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geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution' by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Jack McGowan is a graphic novel history.
The story starts with pre-electronic forms of entertainment and the development of computer technology. Along the way are the big names that created the games and companies. People, milestone games, and consoles are featured. Games like Space War, Pong, Halo and Angry Birds are among the many featured.
I enjoyed the story of video games. I didn't really enjoy the art. It's got an overly rough style that I didn't really like. I did like that familiar video game characters make cameos on the pages, but the art was just not my favorite.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The story starts with pre-electronic forms of entertainment and the development of computer technology. Along the way are the big names that created the games and companies. People, milestone games, and consoles are featured. Games like Space War, Pong, Halo and Angry Birds are among the many featured.
I enjoyed the story of video games. I didn't really enjoy the art. It's got an overly rough style that I didn't really like. I did like that familiar video game characters make cameos on the pages, but the art was just not my favorite.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
libeerian's review against another edition
2.0
Disjointed and confusing at times. Focuses almost completely on men. Doesn't feel like a got a whole lot out of the book.
vll295's review against another edition
4.0
When I first saw this book, I knew I had to get it. I don't consider myself a huge gamer, but I do enjoy games now and again. This book was written in comic book format and such a fun way to learn about how games have shaped the world we live in.
I greatly appreciated the information, as well as the illustrations in this book. I found the book informative and entertaining. I would recommend if you have an interest in getting the back story.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.
Disclaimer: I was awarded this book as part of the Blogging for Books program. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.
I greatly appreciated the information, as well as the illustrations in this book. I found the book informative and entertaining. I would recommend if you have an interest in getting the back story.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.
Disclaimer: I was awarded this book as part of the Blogging for Books program. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.
mvanhar's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one, and it justifiable weaved a lot of interesting details in on the history of computing, I would have liked to see more of a focus on the designers, story tellers and artists who create video game. The book over indexed on the technical aspects of video game computation.
violentvixen's review against another edition
3.0
This is fascinating and dense but a better title would be "The Comic Book Story of the Technologies Used in Video Games". Oscilloscopes and the TMRC and CRTs and all the predecessor details are interesting to learn about but they're about 70% of the book. So many modern video game milestones are ignored here to focus on the initial tech. I wish this had been split into two volumes and the NES to the current day got 150 pages like the first part instead of the current 30 pages.
kelseydkim's review against another edition
3.0
When I saw this book, I got really excited because I wanted to learn more about video games for multiple reasons, but I’ve never been super interested in playing them. So when I saw that there was a graphic novel detailing the history of video games… it sounded perfect for a book nerd like myself.
I think the medium in which these authors decided to relate video game history is perfect because it’s visual and intriguing much like video games themselves. The cover itself is exciting in that it reminds you of playing your favorite games (for me it’s Frogger on a PS2 lol), but it’s also nostalgic, hence the historical aspect. It’s a rare and creative way to impart video game knowledge to a general audience.
However, I felt like the first half of the novel was almost entirely unnecessary. I understand the value in knowing the history behind something, but it felt more like a history lesson with some video game knowledge, rather then video game history with some cultural overlap (what I was hoping for). I also thought that it ended too abruptly, with Minecraft (2011) being the last game it touches on. I know nearly nothing about video games, and even I felt like there was so much more content that should’ve been included. Also, I thought the font was too small. I read a lot of graphic novels, and this was hard to read, and there was a lot of dead space for them to make the font bigger. It’s petty complaint, but for someone with 20/20 vision, I shouldn’t be holding a book two inches in front of my face.
So while it was mildly entertaining and the middle portion was educational, I feel that an extensive edit and a consultation with someone who plays video games often would’ve allowed this book to reach it’s full potential. And an increase in font size.
5/5 for those who love history, even more than video games, who know literally nothing about video games and will therefore learn something new, who want to experience some nostalgia, and for those with eagle-like vision.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
I think the medium in which these authors decided to relate video game history is perfect because it’s visual and intriguing much like video games themselves. The cover itself is exciting in that it reminds you of playing your favorite games (for me it’s Frogger on a PS2 lol), but it’s also nostalgic, hence the historical aspect. It’s a rare and creative way to impart video game knowledge to a general audience.
However, I felt like the first half of the novel was almost entirely unnecessary. I understand the value in knowing the history behind something, but it felt more like a history lesson with some video game knowledge, rather then video game history with some cultural overlap (what I was hoping for). I also thought that it ended too abruptly, with Minecraft (2011) being the last game it touches on. I know nearly nothing about video games, and even I felt like there was so much more content that should’ve been included. Also, I thought the font was too small. I read a lot of graphic novels, and this was hard to read, and there was a lot of dead space for them to make the font bigger. It’s petty complaint, but for someone with 20/20 vision, I shouldn’t be holding a book two inches in front of my face.
So while it was mildly entertaining and the middle portion was educational, I feel that an extensive edit and a consultation with someone who plays video games often would’ve allowed this book to reach it’s full potential. And an increase in font size.
5/5 for those who love history, even more than video games, who know literally nothing about video games and will therefore learn something new, who want to experience some nostalgia, and for those with eagle-like vision.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
sarahdenn27's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating and thorough history of gaming. A bit hard to follow at times and I felt like I needed more explanation of all of the relevant terms and such.
annieb123's review against another edition
2.0
I'm a huge fan of video games. I was around and geeking out on Rogue in 1980ish. In fact, the following words still have the ability to make me smile and sigh nostalgically.
"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
*aaaah*
Anyhow, the point is, I have loved video games (and game theory and just plain games) forever. I was so excited about getting to read this book.
I may well have had inflated unrealistic expectations. It's also possible that any real comprehensive history of video games really needs to build up an extensive background context. It might be something entirely different. Whatever the reason, the reality of this book didn't live up to expectations.
I found the pacing very very slow and scattered. The art is somewhat rough and some of the character renderings I should have been able to recognize were not at all clear to me. Most of the drawings had labels so the characters (or historical innovators) were recognizable to me.
I did, however, learn quite a lot from this book (including the origin of the Sega games name). And I did finish it, but it was a close-run thing. It wasn't an easy read for me.
I wish the creators well, and I truly do hope this book does well, because video game history and electronic technological development is so integral to our shared human experience, especially in the last 60+ years. The book just wasn't for me.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
*aaaah*
Anyhow, the point is, I have loved video games (and game theory and just plain games) forever. I was so excited about getting to read this book.
I may well have had inflated unrealistic expectations. It's also possible that any real comprehensive history of video games really needs to build up an extensive background context. It might be something entirely different. Whatever the reason, the reality of this book didn't live up to expectations.
I found the pacing very very slow and scattered. The art is somewhat rough and some of the character renderings I should have been able to recognize were not at all clear to me. Most of the drawings had labels so the characters (or historical innovators) were recognizable to me.
I did, however, learn quite a lot from this book (including the origin of the Sega games name). And I did finish it, but it was a close-run thing. It wasn't an easy read for me.
I wish the creators well, and I truly do hope this book does well, because video game history and electronic technological development is so integral to our shared human experience, especially in the last 60+ years. The book just wasn't for me.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.