Rating: 
Summary: From Pinball to XBox
Review: "Ultimate" is an apt word for the title of this book. Kent covers everything from the beginnings of pinball to the modern day consumer wars between XBox, Playstaion 2, and Nintendo's Game Cube. Whether your an avid gamer, someone interested in the business, or just want to take a stroll down the video game memory lane this book will more than please. Having dropped my fair share of quarters in the arcades and owning numerous video game systems this book had my curiosity peaked. Sure it's mammoth, but once you start it, stopping will be hard. Using non-technical writing with a lot of paraphrases from different industry leaders thrown in, the reading just glides along. The chronology of the piece at times gets ahead of itself but quickly falls back into place without losing its pace. Also, keeping up with the industry personnel can get a bit confusing as CEO's, programmers, and salespeople move from company to company. Kent however does a fine job in explaining who everyone is and what they've done. Besides a better understanding of the business, the biggest thing I got out of this book was a good old case of video game nostalgia. Hearing some of the names of the older, and sometimes forgotten systems (Commodore 64, Jaguar, Colecovision) and their arcade counterparts (Missle Command, Lunar Lander, Sea Wolf) brought back endearing memories of dumping quarters in the "latest" games down at the arcade and sitting up all night trying to figure out the newest game on the Atari 2600. Sure the games today are faster and definately better looking than the ones of yesterday but I'd be lying if, after reading this book, I didn't catch myself on ebay seeing if any of these older games were available.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! A must read for anyone interested in video games
Review: All I have to say after reading this book is, WOW! Steven Kent has done a remarkable job compiling and telling the facts about the strange and delightfully twisted history of the video game industry. Throughout the book, he effectively transports you through time and brings you into the board rooms, behind closed doors, and into the private conversations of top industry executives and designers all over the world. By diving into just about every aspect of the video game industry, he chronicles its growing pains with an eye for detail that will simply amaze you. If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in the back rooms of Atari, Nintendo, and Sega (to name just a few companies he dissects) then this is the book for you. I can only say that I hope Steven is deep into writing his next installment.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate game history book!
Review: Amusing, thorough, and informative. Worth the price for the interview snippets alone! I consider this to be the best book on the history of interactive electronic entertainment; it doesn't view games as some newfangled phenomenon, and it's stuffed to the brim with juicy corporate dirt and historical tidbits you haven't read anywhere else. It examines why some projects fail and looks beyond the USA. A great addition to anyone's collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of good stories, little to pull it together
Review: An exhaustive account of the business of games, with plenty of inside information. Not much theory or analysis about why any of it happened, but that's not important for the probable audience of this book. If you want to know about how the various genres developed, this is not the book. If you want to review the history of companies and remember some good old games, this one is great.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at the entire video game industry
Review: Anybody over the age of 18 will remember the classic arcade games that raked in billions of dollars in quarters (or later, their video console and home computer translations) - Donkey Kong, Defender, Asteroids, Battlezone, Space Invaders - the list is almost endless. And the companies that produced them were as well known as major league sports teams: Atari, Midway, Williams, Electronic Arts, Commodore, etc. This book chronicles the fascinating story of the birth and evolution of the video game industry, from the pre-video arcade games to the modern high res computer games. It's large, about 600 pages,but it reads more like a fast paced novel than an encyclopedia, and contains just enough information to keep the narration interesting without getting bogged down in minor details. As the title indicates, this book covers it all, and it does so with an insider's perspective, Kent having reconstructed the full story from hundreds of interviews with the major players. It's also full of interesting insights and anecdotes about the games, their creators, and the founders and movers of the industry. Ever wonder where the strange title Donkey Kong came from? Did you know there was a military training version of Battlezone? Which video game resurrected a dying arcade industry? The business, as well as the technical, side of the video game history is covered, with stories about the wheeling and dealing that took place to launch and maintain the companies, and the reasons behind the successes and failures. I thought I'd read a little bit of this book at a time, but ended up plowing through it, it was that engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: Lives up to its name--a must-read
Review: Combine Leonard Herman's accurate but dry Phoenix with the intimacy of David Sheff's Game Over and you've got The Ultimate History of Video Games, the best account of video game history to date. Numerous anecdotes from the people who made the games that made history--from Atari's Al Alcorn and Nolan Bushnell through to Square's Hironobu Sakaguchi and Sony's Kaz Hirai--give the book an personal, friendly tone. Gamers should note that this is a reprinted but noticably improved version of Kent's self-published The First Quarter, with a full index, more photographic examples, a more attractive layout, and the removal of all the confusing typos and minor errors (sadly, the original book's clever title was removed as well, but the amended facts are worth it). Ultimate History's conversational tone, broad scope, and authoritative direct quotes make it very compelling as a narrative but just as useful as a reference. Along with David Sheff's Game Over, it's an entertaining must-read for students of gaming history.
