Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators 1st Edition

by Matt Sainsbury (Author)

30 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1593276652

ISBN-10: 1593276656

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Game Art is a collection of breathtaking concept art and behind-the-scenes interviews from videogame developers, including major players like Square Enix, Bioware, and Ubisoft as well as independent but influential studios like Tale of Tales and Compulsion Games. Immerse yourself in fantastic artwork and explore the creative thinking behind over 40 console, mobile, and PC games.

A lone independent developer on a tiny budget can create an experience as powerful and compelling as a triple-A blockbuster built by a team of 1,000. But like all works of art, every game begins with a spark of inspiration and a passion to create.

Let Game Art take you on a visual journey through these beautiful worlds, as told by the minds that brought them to life.

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From the Publisher

Twisted Fairy Tales

Concept art from Alice: Madness Returns (Ken Wong/ Electronic Arts Inc.), featured in Chapter 8.

Indie Freedom in a Triple-A Studio

In-game art from Child of Light (Ubisoft Montreal), featured in Chapter 3.

Roots in Film

In-game art from NaissanceE (Mavros Sedeño), featured in Chapter 6.

Representing Native Cultures

In-game art from Never Alone (E-Line Media), featured in Chapter 7.

Serenity and Wonder

Promotional art for Tengami (Ryo Agarie), featured in Chapter 1.

About the Author

Matt Sainsbury is an Australian art critic who has been writing about video games for 15 years. His work has appeared in GamePro, PCWorld, and PC GameZone. He is the founder of DigitallyDownloaded.net, a leading Australian website for news and reviews on Asian entertainment.

Product details

Publisher : No Starch Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2015)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 1593276656
ISBN-13 : 978-1593276652
Reading age : 14 years and up
Item Weight : 2.4 pounds
Dimensions : 8.31 x 0.9 x 10.31 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,967,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #203 in Teen & Young Adult Computer & Video Games
- #599 in Computer & Video Game Design
- #708 in Video Game Art (Books)

Customer Reviews:
30 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		76%
4 star		4%
3 star		4%
2 star		11%
1 star		4%

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Spyder

Practically worthless.

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

Pretty minor stuff, you can get any of this from old magazine scans on the internet.

One person found this helpful

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Alex

A great snapshot into the gaming world and what developers are trying to achieve with their games.

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

Well written, fantastic artwork and great interviews. This book is great for gamers and non-gamers alike. Very easy to read and a great snapshot into the gaming world. Would be a great gift for anyone interested in gaming and/or art, or a good addition to your own collection.

3 people found this helpful

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Adrian Jenkins

Surprisingly mediocre and absurdly overpriced

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2018

Matt Sainbury is the somewhat mercurial main critic for the site Digitally Downloaded. While I personally find his critiques noisome, he would never be accused of sitting on the fence. Every game is either a work of genius, or a travesty (a word so horribly overused by the critic in question). There is very little objective criticism to be found - most reviews are based solely on his subjective tastes. “I like this type of game”, “I hate this style of graphics”. At best, you might get a comment about (nonspecific) load times or (vague) frame rate problems. But for the most part, Either a game sucks, or it’s great, and this depends almost entirely on whether or not the game evokes some feeling in him.

However, I had hoped that those qualities which render his critiques just north of worthless would play well in his book, described on his site as a book “about games as works of art”. A highly debatable position is perfect for an uncompromising opinion writer. So, why is this book so bland and boring?

Well, the first problem is that the book has little to do with the idea of”games as art”. Rather, it’s really just a collection of game art, a very different monster altogether. There aren’t many people who would argue that games contain art. So, basically, you’re getting a book about game art. But there are PLENTY of these books around. Where’s the beef here? Devoid of opinion. Devoid of humor. Hell - it’s devoid of content for the most part.

This leads to the second problem: if you’re going to make a game art book, why not take more chances with the indies around today. Instead, you get the likes of Squeenix (a company whose art design chops have long been questioned by multiple sources). You get Bioware, one of my favorite developers, no doubt, but let’s face it - an old, boring company. That’s not to say there isn’t mention of indies, but given the INCREDIBLE explosion of good indie titles, across platforms, it is remarkable that they don’t figure more prominently in the work.

And speaking of the work, again: WHERE’S THE BEEF? I’ve bought plenty of art books in my time, and they generally offer something more than just stuff I could dig off the internet. Properly captioned, explained, and put into broad context, this would be acceptable. But here, the art is, really, the main attraction, and it feels common.

And finally, the price of this book is absurd. I mean, absolutely ridiculous. Why this book costs so much, I have no idea.

At the end of the day, this feels more like a cynical cash grab than a labor of love, which is too bad. Perhaps Mr. Sainsbury’s heart is in the right place. It’s a shame his talents don’t measure up. If you can find it for cheap (or free), it’s worth a single, forgettable look.

2 people found this helpful

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Earl

No effing idea

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018

I wanted to give a better and more comprehensive review of Game Art from Matt Sainsbury but the review copy I received only had the first 46 pages, a fair amount of which was all the front pages so very little of the book itself.

My interest in the book was more in the second word of the title than the first, art rather than games. I am not a big gamer but like a lot of the artwork in them and find the interplay between game art and other art forms very interesting. Unfortunately the section I saw was at best mediocre, which didn't bother so much because the first part seemed, by the table of contents, to have the least challenging artwork as far as it relates to social and cultural issues and the interplay between art forms.

My middle of the road rating is partly because the small portion I had was MOR and partly because I can't speak to how the writer and the interviews work in the majority of the book. From some people I have heard they were disappointed while they also admit they are coming at it from a gamer's perspective so they have stronger opinions about the games themselves. I haven't heard much from those looking at it from a more art form/cultural perspective.

My recommendation is don't buy this without looking through it first. Since I didn't have access to the entire book I hesitate to either recommend or discourage getting the book. Find it in a brick and mortar shop and look at it, or borrow from a friend or the library (if they have it) before shelling out cash on a product sight unseen.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.

Helpful

luciefuentes

A cool way to spend an afternoon in company of talented artists

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2015

Strange and cool!

I know my introduction may be confusing but this book was not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking about a retrospective of the video games. Instead, I got the vision about gaming and how it would evolved from independant artists.
It was interesting and pretty cool to discover other stuff than the usual best sellers.

I'm not a gamer but I've always been attracted by animation and the art behind the programming. So this book was also a good way to have a glimpse into the gaming world without being too scary. ;-)

I've enjoyed the different perspectives about art, inside a game, given by the interviewers. Like Jennifer Schneidereit's vision of a game that should be more about details and beauty than a commercial story. I've also appreciated her Japanese approach in "Tengami". It’s beautiful.

Like the title of "Purveyors of Beauty and Joy" or the way Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn describe themselves and their vision of a video game. The difficulty of joining art and programming and creating a game that will please the gamers and the non-gamer too. Frustrating for them as much as for the people outside the video industry.

So even if it was not what I was expected, it was a cool way to spend an afternoon in company of talented artists.

Have fun reading this book!

Lucie
newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr

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Kamisama

Undamaged and nice product.

Reviewed in Canada on August 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

Great gift and was undamaged. Very resourceful and a must have for digital artists and video game enthusiasts.

Wero 128

Un must para la biblioteca personal

Reviewed in Mexico on December 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

Increíble título, la calidad de impresión, el diseño editorial y el contenido es genial si sabes apreciar a los videojuegos como manifestación artística. (Los foros son de albanene y eso fue un detalle fenomenal)

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Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators 1st Edition

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