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The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect
In the forty years since the first Magnavox Odyssey pixel winked on in 1972, the home video game industry has undergone a mind-blowing evolution. Fueled by unprecedented advances in technology, boundless imaginations, and an insatiable addiction to fantastic new worlds of play, the video game has gone supernova, rocketing two generations of fans into an ever-expanding universe where art, culture, reality, and emotion collide.
As a testament to the cultural impact of the game industry’s mega morph, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, with curator and author Chris Melissinos, conceived the forthcoming exhibition, The Art of Video Games, which will run from March 16 to September 30, 2012.* Welcome Books will release the companion book this March.
Melissinos presents video games as not just mere play, but richly textured emotional and social experiences that have crossed the boundary into culture and art.
Along with a team of game developers, designers, and journalists, Melissinos chose a pool of 240 games across five different eras to represent the diversity of the game world. Criteria included visual effects, creative use of technologies, and how world events and popular culture manifested in the games. The museum then invited the public to go online to help choose the games. More than 3.7 million votes (from 175 countries) later, the eighty winners featured in The Art of Video Games exhibition and book were selected.
From the Space Invaders of the seventies to sophisticated contemporary epics BioShock and Uncharted 2, Melissinos examines each of the winning games, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their development and innovation, and commentary on the relevance of each in the history of video games.
Over 100 composite images, created by Patrick O’Rourke, and drawn directly from the games themselves, illustrate the evolution of video games as an artistic medium, both technologically and creatively.
Additionally, The Art of Video Games includes fascinating interviews with influential artists and designers–from pioneers such as Nolan Bushnell to contemporary innovators including Warren Spector, Tim Schafer and Robin Hunicke.
The foreword was written by Elizabeth Broun, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Mike Mika, noted game preservationist and prolific developer, contributed the introduction the introduction.
*After Washington D.C., the exhibition travels to several cities across the United States, including Boca Raton (Museum of Art), Seattle (EMP Museum), Yonkers, NY (Hudson River Museum) and Flint, MI (Flint Institute of Arts). For the latest confirmed dates and venues, please visit the The Art of Video Games exhibition page at http://americanart.si.edu/taovg
As a testament to the cultural impact of the game industry’s mega morph, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, with curator and author Chris Melissinos, conceived the forthcoming exhibition, The Art of Video Games, which will run from March 16 to September 30, 2012.* Welcome Books will release the companion book this March.
Melissinos presents video games as not just mere play, but richly textured emotional and social experiences that have crossed the boundary into culture and art.
Along with a team of game developers, designers, and journalists, Melissinos chose a pool of 240 games across five different eras to represent the diversity of the game world. Criteria included visual effects, creative use of technologies, and how world events and popular culture manifested in the games. The museum then invited the public to go online to help choose the games. More than 3.7 million votes (from 175 countries) later, the eighty winners featured in The Art of Video Games exhibition and book were selected.
From the Space Invaders of the seventies to sophisticated contemporary epics BioShock and Uncharted 2, Melissinos examines each of the winning games, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their development and innovation, and commentary on the relevance of each in the history of video games.
Over 100 composite images, created by Patrick O’Rourke, and drawn directly from the games themselves, illustrate the evolution of video games as an artistic medium, both technologically and creatively.
Additionally, The Art of Video Games includes fascinating interviews with influential artists and designers–from pioneers such as Nolan Bushnell to contemporary innovators including Warren Spector, Tim Schafer and Robin Hunicke.
The foreword was written by Elizabeth Broun, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Mike Mika, noted game preservationist and prolific developer, contributed the introduction the introduction.
*After Washington D.C., the exhibition travels to several cities across the United States, including Boca Raton (Museum of Art), Seattle (EMP Museum), Yonkers, NY (Hudson River Museum) and Flint, MI (Flint Institute of Arts). For the latest confirmed dates and venues, please visit the The Art of Video Games exhibition page at http://americanart.si.edu/taovg
216 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2012
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November 16, 2012
(More pictures on my blog)
This is the companion book for the exhibition of the same name, held at the American Art Museum from 16 March 2012 to 30 September 2012.
The book title is quite broad, and maybe ambiguous. This isn't an art book with pretty pictures or concept art of video games. Rather, it's about the evolution of video game graphics, the artistry of making video games. All explained in a brief and simplified manner.
