Carter was President. Reading this book brought back some of the great memories of that early gaming and some of those "wow" moments.

The culture and rise of computer games so closely mirrors the rise of the computer culture. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in both.