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Game Boys: Professional Videogaming's Rise from the Basement to the Big Time
An inside look at the darker side of the competitive video-game industry traces the rivalries between such companies as 3D and CompLexity, describes the world of professional elite players, and evaluates videogaming as a big-money intersection between business and pop culture. 25,000 first printing.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 19, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 23, 2023
I read /Game Boys: Professional Videogaming's Rise from the Basement to the Big Time/, by Michael Kane:
https://www.scifipulse.net/michael-ka...
https://www.scifipulse.net/michael-ka...
March 2, 2019
This was a really great book for those hard core gamers out there. If you are interested in the history of professional gaming contests, then you will enjoy this book.
December 10, 2021
It is becoming more and more common that even for video games you can be a professional and something strange but good at the same time is done to me
December 26, 2022
I bought this book years ago, when my main hobbies were playing Counter Strike and reading. I wanted an intersection, but there really aren't (or at least weren't) that many books about the game; eventually I stumbled on this one. Now I've fallen out of playing CS, but I still had this book on my shelf, unread. So I picked it up and ended up having a really good time.
The cover sells itself as being more generic, about the rise of esports in general, but really it's a story about two rival teams in the infancy of what would be a billion dollar industry (circa 2020). Kane does a great job of weaving a personal, engaging story as we follow these teams and their managers. It's also interesting to see how Kane predicted esports would NEED to be on television in order to be profitable; at the time, that may have been true, but he didn't for-see the massive success and profitability of online streaming. This book was the only time I'd ever heard of the "DirecTv Gaming Invitational," and their supposed gaming league.
Even without any understanding of gaming, Kane provides all the context you need for a great "sports" story. It serves as a unique time capsule in that period of gaming history.
It also features a one line cameo from the infamous tommy talarico, so thats neat.
The cover sells itself as being more generic, about the rise of esports in general, but really it's a story about two rival teams in the infancy of what would be a billion dollar industry (circa 2020). Kane does a great job of weaving a personal, engaging story as we follow these teams and their managers. It's also interesting to see how Kane predicted esports would NEED to be on television in order to be profitable; at the time, that may have been true, but he didn't for-see the massive success and profitability of online streaming. This book was the only time I'd ever heard of the "DirecTv Gaming Invitational," and their supposed gaming league.
Even without any understanding of gaming, Kane provides all the context you need for a great "sports" story. It serves as a unique time capsule in that period of gaming history.
It also features a one line cameo from the infamous tommy talarico, so thats neat.
November 6, 2015
Game Boys is a book written by Michael Kane that is about, as it states underneath the title of the book, “Professional Videogaming’s Rise from the Basement to the Big Time.” In this book the reader is shown many of the events and hardships that were endured to bring videogames out of the underground and into the lives of everyday people. Even though there are many games out there, this book is mainly based upon Counter Strike, a first person shooter game created by Valve, and how this game ended up being one of the main contributors to bringing video games to light. Game Boys focuses mainly on two teams (Complexity and 3D) attending events such as the CPL, (Cyber-athlete Professional League) founded by Angel Munoz on June 27th, 1997, and the CGS (Championship Gaming Series) founded in 2007 by DirecTV. Game Boys also shows you the behind the scenes of the coaches who coached in these events, such as Jason Lake, (Team: Complexity) and Craig Levine (Team: 3D) as they set out to revolutionize “e-sports” and bring them to television to become the next big thing. Throughout the book, the reader will learn the ins and outs of being a professional gaming team coach like Jason and Craig, and how Craig and Jason worked towards finally getting professional gaming to be more widely advertised to newer audiences.
The illustration on this book’s cover really caught my attention with the pixelated title and sprites of gamers playing on their computers. The illustration on the cover clearly relates to the main idea of the book by showing some retro looking sprites of gamers one might see at competitions such as the CGS or CPL. Scattered throughout the book there are also pictures of gamers attending CGS or CPL events, throwing their hands in the air in victory and focusing intensely on what is going on upon their screens, showing that these people are devoted and invested in these events. These photos also give the reader an idea of what these events looked like on a larger scale by showing the sheer amount of people who attended them. There are also a couple of photos of Craig and Jason, one of these photos depicting Jason with his hands in the air after what one would assume to be a round won by his team in Counter Strike.
As for the author Michael Kane’s credibility to write about this topic, personally, I believe he earned the rights to write about it. Not only is it evident that Michael did his research on the background of Counter Strike and professional gaming events, but he also got feedback from family members of Complexity/3D team members and family members of both teams coaches. Even though Michael isn’t a gamer and hasn’t ever been one, I still think that Michael has the credentials to write about “professional videogaming’s rise to the big time.” I picked this book because the gamer inside me told me to, but I think that Michael intended this book to be read more by “outsiders” to videogames to explain to them the culture and development of professional gaming so that they may better understand gamers.