Since this is an exhibition companion book, it's not surprising it's not that technical. I get the idea that the target audience are probably exhibition goers first and then gamers.
I enjoy the sense of nostalgia from looking at the old games I used to play. As with any list that ranks games, there's always the surprise element when you see games you've never seen before. From the text, you get some brief insight into how the games came to be.
I've several issues with the book though. The first is the selection criteria. Author Melissinos selected an initial group of 240 games based on criteria that included visual effects, use of technologies and how world events and popular culture influenced the games. Then, voters online were invited to to choose the most popular games. Finally, 80 games are picked.
In general, I don't expect the gamers to know anything about how the graphics were created, nor the technologies used in the game making. The public voting element goes against the selection criteria. At times, it's difficult to tell whether the games are included because they are innovative or just fan favourites. There are peculiar inclusions as well as omissions. A search online for bestseller lists will yield results for fan favourites instantly.
The games are sorted by eras, starting from Atari's first game Combat in 1997 to 2009 with Flower developed by thatgamecompany. In each era, the games are strangely not ordered strictly to chronological order. The most recent game featured is actually Heavy Rain from 2010, before Flower as it appears in the book.
Each game has a writeup of around 3-4 paragraphs on one page. That is too brief to cover the game history, design concept, game play and technology. The criteria for the included titles are there, but they aren't justified in the text. Games released around the same time usually are similarly impressive in visuals. For example, not mentioned was Valkyria Chronicles which has an unique hand drawn art direction. Okami was included though. Because it sold better?
Screenshots are too few to give enough context on why each game is so visually spectacular. The included ones are not the best representatives of the games. The really old games are redrawn to look sharp, such as that on the book cover. New game graphics are still alright. It's those games in between that are bad as they cannot be redrawn, and don't have enough resolution to look good. I don't think it can be helped because of the nature of game graphics at that time but at least more should have printed at smaller sizes. If this book is about the art, I want to see more art from each game.
Also included are interviews with some game makers. Unless they introduce themselves, you won't know their role or the company they work for. A one-sentence short profile is missing. Sometimes I only get the context of what they are talking about after reading halfway in.
There are many other things I was expecting but not found in the book. There's no mention of games on handheld game devices, art direction taken by big games, newer ways of creating realistic animation like using motion capture such as in Uncharted 2, etc. Visual effects are limited by hardware but the book does not have any commentary on the systems that run these games. So there's no context on what's possible and impossible with each new hardware releases. There's also nothing about creating game music. But I guess we're talking about visual arts rather than the art form of games.
Gamers will expect more from the book. It lacks the breath and depth to cover a subject as vast as video games. It doesn't help when there are no compelling justification on why some game titles are included. Overall, a missed opportunity.
March 31, 2012
[Disclosure: I was on the advisory board for the exhibit related to the book]
Over the course of 2010/2011, I was privileged enough to be invited by Chris Melissinos to sit on the advisory board for the Art of Video Games exhibit he was putting together for exhibition at the Smithsonian. I recently got a copy of the book Chris authored in parallel with it, also titled The Art of Video Games and had a delightful time going through it.
The book is a large format hardcover coffee table book. It is liberal with spacing given to artwork, screenshots and whitespace and this makes it easy and fun to flip through. The games are broken up into different eras, loosely coupled with the "generations" of home consoles, though it also covers many PC games from those same eras.
The treatment given each game focuses in part on the game's art and gameplay, and in part on why the game was notable or revolutionary for it's time.
The book also has a number of interviews with industry luminaries including Nolan Bushnell and others. These lend a bit of context to the mindset at the time, challenges in developing the games, etc.
Its a beautiful book that every gamer should have sitting on their coffee table. It's not a deep examination of the "are games art?" question, but rather an appreciative view at the layperson's level. In that sense it does well.
Over the course of 2010/2011, I was privileged enough to be invited by Chris Melissinos to sit on the advisory board for the Art of Video Games exhibit he was putting together for exhibition at the Smithsonian. I recently got a copy of the book Chris authored in parallel with it, also titled The Art of Video Games and had a delightful time going through it.
The book is a large format hardcover coffee table book. It is liberal with spacing given to artwork, screenshots and whitespace and this makes it easy and fun to flip through. The games are broken up into different eras, loosely coupled with the "generations" of home consoles, though it also covers many PC games from those same eras.
