Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Video Games

by Herman

Book by HERMAN

Genres: Nonfiction, Video Games, Games, Gaming, History, Computers

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kind of terrified when I first opened this book up because it featured as its author the same man who edited that terrible Ralph Baer autobiography that I just finished the other week. Thankfully, this book was a much more objective and informative affair overall (aside from some odd hero-worshipping every time Baer's name came up predictably).

It's clear that the author of this book really is enamored with the way that the video game industry has developed and changed over time. He gives an informative and detailed approach to the comings and goings of various companies including a detailed breakdown of most main products that affected the industry in any meaningful way. Other reviews have levelled that this book doesn't address actual video games successfully and instead just goes on about the companies involved and the hardware that was released for each. I think that this is true but that it actually works quite well as an approach because of the fact that although individual games help to shape our memories of video gaming over time, the summation of those positive (or negative) experiences tie into a certain console in our minds. Therefore, it really is easiest to begin a discussion of actual video game consoles when discussing the history of video games in any sort of meaningful way.

The only real two glaring issues with this book that keep it from being five stars are that it doesn't cover any video game history past the introduction of the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and GameCube, and that there are a great deal of small typos and grammatical errors scattered throughout the text. I suppose that's the order of the day when you're talking about books that have been self-published, but the sheer number of them was quite distracting at times and made me have to go back and reread several sentences to try to figure out what was actually being said. Besides these two issues, though, I would recommend this book as a definitive guide to the development of video games to anyone who's a fan of the subject material. The only real caveat to a potential reader is the incredible detail that the author goes into when describing each system and company's decisions over time, which actually may be a bit too much information for some people. (I, on the other hand, found it to be incredibly interesting.)

[Chris Chinchilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames by Leonard Herman

I picked this book up as part of a book bundle somewhere, but escapes me with one right now. It’s timing was perfect as research for the development of Chip Shop as it covers the history of video games from 1970 up to the year 2000.

The writing quality is average, which is typical of this style of book written by an (obvious) enthusiast. Each year gets its own chapter and occasionally reads like a collection of essays as topics are sometimes repeated in different chapters.

In terms of content, the book is phenomenal. I think you would struggle to find a more comprehensive overview of the period and the products, people and events that were part of it. There was lots I already knew, but I also gleaned many new potential products and events for the game that will keep me in development work for quite some time.

The book flows well and you can clearly follow the development of companies and products over time as well as the actions that led to them. This narrative especially has helped me get some great ideas for the feeling of the era and thus the game. What was especially clear was the speed of change. A company could be making billions one year and nearly bankrupt the next, representing that in the game is something that needs work. I have also started thinking how I could represent the licensing that happens between companies for games and accessories.

If you are a fan of video games from any era since their inception then consider picking up a copy and lose yourself in a wonderful history lesson.

Buy a copy here from Amazon and earn me a few cents to!

[Steven Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book on video game history. it is a dry read but a must read for video game historians. Treat it like a dictionary or an encyclopedia.

[David Natiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I certainly appreciate the organization of video game history into more or less chronological, yearly fashion -- it does make it more of a reference than a story. Very dry, it's a lot of facts, and very little drama or behind-the-scenes. However, there is a lot of detail organized that is not always easy to piece together -- from the systems, to accessories, lawsuits and more. So, as a reference, this is certainly an excellent book to have. But if you want more of a story focus there are far better books such as "All Your Base Are Belong to Us".

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has a ton of great information about the history of video games. 5 stars for content. The presentation is not great; it's on the level of a self-published (and self-edited?) work. I read the 3rd edition; maybe later editions have improved. Also it's been years since I read it.

[André Bernhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is already a 4th edition.

Still enjoyed this one and learned some stuff, but most of the time it´s a collection of years and events - nothing more or less.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's easy enough to point fun at this book for its typos (which, while not numerous, are embarrassing - for example, TurboGrafx 16 is misspelled multiple times) and its inability to format product names correctly (it's Game Boy, not Gameboy). But it also has problems with repetition, mentioning and explaining certain things more than once, like that X company was working on Y product and that Z company had project AA in development. If you need to mention it twice because now you're finally going to talk about it in more detail, you shouldn't have mentioned it the first time. Brevity would have helped this book immensely, especially given that it's been reissued twice and I understand it can be hard to go back to an old project after a few years and have it be consistent.

The book is very informative, going into excruciating detail about the development of certain consoles, company history, personnel changes, and the development of peripherals and accessories. What's missing here? They don't talk about the games enough. It's like writing a history of film that talks about cameras and VCRs. The book would have been far more interesting with more emphasis on software, especially in the NES era and beyond, where it starts to get a little thin on software information. Eventually the book became a slog of product names and releases, with no discussion of the cultural impact that would have made the book more interesting. This book would be a good reference to someone researching the history of video games, but it doesn't make for entertaining casual reading.

[Sineala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little more dry than I would have liked, but an interesting read nonetheless, though I admit to skimming some parts. It definitely helped that I already enjoy reading about video/computer game history; I don't think I would recommend it to people who aren't already giant gamer nerds, for example. Still, I'm glad I read it, since it was awfully informative. I somehow had no idea that X-rated Atari games existed until now -- though, really, given the games in question, I think I was happier not knowing.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable, comprehensive history of video games. Not perfectly edited, but well recommended.

[bunnyhero · Rating 3 out of 5]

very dry, but decent content