Rating: 
Summary: A "Behind the music" for the Video game industry
Review: This book takes a interesting perspective on the video game industry. If the book Phoenix by Leonard Herman is like an chronological history than this one is like Behind the Music.Steven Kent goes more on a personal level with programmers and CEO'S both current and former ones. Going this way puts more of an emotional spin as to the maturity of the industry. To put a perspective he goes more into the "Why" of they ways things happened. Some have commented of some grammar errors and there is a few but they forgot that this is the FIRST VERSION so naturally some can be expected. What I would like to see for the next version (if he's reading is the following) an index, more pictures (maybe some game shots, building shots etc color maybe as well), maybe a bit on the decline of arcades (it was touched upon by Williams buying Atari Games), maybe a listing of a graph of some sorts (flowchart like) of what company came from where (Activision from Atari, Electronic arts from Apple, 3do from Electronic arts etc) and what companies release what system(s). I look forward to the next version and Mr. Kents new book coming out in a month or so. This one is highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: An engaging look at a fascinating story.
Review: this is a very impressive book but i think it spends too many pages on the some things and not enough on others. It spent most of the book with the really old games, and didn't spend enough time on specific games or articles. I was hoping to see more information of subjects like mortal kombats struggle with parents against violence or the reaction of metroid when it first came out. Maybe sometime, but for now, this book is the best you can get.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent concise history
Review: Too often history is loaded with nonsence and quesionable material, but this book very definitley brought out some amazing highlights that the average everyday person would be hard-pressed to find. The First Quarter is an amazing collage of interviews put together into one book. At first glance I was a little shocked to see a book of this magnitude to be nearly all interviews. But, upon reading it I discovered that it was quite insightful and I managed to complete it in a matter of days. Some of the most interesting pieces of information are covered in The First Quarter, including references to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I highly recommend anyone interested in this subject to grab a copy before they run out and read until your eyes hurt. A highly insightful book that will keep you thinking for a long time about the events and people involved in getting the video gaming market started and how those people contributed to keeping it alive and breathing. I want to thank Steven Kent for publishing such a masterpiece and wealth of information.
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