The treatment given each game focuses in part on the game's art and gameplay, and in part on why the game was notable or revolutionary for it's time.
The book also has a number of interviews with industry luminaries including Nolan Bushnell and others. These lend a bit of context to the mindset at the time, challenges in developing the games, etc.
Its a beautiful book that every gamer should have sitting on their coffee table. It's not a deep examination of the "are games art?" question, but rather an appreciative view at the layperson's level. In that sense it does well.
January 15, 2013
This is a book based on an art exhibition that was at the Smithsonian, I wanted to go, but it was not possible. Last I read it traveled to Boca Raton, there is a list of where it goes from there, I would love to see the exhibition in real life. The book is going to make a great addition to my other coffee table giant books. It's pretty, interesting, and fun. If you don't care about video games you might not care or you might learn something. The interviews with different designers and such was most interesting because it's where I learned more than in the game sections where I knew most of the games. I voted on games to go into the exhibition, I don't know how much voting helped, but a lot of my favorites are in it!
For more info: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions...
For more info: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions...
June 25, 2019
I'm ambivalent about this one. On the one hand, while it's refreshing to see people--especially people as accredited as those at the Smithsonian--legitimately looking at video games as art, I have to question some of the titles they decided to include. Yes, art is subjective, and I could lament the exclusion of such games as Silent Hill 2, or Odin Sphere (or anything with art from George Kamitani), or Yume Nikki, or Planescape: Torment while titles like Pitfall II, and Zack & Wiki made the cut, until the cows come home. My criticism on that front might be valid, but it's still ultimately subjective--one man's trash, and all that.
What I can't let slide, however, is their odd choice of ports for certain games. For whatever reason, this book features only games available on home systems, and the early chapters are filled with comments about "how close a representation of the arcade version" one title or another was...which begs the question of, why not just include the actual arcade version, instead of the knock-off? In all cases, the arcade version is going to be more visually appealing, and probably have better/smoother gameplay, music, etc. If you're going for games as art, show that art in its purest form. Instead, for example, the Pac-Man entry we get is for the Atari 2600--largely decried as pretty much the worst version of the game. (If they were short on titles for that system, they could've picked one of the Sword Quest games, which, while flawed, were tremendously ambitious for what they were. And that's just one example off the top of my head.) The insistence here, of only covering home versions of these games is befuddling.
As for the writing itself, it consists of fairly broad-stroke overviews of the games in question. Some interesting details here and there, but nothing terribly deep, most of the time. This is periodically punched up with interviews from various people from the gaming industry, and these do provide a more exhaustive look behind the scenes.
All in all, The Art of Video Games is probably best utilized as a coffee table book. The entry for each game can be read in about a minute, there are lots of illustrations, and even a quick skim here and there can yield some interesting tidbits. But if you're looking for anything truly substantial about these games, there are much better options out there.
What I can't let slide, however, is their odd choice of ports for certain games. For whatever reason, this book features only games available on home systems, and the early chapters are filled with comments about "how close a representation of the arcade version" one title or another was...which begs the question of, why not just include the actual arcade version, instead of the knock-off? In all cases, the arcade version is going to be more visually appealing, and probably have better/smoother gameplay, music, etc. If you're going for games as art, show that art in its purest form. Instead, for example, the Pac-Man entry we get is for the Atari 2600--largely decried as pretty much the worst version of the game. (If they were short on titles for that system, they could've picked one of the Sword Quest games, which, while flawed, were tremendously ambitious for what they were. And that's just one example off the top of my head.) The insistence here, of only covering home versions of these games is befuddling.
As for the writing itself, it consists of fairly broad-stroke overviews of the games in question. Some interesting details here and there, but nothing terribly deep, most of the time. This is periodically punched up with interviews from various people from the gaming industry, and these do provide a more exhaustive look behind the scenes.
All in all, The Art of Video Games is probably best utilized as a coffee table book. The entry for each game can be read in about a minute, there are lots of illustrations, and even a quick skim here and there can yield some interesting tidbits. But if you're looking for anything truly substantial about these games, there are much better options out there.
September 26, 2018
Some of the details about some of the games seemed a little off, and sometimes the sentence construction left a little to be desired, but other than that this is a good book. It's heavy on the pictures and light on the text, and is far from a comprehensive book on the topic, but it was enjoyable and interesting, and provided a nice dose of memberberries.