I must say, even though I have known about Counter Strike and its background, and I am myself a gamer, I still greatly enjoyed this book and even learned some new things I had not known about gaming before. This being said, I would recommend Game Boys to anyone, but especially to non-gamers so that they may better understand the gaming culture and the people within that culture. Also, this book may even convince non-gamers to try gaming, and in my world, that’s a plus, because personally I could use some more gamer friends.
June 1, 2012
When I saw "Game Boys" it immediately interested me because, like many men my age and younger, I love video games. I'm not the kind of gamer who won't bathe for days at a time, sitting in a pile of my own filth while trying to acquire the "sword of Azgaroth" or whatever. Actually, most gamers aren't like that at all. "Game Boys" blows the lid off of most gaming stereotypes and gives the reader a good look at what it's like to play video games professionally.
The book follows two teams (Team 3D and Complexity) as they struggle to be the best in the world at a game called Counter Strike and at the same time try to get their profession recognized and treated as a professional sport. In all honesty it took me a while to get into the narrative. There were a lot of references to place, people, and things I didn't know anything about. For example, the game of choice for both Team 3D and Complexity was Counter Strike. I'd never heard of it. Kane spends a lot of time talking about the game, explaining the ins and outs, and describing the matches between teams. It felt a little tedious at times and I hit a point when I didn't pick the book up for a few days.
Then one day while I was on YouTube I decided to see if I could look up some gameplay videos of Counter Strike to have an idea of what he was writing about. That was what made all the difference for me. Suddenly the world of Counter Strike opened up and I realized that Kane's descriptions were spot on. I also started finding videos featuring a lot of the people mentioned in the book. Suddenly I had faces behind the names and visuals in my mind about what Kane was talking about. I was hooked.
The narrative picked up after that. At the end of the book is a description of a televised tourney sponsored by Direct TV. Team 3D and Complexity have a final showdown and Mighty Ducks moments ensue. I had actually watched the tournament on YouTube before reading about it, which for some might have ruined the suspense, but for me was pretty cool because it allowed me to appreciate Kane's writing style all the more.
The book is informative and interesting. If you've ever wondered how the professional gaming circuit came about, this book will spell it out for you pretty well. My suggestion would be to supplement what you read with some online investigating of your own. It made the book that much more interesting and fun to read. All in all, an interesting book.
The book follows two teams (Team 3D and Complexity) as they struggle to be the best in the world at a game called Counter Strike and at the same time try to get their profession recognized and treated as a professional sport. In all honesty it took me a while to get into the narrative. There were a lot of references to place, people, and things I didn't know anything about. For example, the game of choice for both Team 3D and Complexity was Counter Strike. I'd never heard of it. Kane spends a lot of time talking about the game, explaining the ins and outs, and describing the matches between teams. It felt a little tedious at times and I hit a point when I didn't pick the book up for a few days.
Then one day while I was on YouTube I decided to see if I could look up some gameplay videos of Counter Strike to have an idea of what he was writing about. That was what made all the difference for me. Suddenly the world of Counter Strike opened up and I realized that Kane's descriptions were spot on. I also started finding videos featuring a lot of the people mentioned in the book. Suddenly I had faces behind the names and visuals in my mind about what Kane was talking about. I was hooked.
The narrative picked up after that. At the end of the book is a description of a televised tourney sponsored by Direct TV. Team 3D and Complexity have a final showdown and Mighty Ducks moments ensue. I had actually watched the tournament on YouTube before reading about it, which for some might have ruined the suspense, but for me was pretty cool because it allowed me to appreciate Kane's writing style all the more.
The book is informative and interesting. If you've ever wondered how the professional gaming circuit came about, this book will spell it out for you pretty well. My suggestion would be to supplement what you read with some online investigating of your own. It made the book that much more interesting and fun to read. All in all, an interesting book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2016
I loved this book, to my surprise. It was so smartly organized to keep the stakes clear and incredibly high. Kane knew exactly what kind of questions he wanted his work to ask and stuck to writing that book, instead of tackling all of the issues in esports at once. Other questions and ideas breeze past, adding depth (the issues raised by Mug n Mouse and PMS come immediately to mind) but it stays the course. It is also very well written. Kane has honed his craft so that very little prose gives the reader a clear image they can cling to-- an important skill when writing about so many people practicing such a visually-driven sport. Here's a great quote to give you an idea of what I mean: "Part stand-up comic and part emcee, The Troof is Faruq Tauheed, a bit actor who's had small parts on The Shield and The Bernie Mac Show. To stir the crowd at CGI, the Troof was a geyser of hip-hop jabberwocky. Never has a man spoken more and said less." There are better ones, but I opened chapter 17 first. This was such a lesson in bringing your audience with you emotionally on every turn.
July 11, 2010
Game Boys is a romanticized story of the rise of professional computer gaming around the mid-2000s. On the positive side, it is a story about young adults who are having a dream job as cyberathletes, that is, professional players of computer games (the term is chosen to resemble that of athlete.) Focused mostly on the competition between two top Counter-Strike (CS) teams, the story grows into depicting many traits of sportsmanship, such as greed, ambition, unity, honor, and competitiveness. The reader also learns about a world in which the lack of sponsors leads to cut-throat and dictatorial managerial practices, about minor and major CS tournaments, and about the creation of a corporate side of the professional game. On the negative side, the writing is dull and wordy. Overall, a very interesting topic and a good story, with poor writing.
