LudoScience

History of videogames (overall history)

Author(s) : Leonard Herman
Editor : Rolenta Press
Publication date : 07-01-2001
Language : english

This is the third edition of one of the first, if not the first, book to seriously tackle the history of video game on a global level. The book structure is chronological: each chapter covers the main events of a single year. Moreover, the author chose to mostly focuses his book on the history of consoles in the US. After a first chapter dedicated to early digital games, the book details the main events of the video game industry between 1970 and 2000. Among others things, it presents the various consoles releases, from the famous ones to the deeply obscure ones, along with their main accessories and games. This pioneer historical work is based on a thorough research inside old video game magazines. Nowadays, "Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames" may then feel a bit outdated compared to books released after it, such as "The Ultimate History of Video Games" and "Replay" , as they both complete Phoenix's content with interviews. However, it remains a very interesting book, full of information, and it's still an excellent introduction to the American history of the video games. Compared to the previous one, this updated third edition features a new appendix dedicated to games-related books and magazines, and a foreword by Ralph Baer. The book presented here is the 2009 reprint of the third edition, originally published in 2001. This reprint is of smaller size than the original print, and uses a different cover image.