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Sid Meier

Jennifer Noonan

Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games Hardcover – Illustrated, September 8, 2020

by Sid Meier (Author)

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The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the “godfather of computer gaming,” and creator of Civilization.

Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world’s most popular video games, including Sid Meier’s Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier’s Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond.

Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be “a series of interesting decisions,” Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design.

21 illustrations

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

September 8, 2020
Dimensions

6.3 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
ISBN-10

1324005874
ISBN-13

978-1324005872
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Any game designer who tries to tell you that he hasn’t taken anything away from a Sid Meier game is akin to a film director saying he has never watched a Hitchcock movie. For Sid is our Hitchcock, our Spielberg, our Ellington."
― Gamespot.com

"Sid Meier is a foundation of what gaming is for me today."
― Phil Spencer, head of Xbox

"[Meier is] the master of turn-based gaming."
― Will Wright, developer of The Sims

"If you ever wished you could stay up all night and hear the most amazing stories from one of the world's most creative people, Sid's memoir is for you. This book is full of incredible tech history and deep insights into what it takes to make a world-class game. But most of all, I loved getting inside Sid’s brain and seeing things from his inventive and wise point of view."
― Jane McGonigal, author of the New York Times bestseller Reality is Broken: How Games Can Change the World and Make Us Better

"[A] fascinating look at the legendary designer’s career. It’s full of anecdotes and design principles that Meier has learned over the years."
― Jason Schreier, Bloomberg

"[H]eartfelt and informative….[This book] will appeal to old-school gamers with an appreciation for the history of video games."
― Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Sid Meier, creator of Civilization, has been honored with virtually every award in the video game industry. A member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and founder of Firaxis Games, Meier lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (September 8, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1324005874
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324005872
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #105,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #224 in Scientist Biographies
- #348 in Business Professional's Biographies
- #4,550 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
711 ratings

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Sid Meier
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Jennifer Noonan
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Jennifer Lee Noonan holds two Bachelor's degrees from the University of Texas, and lives in Austin with her husband and four children. Her latest project, SID MEIER'S MEMOIR!, is available now from W. W. Norton.
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Top reviews from the United States

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Insightful read from one of the most influential names in gaming.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 13, 2022

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I've been addicted to Sid Meier games for my entire adult life (even back into my late teens, I guess), going all the way back to the original Civilization title. Along the way, we've explored exoplanets, raided the Caribbean, and have seen civilizations do what they do - rise, fall, and rise again. Sid's games have been one of those notes in my life that - even if I hadn't touched one of his games in a couple of years, I sit down and "one more turn" myself to red-eye bleariness the next day.

Totally worth every second.

I remember with the 2nd release of Sid Meier's Pirates! hit - I was in the Army, and more than once I *barely* made first formation, sloppily shaved and still pulling on my PT shirt from yet another marathon of chasing down the dastardly Pirate Montalban from one port to the next.

Reading Sid's own words about how this magic came to be was insightful, entertaining, and frequently humorous. I downloaded this to my Kindle app with high hopes, but moderate expectations, because I've learned that not everyone that is interesting to me is very interesting when they're telling their story.

Sid's book met the high hopes that I'd had, and it was great to get a little bit of a better understanding about how he went from being Sid Meier to THE Sid (explicative deleted) Meier.

Aside from Douglas Adams, Monty Python, and my Dad, Sid is one of those voices that, even if I'd never heard it spoken, was one of the voices that informed who I am today.

Great book, and if you're reading my review, then I'm pretty sure that you'll enjoy it, too.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

David Kopec

Great Read for Aspiring Game Designers

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 4, 2021

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I’ve played far too many hours of Civilization throughout my life. If you haven’t, or you’re not an aspiring game designer, then you may find large sections of Sid Meier’s Memoir! hard to appreciate. But I do love Sid Meier’s games and I do dabble in making games as a hobby. So, I really appreciated this memoir that takes you through Meier’s entire career as well as some of his rules of game design that have made him so successful.