July 28, 2008
An enjoyable story, but it was much more of an extended anecdote about some memorable characters than what I had expected -- some analysis of the "profession" of playing video games for money.
Great story, but it focuses almost exclusively on one group of guys playing one game, Counter-Strike. There are reasons to focus, but what about the status of other games? How much money is at stake by game, rank ordered? No idea. What about a chapter on people who make a living producing things on MM games like Everquest and Second Life? There is some serious research about the size of these economies, exchanges rates with real dollars and MM currencies, whole business models. Those things are tangential one-liner references at best.
Great story, but it focuses almost exclusively on one group of guys playing one game, Counter-Strike. There are reasons to focus, but what about the status of other games? How much money is at stake by game, rank ordered? No idea. What about a chapter on people who make a living producing things on MM games like Everquest and Second Life? There is some serious research about the size of these economies, exchanges rates with real dollars and MM currencies, whole business models. Those things are tangential one-liner references at best.
December 15, 2008
This was a reasonable book to read on my commute, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. It was really a book specifically about a few Counter-Strike teams and basically entirely about Counter-Strike.
I also got entirely tired of the sports metaphor (apt as it is) 1/3 of the way through the book. Essentially, after a certain point instead of being about video game history it was about a few teams of players playing a game they want to be recognized by the media - the fact that it was a video game was almost incidental. If I was more into sports and/or team games I may have enjoyed it more.
I also got entirely tired of the sports metaphor (apt as it is) 1/3 of the way through the book. Essentially, after a certain point instead of being about video game history it was about a few teams of players playing a game they want to be recognized by the media - the fact that it was a video game was almost incidental. If I was more into sports and/or team games I may have enjoyed it more.
October 13, 2008
I think like many people which have read this, I used to play Counter-Strike competitively and so many of the things they talk about, the tactics, rivalry, adrenaline rushes, I can relate to really well. However it's very annoying how the author is constantly reminding you "competitive gaming is the big time" when it's obvious that isn't the case and this book is really about how gaming could have been massive but the opportunity was completely missed.
Other from that it was very interesting and brought back some nostalgia for me :)
Other from that it was very interesting and brought back some nostalgia for me :)
December 17, 2009
Okay, here is the thing about this book. If you are the type of person who just couldn't love a computer more and spends 24/7 in front of one playing games or watching MLG (Major League Gaming) matches, this could be a good book for you. However, if you aren't really interested in computers and games, this will drag on longer than reading a dictionary. I would call the book insightful as well as something I can easily relate to, but it's not easy to hold a reader's attention when you're describing video game matches.
April 15, 2009
While this book is mainly about Counter Strike, a game I have never played, I found it fairly interesting. Getting games to go more mainstream, eg. televising matches is something that hasn't gotten very far, despite the masses gaming more and more. People would rather be playing than watching. Despite this, there are lots of people out there trying to earn a living from competitive gaming! Interesting read for gamers who think they might be able to go pro!
June 14, 2012
Interesting if a bit outdated. Not the strongest writing and a bit cliched at times. All in all its a light read with a good bit of naturally occurring drama that surrounded the in utero state of professional video game competitions. The book borders on tragic with only the knowledge that, while many of the characters are still around in some capacity, even four years later their dreams are still not fully realized.
August 28, 2008
I've never liked the "first-person shooter" genre of game much, but I picked up this book because the team aspect, as well as the business aspects, sounded interesting. Michael Kane does a great job of leading us through the struggles of professional gaming teams as they try to gain acceptance, sponsorship and titles. Pretty interesting.
December 1, 2014
This book really warmed me inside. Although its an old book it reminded me of my dreams of competitive Counter-Strike and it just showed me the roots of competitive gaming. Ive grown up with the culture and this book reminded me of my dads old gaming stories and strats(strategies) and it just over all made me feel nostalgic.
July 5, 2013
An okay read, but not as exciting as I had hoped. I was also hoping for a little more insight into things like the competitive Street Fighter scene, but this focused more on things like Quake, which I never really got into. Still, a fairly interesting read if you love video games.
August 6, 2008
A light documentary of two professional e-sports (= videogames) teams. The writing is good and breezy, although it seems rather too superficial at times.
June 18, 2009
An interesting look into the world of pro gaming. Started out good, finished weak, but still a quasi-interesting read.
July 9, 2010
A compelling read about competitive video gaming. Really crazy stuff, and a great look at how the competitive leagues came to be.
October 15, 2010
Entertaining fluff.
January 2, 2015
I enjoyed this and was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out whether 3D or CompLexity would win the tournament.
July 8, 2014
Nice inside look into the heart of professional gaming.
October 12, 2015
Gaming from the inside
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews