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Rusel Demaria

High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games Paperback – April 27, 2002

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

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High Score! Expanded: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games 3rd Edition
$64.95
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"...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

From pinball to PlayStation, this photo-packed volume chronicles the history of electronic games--which has become both a billion dollar industry as well as a cultural phenomenon. Featuring hundreds of interviews with game creators and thousands of never-before-seen photos from the early days, this book honors the games that have captivated youngsters and the young-at-heart for more than 30 years--making this the ultimate tribute to electronic games.

Print length

328 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Publication date

April 27, 2002
Dimensions

7.9 x 0.9 x 9.9 inches
ISBN-10

0072224282
ISBN-13

978-0072224283
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Rusel DeMaria
5
Paperback
$64.95
$11.43 shipping
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).

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

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

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Osborne/McGraw-Hill (April 27, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0072224282
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0072224283
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.9 x 0.9 x 9.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,342,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,752 in Video & Computer Games
- #7,503 in Computer & Video Game Strategy Guides

Customer Reviews:
22 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

22 global ratings

5 star		63%
4 star		21%
3 star		8%
2 star		8%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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DLSF

Trip Back In Time For Video Game History Buffs

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 25, 2002

Verified Purchase

Hi all,
This book is a terrific look at the games past and present that have shaped the video game industry as it is today! As the title suggests, much of the book is in picture form with many shots of games (video, arcare, computer) and other material of years past.
As much as I love the book, the reason I give it 4 stars is the written descriptions that accompany the book. I personally love history and wish that more written material could have been included. What is presented is adequate but I was left wanting for MORE background info!
As it is, the book is still a must buy for any video game fan or history buff. One also might want to check out "The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World" as well.

2 people found this helpful

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M. ROBERTS

The Book aging game nuts have waited for!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 23, 2003

Verified Purchase

....
This book may seem a little pricey, but it's worth it. It covers an incredible amount of information (albeit not in the depth some might want)-But the thing that allows it to rise above in my opinion is the high quality, HUGE range of photographs, some very rare. As games are a visual medium, this is important to me. Home games or arcade games, both are covered well, and the beautiful layout will have you returning to this book again and again.
The 'Ultimate Guide to video games' (Also available) goes into greater details, but has very few photos-I prefer this, but I would recommend both to any game fan, as both are excellent, and together they make a fantastic companion set.

2 people found this helpful

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chris romano

wonderfully nostalgiac

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2002

Verified Purchase

Admitedly, while I have no idea how factually accurate any of the information in this book is, I loved the ride. Seeing all the games I played throughout my youth was absolutely wonderful. This book re-presented a good chunk of my video game youth and reintroduced me to some old forgotten favorites.
I was born in 1968 and found this book to be a great trip through memory lane. If you're like me...you owned an Atari 2600, a ColecoVision, and an Apple //e, you're going to get a real kick out of the content within. If nothing else, pick it up used. It's a great coffee table addition.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a great book about the history about the first home video games. I cannot wait for a companion book with 2000 and beyond!

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Himawan Prajogo

Great book, but wish more console/arcade coverage

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 24, 2002

While my gaming platform of choice is firmly the PC, and even that this book does evoke wonderful nostalgia for my old Apple II and those old PC games I used to play, I wish there was better coverage for console and arcade games, especially those ones after the Atari 2600 crash, such as the NES, Genesis, and the SNES.. Even the mighty Playstation only received a few pages, while much more detailed coverage was given to PC game companies with (arguably) less impact on the general scheme of things such as Trilobyte (7th Guest). I wished that they had more to say about the newer consoles than a quarter-page of text and two pages full of screenshots.
Perhaps this is understandable given the background of the writers, and don't get me wrong, I loved the book anyway, I just wish that I could read as much about the creation of Street Fighter II as I could about the creation of the King's Quest series or the Cinemaware computer games. But by all means, if you're in your 30s and are nostalgic about playing Pitfall ! on your Atari 2600 and Ultima II on your Apple II+ like me, get this book !!

2 people found this helpful

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C. Wu

A coffee table book for the geek set...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2002

Forget architectural digest or Martha what's her name's books if you are a computer gaming addict, this is the book for your coffee (Jolt Cola) table. "High Score" is a broad and complete history of computer games from arcades, consoles and computer games on multiple platforms. From the completeness, great pains have been taken to cover all aspects of computer game development from enabling technologies to new ideas of game play. There are enough trivia tidbits that even the most hard core gamer will find something new. The only caveat is that depth is sacrificed for breadth, making it more of a book for browsing than reading. The book is also valuable in that it reveals that fun comes in many forms and is sure to inspire game developers beyond the derivative ideas that pose as game play innovation.

9 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Classic.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 20, 2002

This book has become the all-time favourite around the office, despite almost none of us being anything like hard core gamers. Just take a quick flick through High Score's pages and you will immediately see why.
I haven't played games for years. I've got Riven, two editions of Myst, once owned SimCity 2000 and kept copies of a 3D version of Breakout and a Centipede clone on the Mac for my wife to bang away at after a hard day at work. And a form of Dungeons and Dragons was popular on the mainframe computer stashed away in the Physics department when I was at art school. I rarely played, but I was impressed by the invention, the creativity so evident in games and gaming, although I do have my reservations about shoot'em ups.
Flicking through High Score brought all those memories to vivid life, and reminded me of the good times I had around computer games in the past. The book is an amazing repository of electronic games history, lavishly illustrated with full colour screenshots, storyboards and sketches, packshots, PR photos and developer group portraits, and all those games consoles, cabinets and computers that are now long gone but not forgotten.
There is a legion of fascinating stories, too, about companies once at the top of the field but now vanished, high hopes and dashed dreams, amazing inventiveness, and truly remarkable individuals. I have read and reread High Score many times now, and each read is as rewarding as all the others. This is a classic.

4 people found this helpful

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RMizuki

Wrong title, but great information and illustrations

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2011

Verified Purchase

Like many others, I think that the biggest flaw of this book its the title. Calling it "The Illustrated History of Electronic Games" it's not correct, since it's basically the American history of video games. There is a little bit about Europe and Japan, but it's too small and doesn't reflect the importance of this two markets, it's more like "how Japanese and European productions affected the American market".

A good point is when the author refers that the Commodore Amiga wasn't popular among gamers, and there was only one company that support it. True, maybe in America, but false in the rest of the planet, since the Amiga was (and is)considered one of the best computers for games, and was responsible for the appearance of several hundreds video games studios and even the mature of the Demoscene.

In conclusion, the book is greatly illustrated and haves enough information, but fails to be a global view as the title promises. If you are looking for a good image source book about video games history, than this is a very good choice and one of the best in the market. Just don't expect to find much of whatever happen outside USA.

One person found this helpful

Bernie Sanders

Recommended to all Video Game enthusiasts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

One of the best books I have read on video game history. This provides a great overview and a perfect starting point for anyone wishing to learn about video games. The writing is to the point and is not editorial as some books on this subject can be. And the images are all high quality and expertly chosen again this is something that not all books on the subject have in there favour.

One person found this helpful

Cliente Amazon

Imprescindible

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on March 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Fantástico libro, una pena que la portada venia bastante estropeada, ya se que es de 2a mano pero aun así muy mal. El interior estaba perfectamente.

One person found this helpful

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