This book is not a deep dive. Each chapter, which generally covers a game or two, provides some insight about how a game was developed and why it worked (or did not work) for the player. But the chapters are short, and many of them concentrate on just one aspect of the game or Meier’s philosophy. The two things I found most interesting were the inspiration behind each game, and the gameplay rules that Meier learned over time.

It’s not a tell-all, and it doesn’t cover much about the video game business. You won’t get a play-by-play about the development of Civilization VI. Meier says that he left much of the business side to his partners. Instead, this is a book about the creative process.

Meier touches on enough of his personal life to give you a general outline of his life and some of the real-life hobbies that led to some of his best games. Again, most of the details are left out, but there’s enough there to be inspiring. The thing I found the most surprising in the entire book, is that despite his high position, Meier continued to be an active participant in the programming of his games (or at least the prototypes) late into his career.

In short, Sid Meier’s Memoir! is limited in its scope. It’s mainly about game design and the creative process. But it does that well. You won’t quite feel like you’re in the trenches with the team making Civilization, but you will feel like you have a sense of where their head was at. The lessons about game design and the creative process that Meier provides are drawn from deep experience and most seem self-evidently true. The writing is clear and the insights are real. If you loved his games or you want to make games, you should read this book.

5 people found this helpful

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Kevin O'Brien

A must for any fan of Civilization

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 2, 2021

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Since I retired I have been indulging in pleasures I didn't have enough time for, and gaming is one of them. I have been a huge fan of the Civilization series, and also have fond memories of Railroad Tycoon Deluxe. But Civilization is the one that has absorbed thousands of hours of my life over the last 3 decades, and it is still my favorite gaming experience. So when I saw this memoir was available I had to get it, and I'm glad I did. Now, to be clear this is only something of interest for a fan like me, but there are a *lot* of Civilization fans out there. You need only check out the many YouTube channels, web sites, subreddits, etc. devoted to this game to see how popular it is. This memoir simply tells the story of Sid Meier's life in computer games, as the title advertises. I had a good time reading it, and I'm glad I purchased it. If you are also a fan of Civilization in it's many versions I think you will enjoy this work.

Helpful

David

It's Sid Meier! If that means something to you, you will probably love it.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 9, 2020

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I grew up with Sid Meier's games and love them to this day. I also love reading about early video game development -- it was quite an interesting industry at the time and I find it fascinating to read about the various small shops that were responsible for some great early games.

This is all to say, I am very squarely the target audience for this book, and I really enjoyed it. But, quite frankly, it wasn't a great book. The prose was fine, the insights were fine, the organization of the book was fine. It was a pretty good book about a topic that I am extremely interested in. If you are even modestly interested in Sid Meier or early game development, I think you'll find this a worthwhile read. If those topics don't appeal to you, then you should probably look elsewhere.

This is not a great piece of literature. It's not Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. If you don't bring an interest for the topic, I don't think you'll find it as you read the book.

7 people found this helpful

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DWS

Another Winner for Sid Meier!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have been a fan of MicroProse Games and Sid Meier for a long time, and never realized a lot of the MicroProse games were really written by Sid Meier. There is a lot to the history and timelines of the games and Sid's life that I never would have known. In addition, the writing is engaging. Just like his games make me want to play one more turn, the book makes me want to read one more chapter. It is a really fun, enjoyable book.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Jon Mason

Good content, poor quality.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

The content of this book is very good, although a lot lighter on detail than I was expecting. Its quite a fast pace trip through Sids life via his games.

I've.mm marked it down a star because the page setting is awful. For an ebook that costs over £10 it appears no thought has gone into how it looks on screen. Very disappointing and it definitely reduced the reading experience.

3 people found this helpful

David T.

Good read for fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

Skips over some games, which is a shame, but still worth a read if you are a fan of his games.

Mrs Maureen Ross

Suitable for all nerds.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 4, 2021

Verified Purchase