Rating:
Summary: The Alpha and Omega of Video Game History
Review: Don't bother looking around. Kent has everything you want to know. I read this book cover to cover and every time I put it down, I couldn't stop thinking about it. After you read about Nolan Bushnell creating Atari, you want to be Nolan Bushnell and I think this isn't because Bushnell is so great, but rather Kent makes you WISH you were him because what Kent writes about it so consuming. Buy this book. Don't shop around. Buy it now.
Rating:
Summary: History of Video Games
Review: Excellent book about how video games started. I highly recommend this book (and anything else Steve Kent has written for that matter) to anyone remotely interested in how video games developed to their position today. Thanks STEVE!!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating read for all who have loved video games
Review: Having been born in 1984, I was open to the video game revolution when Nintendo became a big influence. My life revolved around near worship of Nintendo of America. From buying the systems, games, and gear, I totally immersed myself in the culture of video games. However, I was not aware of the heritage that had preceded my birth and the work and love that had gone into the video game industry. This book has opened my eyes to that and has given me a much greater appreciation for the work done by the great geniuses in the video game industry. Kent begins with the major pinball companies to give you a grounding in the leading companies that would eventually move into the coin-op and then consumer video game businesses. The book chronicals the making of games from a ragtag group of MIT students to Nolan Bushnell's grand experience of Atari and then all the way up to Microsoft proposing X-Box. The major focus of this book is the early years of gaming. Much of the material chronicals the work of the early Coin-op and console manufacturers. This is a very refreshing view of the industry, showing the original roots of the market. I definitely suggest this book. Kent's light-hearted style is augmented by the thoroughness of his work. This book is brimming with direct quotes from the major players in the gaming industry. If you have had an interest in the work done to make the video game industry as popular as it is, this book is a definite suggestion. Read away!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating read for all who have loved video games
Review: Having been born in 1984, I was open to the video game revolution when Nintendo became a big influence. My life revolved around near worship of Nintendo of America. From buying the systems, games, and gear, I totally immersed myself in the culture of video games. However, I was not aware of the heritage that had preceded my birth and the work and love that had gone into the video game industry. This book has opened my eyes to that and has given me a much greater appreciation for the work done by the great geniuses in the video game industry. Kent begins with the major pinball companies to give you a grounding in the leading companies that would eventually move into the coin-op and then consumer video game businesses. The book chronicals the making of games from a ragtag group of MIT students to Nolan Bushnell's grand experience of Atari and then all the way up to Microsoft proposing X-Box. The major focus of this book is the early years of gaming. Much of the material chronicals the work of the early Coin-op and console manufacturers. This is a very refreshing view of the industry, showing the original roots of the market. I definitely suggest this book. Kent's light-hearted style is augmented by the thoroughness of his work. This book is brimming with direct quotes from the major players in the gaming industry. If you have had an interest in the work done to make the video game industry as popular as it is, this book is a definite suggestion. Read away!
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