--- product_id: 1613409 title: "The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World" price: "268.36 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1613409-the-ultimate-history-of-video-games-from-pong-to-pokemon store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # 50+ years gaming history Meticulous research & interviews Iconic arcade & console coverage The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World **Price:** 268.36 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🎯 Level Up Your Knowledge with the Ultimate Gaming Origin Story! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World - **How much does it cost?** 268.36 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1613409-the-ultimate-history-of-video-games-from-pong-to-pokemon) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **A Collector’s Must-Have Edition:** Reskinned volume 1 pairs perfectly with the latest release, making your bookshelf a shrine to gaming history. - • **Insider Access to Industry Legends:** Exclusive firsthand interviews with game creators and pioneers bring the untold stories behind your favorite classics. - • **Critically Acclaimed & Highly Rated:** 4.6-star average from 884 reviews proves this is the definitive read for serious gamers and media professionals alike. - • **Arcade to Console: The Complete Journey:** Explore how arcade hits like Pac-Man and Space Invaders sparked a multibillion-dollar industry and global gaming culture. - • **Dive into 50+ Years of Gaming Evolution:** From Pong’s pixelated beginnings to the dawn of Pokemon, trace the cultural revolution that shaped modern entertainment. ## Overview The Ultimate History of Video Games: Volume 1 is a meticulously researched chronicle of the video game industry's rise from arcade novelties to a global cultural and economic powerhouse. Featuring exclusive interviews and detailed accounts of iconic games and companies, this edition offers a comprehensive look at gaming’s formative decades, making it essential for enthusiasts and professionals eager to understand the medium’s impact. ## Description The definitive behind-the-scenes history of the dawn of video games and their rise into a multibillion-dollar business “For industry insiders and game players alike, this book is a must-have.”—Mark Turmell, designer for Midway Games and creator of NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, and WrestleMania With all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade, volume 1 of The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. Starting in arcades then moving to televisions and handheld devices, the video game invasion has entranced kids and the young at heart for nearly fifty years. And gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning. The Ultimate History: Volume 1 tells the incredible tale of how this backroom novelty transformed into a cultural phenomenon. Through meticulous research and personal interviews with hundreds of industry luminaries, Kent chronicles firsthand accounts of how yesterday’s games like Space Invaders, Centipede, and Pac-Man helped create an arcade culture that defined a generation, and how today’s empires like Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have galvanized a multibillion-dollar industry and a new generation of games. Inside, you’ll discover • the video game that saved Nintendo from bankruptcy • the serendipitous story of Pac-Man ’s design • the misstep that helped topple Atari’s $2-billion-a-year empire • the coin shortage caused by Space Invaders • the fascinating reasons behind the rise, fall, and rebirth of Sega • and much more! Entertaining, addictive, and as mesmerizing as the games it chronicles, this book is a must-have for anyone who’s ever touched a joystick. Review: Ultimate History of an Industry - When I was younger, I loved playing video games especially during the 1990s and early 2000s. I can even remember how, mainly during the sixth generation of consoles, my own addiction to the history and people of the video game industry. I could not get enough of it, even if I knew that I would never get to play many of the most popular games. With a book like The Ultimate History of Video Games, from the earliest days of arcades and the first consoles to the launch of Xbox, a great story is told. As the title of the book implies, the entire history of the video game industry is looked at. The first half of the book is pretty heavy on Atari. Nolan Bushnell plays a big part in Atari's early success. Many details are included such as Atari's internal affairs and how the budding industry got onto its feet. This led to the so-called golden age of video and arcade games in the early 1980s. After the North American video game crash in 1983, it would take a company from Japan, Nintendo, to rescue home video gaming. The rise of Nintendo is detailed in the book along with its fierce competition with, and eventual dominance of, Sega. The book ends with the release of three major consoles in the early 2000s: Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. Throughout the book, many individuals who played key parts in video game history are looked at and even interviewed. Many gamers have probably heard of men like Ralph Baer, Nolan Bushnell, and Shigeru Miyamoto, but many others played part not only in designing games but also the executives who ran companies. Not only are the major points in video game history looked at but also the minor side events that marked the way. Controversy is no stranger to video games and the book looks at the two times the U.S. Senate held hearings on the matter. Companies would sue each other, or at least threaten, for a variety of reasons. I thought this book was an excellent history of video games for the period of time it covered. Although the previous twelve years are not covered due to when this book was published, the historical information available is invaluable. My only disappointment with the book was that I felt too much coverage was given to Atari and not enough to other companies at the time, such as Coleco. However, the sheer amount of information available more than made up for it. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of video games. Review: " but I'd love to see it - I just finished this book. I was engrossed. I'm not sure if Kent is ever planning on a "Volume 2," but I'd love to see it. Kent's book reads like more than a chronology of events. His book is full of great stories. While it's a top-down history, it's also personal and intimate (except in the later chapters). It's full of humor, trivia and nostalgia. Don't let the publication date discourage you. While the book ended back in the early 2000s, it hasn't aged at all. It could have been written today. My only complaint is that the final chapters seemed a little rushed. The last chapters covering the mid-90s on seemed a little too rushed. Lots of factoids about release dates and sales figures, but fewer of the compelling and entertaining tales and characters that the first part of the book offered. But this is a very minor gripe, though. Buy this book. ## Features - Used Book in Good Condition ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #121,636 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #100 in Communication & Media Studies #109 in Video & Computer Games #114 in Computer & Video Game Strategy Guides | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 883 Reviews | ## Images ![The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71gt2yWptyL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ultimate History of an Industry *by F***K on September 26, 2013* When I was younger, I loved playing video games especially during the 1990s and early 2000s. I can even remember how, mainly during the sixth generation of consoles, my own addiction to the history and people of the video game industry. I could not get enough of it, even if I knew that I would never get to play many of the most popular games. With a book like The Ultimate History of Video Games, from the earliest days of arcades and the first consoles to the launch of Xbox, a great story is told. As the title of the book implies, the entire history of the video game industry is looked at. The first half of the book is pretty heavy on Atari. Nolan Bushnell plays a big part in Atari's early success. Many details are included such as Atari's internal affairs and how the budding industry got onto its feet. This led to the so-called golden age of video and arcade games in the early 1980s. After the North American video game crash in 1983, it would take a company from Japan, Nintendo, to rescue home video gaming. The rise of Nintendo is detailed in the book along with its fierce competition with, and eventual dominance of, Sega. The book ends with the release of three major consoles in the early 2000s: Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. Throughout the book, many individuals who played key parts in video game history are looked at and even interviewed. Many gamers have probably heard of men like Ralph Baer, Nolan Bushnell, and Shigeru Miyamoto, but many others played part not only in designing games but also the executives who ran companies. Not only are the major points in video game history looked at but also the minor side events that marked the way. Controversy is no stranger to video games and the book looks at the two times the U.S. Senate held hearings on the matter. Companies would sue each other, or at least threaten, for a variety of reasons. I thought this book was an excellent history of video games for the period of time it covered. Although the previous twelve years are not covered due to when this book was published, the historical information available is invaluable. My only disappointment with the book was that I felt too much coverage was given to Atari and not enough to other companies at the time, such as Coleco. However, the sheer amount of information available more than made up for it. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of video games. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ " but I'd love to see it *by A***F on July 2, 2014* I just finished this book. I was engrossed. I'm not sure if Kent is ever planning on a "Volume 2," but I'd love to see it. Kent's book reads like more than a chronology of events. His book is full of great stories. While it's a top-down history, it's also personal and intimate (except in the later chapters). It's full of humor, trivia and nostalgia. Don't let the publication date discourage you. While the book ended back in the early 2000s, it hasn't aged at all. It could have been written today. My only complaint is that the final chapters seemed a little rushed. The last chapters covering the mid-90s on seemed a little too rushed. Lots of factoids about release dates and sales figures, but fewer of the compelling and entertaining tales and characters that the first part of the book offered. But this is a very minor gripe, though. Buy this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Awesome chronicle of gaming history (at least up until around 1995). *by J***T on March 4, 2009* While I was never an arcade rat (born in 1981), I can remember playing on an Atari 2800, and the love for console gaming has never ceased. It had been a goal of mine to finally pick up video games history book, and this is the one I chose. Before writing this review, I read through a few others to see if anyone shared my views, and they have. Like other readers suggested, the majority of this book is fantastic and detailed. It's all you want to know about the rise and fall of Atari, and their interwoven relationships with other gaming companies (i.e. Namco, etc) and prominent figures of today (i.e. Steve Jobs, etc). Also detailed is Japan's introduction into the American arcade market, most specifically Nintendo. No detail is left out. I loved reading about the work atmosphere of early Atari, how they made more money than they knew what to do with in such a short amount of time, and the crucial decisions they made early on to advance the arcade and home video game market. It's really hard to get a feel on whether Nolan Bushnell was a genius or simply lucky. Also great were the risks that Nintendo made to break into the American market, along with their determined positioning behind the team of Arakawa and Lincoln. However, when you get up to around the mid-1990's, the book falters tremendously based on what came before it. The last decade of video game history up to this book's publishing isn't well represented with the behind-the-scenes info that you've become used to from early in the book. Like someone else said in their review, it felt rushed, but it also felt as if the author wasn't anywhere near as well versed about recent happenings in the industry. You'll realize quickly that when you get to the launch of the original Playstation and Saturn, you've only got 2 or 3 chapters to go. While I wouldn't call this the "ultimate" history because of the lack of detail in more recent times, it definitely is the ultimate history of video games from their inception up to the 16-bit era. That's why I still give it 4 stars, because it's really good reading for those interested. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World - The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the Billion-Dollar Battle to Shape Modern Gaming - The Game Console 2.0: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1613409-the-ultimate-history-of-video-games-from-pong-to-pokemon](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1613409-the-ultimate-history-of-video-games-from-pong-to-pokemon) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-10-12*