December 14, 2013
If you grew up playing console games at home, and if you're looking for a nostalgic picture-book to pick up now and then and idly flip through, this will be a fine addition to your coffee table.
It's difficult to take it any more seriously than that — if you try, you're likely to be disappointed.
The first thing you need to understand is that the selection of games was not selected by video game experts, historians or museum curators. No, the 80 games were selected based on the results of an open on-line vote with 4 million participants. Thus, these are just games that won a popularity contest; the collection is not representative of the "most artistic" nor "most important" games by a long shot. Further, it does not include any original arcade games whatsoever... it is strictly home consoles and home computers. That means, for example, that Space Invaders and Pac-Man are only included in their awful Atari 2600 incarnations (and that the image of the ghost on the cover is misleading, as it's nowhere to be found within). That probably tells you a lot about what to expect from this book right there.
If you've been into gaming since you were a kid (and I'm sure that's likely to be most people in the market for this book), more often than not you're going to read their synopsis and become aware of how poorly the authors actually understood the game or its importance. In some cases, it's clear they have no idea what they are talking about at all and likely just pulled poor summaries together from Wikipedia. For example, they claim that the classic 1980s 8-bit The Bard's Tale series was most importantly "known for it's clever writing and tongue-in-cheek in-jokes." Umm, no it isn't. (Fans of the series can probably guess which unrelated 2004 console game they have mistaken for the 80s games.) Rather, the 8-bit classics were known for their groundbreaking 3D display, artistic animation, and innovative use of music as an important game-play mechanic. As you can see, what it's really known for is far more relevant to the book than what the authors say it's known for... which is immensely disappointing.
Another example of the problems with this book can be found in their description of the classic Spy vs. Spy game. They claim that,
Not only is this completely wrong, but it misses what was truly innovative about this game. The actual object of the game was to search a foreign embassy for four different items and escape — while also working to prevent your opponent from doing the same thing. Playing simultaneously together on a split-screen, you both search for the four items, while setting traps — not to kill your opponent (they just come back to life), but to slow your opponent down and allow you to collect the items and escape before they do. The split-screen display and innovative multiplayer game design was quite unlike anything else at the time; but that important and relevant aspect of the game is completely unknown to the authors of this book.
I could go on, but everyone will have had different gaming experiences in their lives and thus notice different discrepancies, I imagine.
The book also includes about a dozen two-page writings from folks who work in the industry, describing how they got into gaming and why they consider games "art". These are interesting, but unfortunately you'll probably only recognize a few of their names... it would have been nice to see some higher profile industry veterans.
It's difficult to take it any more seriously than that — if you try, you're likely to be disappointed.
The first thing you need to understand is that the selection of games was not selected by video game experts, historians or museum curators. No, the 80 games were selected based on the results of an open on-line vote with 4 million participants. Thus, these are just games that won a popularity contest; the collection is not representative of the "most artistic" nor "most important" games by a long shot. Further, it does not include any original arcade games whatsoever... it is strictly home consoles and home computers. That means, for example, that Space Invaders and Pac-Man are only included in their awful Atari 2600 incarnations (and that the image of the ghost on the cover is misleading, as it's nowhere to be found within). That probably tells you a lot about what to expect from this book right there.
If you've been into gaming since you were a kid (and I'm sure that's likely to be most people in the market for this book), more often than not you're going to read their synopsis and become aware of how poorly the authors actually understood the game or its importance. In some cases, it's clear they have no idea what they are talking about at all and likely just pulled poor summaries together from Wikipedia. For example, they claim that the classic 1980s 8-bit The Bard's Tale series was most importantly "known for it's clever writing and tongue-in-cheek in-jokes." Umm, no it isn't. (Fans of the series can probably guess which unrelated 2004 console game they have mistaken for the 80s games.) Rather, the 8-bit classics were known for their groundbreaking 3D display, artistic animation, and innovative use of music as an important game-play mechanic. As you can see, what it's really known for is far more relevant to the book than what the authors say it's known for... which is immensely disappointing.
Another example of the problems with this book can be found in their description of the classic Spy vs. Spy game. They claim that,
"The object of the game is to set traps in the various rooms for your counterpart, who is damaged upon setting them off. When time expires, the player with the most damage loses."
