ANESthetized

by Doug McCoy

ANESthetized is a memoir of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Written by one who witnessed the birth, death, and rebirth of the NES, ANESthetized covers personal memories of the system, the games, and more. This 2012 edition has been fully revised and contains even more information and memories.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2010

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like a fan just compiled an extended school essay using internet sources.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I managed to finish this, and I can honestly say, while I loved the idea of it being a memoir, I found the author went into too much historical information rather than sharing his personal experiences to the full extent. If you are an old school NES gamer, then you know everything McCoy is referencing without the need for the history lesson. I found myself really frustrated because it seemed like there was a lot of potential plagued by poor sentence structure, awkward sentences and some weird eBook formatting. I found when I thought I was finishing a section, it would continue on but have no proper hook to the previous paragraph. It happened a few times so that really dragged down my enjoyment.

For those who are big NES fans -- you've heard this story before, so save yourself the trouble and don't bother with this one. I do hope the author does continue to write and work on some of the errors that have likely been addressed, because like I said, there IS some potential here that maybe a good editor and formatter could have helped fix in the process.

[Stephen Pickren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like "TV In My Time" was documentation of an author's love for and memories of the programs during his childhood, "aNESthetized" is in the same vein but only with Nintendo this time. Author Doug McCoy recalls his first days and eight years to lifelong love affair with the classic Nintendo. Much like the previously mentioned book on TV, aNESthetized takes a look at some of his favorite and not so favorite games of his time. And that is where the fun in reading this is. Classic games are described and some rare gems as well. The less you know about the games, the more fun it is to read the descriptions and wish you had a chance to go back and play. So, I would say that aNESthetized is a companion piece to TV In My Time. For gamers and lovers of Nintendo...it's a fun read.

[Richard Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand what some of the reviewers here that gave this a bad review think of this book but I found it entertaining in a lightweight trip down memory lane kind of way. I grew up in the same era as author Doug McCoy and I lived through the dawn of the 8 bit Nintendo period and discovered each wonderful game as they came out one after another as was the author. This novella reads more like it is a podcast your listening to and I really liked that about it. Sure it could have trimmed a few details here and been more personal there but overall it was a decent trip down memory lane and it actually got me wanting to go back and rediscover these awesome games that I grew up with.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think The reviewers here have been too critical of this book. You have to bear in mind that this is essentially a memoir of someone who grew up with the NES. If you were born in the early to mid 70s, you too likely shared in some of his experiences. This is the great aspect of this book!

[James Cobo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gives me reason to lament my inability to give zero stars to a book. If I'd bought the print version of it, I would go out and buy a bird just so that I could line its cage with ANESthetized's pages. I was not a fan.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. There's a great book lurking somewhere in here, but McCoy doesn't know how to write it -- or really write at all, as far as I can tell. What a sad, frustrating read.

[Brendan Creecy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but it really is pretty much just descriptions of NES games. There aren't enough personal stories to make it interesting or really engage the reader.

[Wesley and Fernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book that gave me mild nostalgia; short and sweet, though not much depth.