Not only is this completely wrong, but it misses what was truly innovative about this game. The actual object of the game was to search a foreign embassy for four different items and escape — while also working to prevent your opponent from doing the same thing. Playing simultaneously together on a split-screen, you both search for the four items, while setting traps — not to kill your opponent (they just come back to life), but to slow your opponent down and allow you to collect the items and escape before they do. The split-screen display and innovative multiplayer game design was quite unlike anything else at the time; but that important and relevant aspect of the game is completely unknown to the authors of this book.
I could go on, but everyone will have had different gaming experiences in their lives and thus notice different discrepancies, I imagine.
The book also includes about a dozen two-page writings from folks who work in the industry, describing how they got into gaming and why they consider games "art". These are interesting, but unfortunately you'll probably only recognize a few of their names... it would have been nice to see some higher profile industry veterans.
September 22, 2017
I was lucky enough to be able to attend The Art of Video Games exhibition in the Smithsonian. That was informative and very well done. This book is much weaker than the exhibition was. For a book called "The Art of Video Games," the art in this book sure looks terrible. The screenshots are blurry and badly composed, even of the more recent games. There are a bunch of great art books about specific video game titles and you'd be better served buying one of those instead.
May 8, 2012
Visually, this is a wonderful looking book. The images are crisp and clear, and very well detailed.
That said, the choices used to cover each system and era seem random. Some games make perfect sense. Other titles just seem far too obscure, and not really a game that particularly innovated or defined a system, or was even a visual wonder of its time. Someone clearly felt that multiple Mario, Zelda, and Panzer Dragoon titles could sum up the whole of modern gaming on their own. For four titles per system, one would think the representation would be more varied. And on the computer side, Apple gaming (outside of a very brief notation) was completely overlooked, so no Oregon Trail or King's Quest type titles.
Still, it's a very pleasant coffee table read, and there simply aren't enough books based on the art of video games in such a positive and attractive manner. A follow up book would be readily requested to help fill in some of the gaps and makre this a more complete experience.
That said, the choices used to cover each system and era seem random. Some games make perfect sense. Other titles just seem far too obscure, and not really a game that particularly innovated or defined a system, or was even a visual wonder of its time. Someone clearly felt that multiple Mario, Zelda, and Panzer Dragoon titles could sum up the whole of modern gaming on their own. For four titles per system, one would think the representation would be more varied. And on the computer side, Apple gaming (outside of a very brief notation) was completely overlooked, so no Oregon Trail or King's Quest type titles.
Still, it's a very pleasant coffee table read, and there simply aren't enough books based on the art of video games in such a positive and attractive manner. A follow up book would be readily requested to help fill in some of the gaps and makre this a more complete experience.
August 21, 2012
I bought this at the museum exhibit in DC this spring. I heavily skimmed it when I bought it but will now go through and read it.
Very enjoyable. Lots of critiques about how it is incomplete (games represented, industry figures interviewed). That may be true, as there are many games I'd have liked to see here. However, it was well done and resonates well for anybody that started playing Atari and now plays the current generation of consoles.
Very enjoyable. Lots of critiques about how it is incomplete (games represented, industry figures interviewed). That may be true, as there are many games I'd have liked to see here. However, it was well done and resonates well for anybody that started playing Atari and now plays the current generation of consoles.
February 17, 2018
Good enough but IMO doesn’t deserve even 4 stars.
* selection of games is very questionable, even considering differences between games availability in US and Russia/Eastern Europe
* quality of screenshots could’ve definitely been better
* digital version is even harder to read even on 12 inches IPad Pro due to lots of double-page spreads
Overall it’s ok as a coffee table book, just do not expect to learn a lot from it
* selection of games is very questionable, even considering differences between games availability in US and Russia/Eastern Europe
* quality of screenshots could’ve definitely been better
* digital version is even harder to read even on 12 inches IPad Pro due to lots of double-page spreads
Overall it’s ok as a coffee table book, just do not expect to learn a lot from it
November 20, 2017
Pretty disappointed with this to be honest. Was hoping for a lot more. The selection is often a little questionable as is the general design. Not sure what the 'point' of the book is, feels somehow unnecessary.
February 26, 2025
If your a long time video gamer. You’ll really enjoy this art gallery.
August 19, 2012
Meh. If you're going to sum up 40 years of video game art by showcasing only 80 games, it's likely that every gamer will think there's a few glaring omissions. But with only 80 games to tell the story, why include the likes of Pitfall II, and why highlight three different Panzer Dragoon games? A few of the game designer/programmer interviewers were good, but no better than what Google could dig up for you. So unless you want the dimensions of a coffee table book, I think you'd be better off with a hardback copy of "1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die".
This book was released to commemorate the Smithsonian American Art exhibit "The Art of Video Games". They had opened up the vote to the public for which games should be featured in the exhibit. Though probably for the best, few of my votes aligned with the popular sentiment (all runners up: Gateway to Apshai, Boulder Dash, Paradroid, M.U.L.E., Archon, Ultima IV, etc.). At time of writing, the complete list of winners and runners up is here: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions...
This book was released to commemorate the Smithsonian American Art exhibit "The Art of Video Games". They had opened up the vote to the public for which games should be featured in the exhibit. Though probably for the best, few of my votes aligned with the popular sentiment (all runners up: Gateway to Apshai, Boulder Dash, Paradroid, M.U.L.E., Archon, Ultima IV, etc.). At time of writing, the complete list of winners and runners up is here: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions...
May 25, 2013
I finished this book in a day, it was really fantastic. The pictures were great (they started getting crappier as the games started getting better). I didn't read the interviews, but they looked okay. But what I really thought was spot on was the description of how the games they were showcasing contributed to the art world. I love video games, but I've never been the one saying, "GAMES ARE ART", proudly and defiantly. This book made me see where I was wrong. I thought the analysis was spot on and I loved reading them. I raced through this book. But I'm sad that some of my favorite games didn't make the cut.
October 7, 2012
Nice coffee-table book tied to an Smithsonian exhibition of video game art. I enjoyed the games chosen and the interviews, but the layout doesn't *quite* work for the earlier games -- blown up on the page, they look even rougher than they did on the TV screens of their time.
It's not a big problem, I just feel like they needed more inset pictures so readers can see the games as we did at the time.
It's not a big problem, I just feel like they needed more inset pictures so readers can see the games as we did at the time.
October 14, 2012
Would've really liked to give this book a higher rating. Physically its a very handsome tome with proper 'coffee table' heft and nice glossy pages. The main issue at hand is the poor choices in layouts and images selected. Images of some current games were clearly not taken at the highest image quality and the majority of selected images were poor choices that does not do proper justice to the game itself.
August 5, 2013
Nothing really impressive and probably works best as a coffee table book. It still manages to evoke whimsy—those were the days, of ostracized geeks trailblazing an entire industry into a multi-billion cash cow.
I'm partial to the 8-bit, as that was my generation. I cut my teeth on the Nintendo and grew into the SNES. The Art of Video games give due credit to many of these games as forerunners in their particular vision.
I'm partial to the 8-bit, as that was my generation. I cut my teeth on the Nintendo and grew into the SNES. The Art of Video games give due credit to many of these games as forerunners in their particular vision.
March 23, 2015
A really solid and high level overview on some of the more popular and influential video games from the industry's birth up to the present day. While it doesn't dig terribly deep into defining or differentiating between creative arts, programming and development, or the constellation of activities that surround imagining video games, the book seems to be a great introduction to its main idea, and a good companion to the Smithsonian exhibit of the same name.
September 3, 2013
Unfortunately abbreviated but ultimately interesting video game art book. Wish there were more variety to the games presented (instead of several indistinct titles from the same series), and more Square Enix/LucasArts titles, but what was there was presented well. Definitely a nostalgia trip for me, even though it barely scratches the surface of video game art.
June 20, 2013
This is a book about the artwork of various video games from the very beginning up until recent times. The pictures remind me of the past, and the text is interesting. I didn't care for the interviews though.
January 8, 2013
Read my book review of The Art of Video Games at...
http://classicgames.about.com/od/popc...
http://classicgames.about.com/od/popc...
Want to Read
August 15, 2013excited
August 28, 2015
An artbook tied with an exhibit at the Smithsonian a few years back. It's not deep, but it is interesting to see a selection of video and computer games viewed from an artist's perspective. (B+)
January 3, 2013
I'm puzzled by the selections, and omissions.
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