The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution

We got this for my 11-year-old son for Christmas and he's been enjoying reading it. The majority of the book is not about modern video games but the lead up to what we have now. This is not necessarily a problem but depending on what you're looking for, it may not fit the bill for you. Seems suitable for children or adults if you're looking for a graphic/comic book.

I am very surprised I hadn't heard of this book before, and I couldn't have given a better gift. In fact, I may buy another for myself! The recipient devoured it in days, but this is the sort you can revisit for years and lend to everyone you know. Full of tons of information from the very start of gaming until now, the text is entertaining and informative. The art style works well with the incorporation of a variety of video game characters, actual figures, and scenery. The book itself is high quality printing and color, and I plan to keep an eye out for what may come next.

My husband doesn't read books but he read this one! He actually had a hard time putting it down. Graphic novels are a totally viable way to learn information and enjoy reading and my hubs kept thinking it was "cheating" to read and enjoy this as he hasn't ever enjoyed reading until now (in his 50's). Don't hesitate, this was a great book!

Great artwork, comprehensive history, and engaged me the entire way--highly recommend! The history focuses more on the earlier years of gaming, and breezes much quicker after the year 2000.

I have read many books on the history of video games, and THE COMIC BOOK STORY OF VIDEO GAMES does an excellent job of bringing a lot of that history to life with well-sourced graphical depictions of many key moments and a nice synthesis of the bigger evolutionary steps in game development (though the focus is primarily on hardware, not software). You can tell the author and illustrator really love games, because every page is brimming with visual gags and references to games (and related advertisements) both familiar and obscure. It's a real pleasure for a seasoned adult gamer like myself to read, and if you fall in that camp, you'll love this book. For kids and teenagers, however, don't be deceived by the graphic novel format - this book is not going to hold their attention, especially if they're hoping to read about the history of their favorite games. Familiar games are only really featured in the final chapters, and one choice that is a little different about this book compared to other histories is a lengthy focus on the history of computers, which is certainly integral to the history of gaming, but which consumes about half of this book's pages. I suspect most younger gamers aren't going to be interested in the history of radar displays, cathode ray tubes or semiconductors (my own kids sure weren't!), and the lengthy discussion involved in defining what makes a video game and which of the early electronic amusements we should even call games probably could have been handled in a single chapter. The historical narrative also has a lot of notable omissions which are name-checked but not in any way detailed. Most of the games focused on were tied very heavily to specific platforms or industry turning points, and most are also pretty well-trod territory by this point. There's hardly any discussion about influential titles or series that aren't already obvious choices nor about the high-profile failures of many of the high-profile game developers featured for their contributions. There's little to no discussion about platforms beyond the biggest winner from each generation, and there's more detail on the Magnavox Odyssey, home version of Pong! and its various clones than there is about any modern console generation from the 1990s forward. (And as for the PC gaming scene, there's very little beyond quick histories of a few titles like SimCity, Doom and Zork.) The result is a book that definitely feels like reading history (including stretches where it's pretty dry), but which is too focused on retelling the story of a bygone era and isn't terribly relevant to a modern audience. It's great for someone who grew up during the Atari, Nintendo and Sega eras or who played games on a 1980s PC and who wants a nice visual retrospective to enjoy with more thorough histories. I'd love to see a follow-up from the same team that's a little more focused on the software than the hardware.

I bought this book for one of my kids who loves retro video games and video game documentaries. I just hoped this comic wouldn't suck. I've only flipped through it so far, but it looks absolutely fantastic. The art, the layout, everything is top notch. Not to mention, this is a pretty hefty tome. Someone clearly put a lot of love into this project and should be really proud of the end product. I'm certain my son will treasure it.

A wonderful and entertaining look through the evolution and history of computers and video games. There is really a lot of focus (good!) on the actual men who made the machines and the first video games... it's not just a silly encyclopedia of video games.

Thank you to Jonathan Hennessey, Jack Mcgowan, Ten Speed Press, and NetGalley for allowing me the extreme pleasure of access to an advanced reader copy of “The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution” for an honest review. This was a dense, but well laid out documentary in comics about the history of video games. I would recommend it to those who love both of those things, and would be excited to see them cross, and reflect upon each other from their different media formats, but it did not end up being the sort of thing I liked very much. I found myself losing steam several times, which lead to several accounts of putting it down and picking it up, putting it down and picking it up. I like the idea, but somehow it just didn’t grab me very well. I’m uncertain just who it is written for, and how I’d known what kinds of students in my classroom, or people in my life, to recommend it for.

Très bon bande dessinée retraçant l histoire du jeu vidéo. Je recommande

Lately there has been a significant rise in video gaming consumption in the Indian market. As more and more gamers enter this wonderful, entertaining world, I encourage those interested to learn about the history of the video gaming industry. As such, this book is probably one of the best I've read, especially since it is presented in a very unique comic book format. It never fails to entertain while educating.

L'idea è buona ma la realizzazione di questo fumetto è uno scandalo. I disegni sono talmente brutti che mi è risultato difficile leggere il fumetto. I disegni (tutti realizzati sul tablet grafico) sembrano solo degli schizzi (di scarsa qualità) successivamente colorati. Io stesso sono un grafico, illustratore e insegnante di pittura e disegno e mi è un mistero come uno possa dare 5 stelle ad un'opera come questa. Tutto sembra buttato li di fretta, non c'é neanche un ilustrazione curata. Anche la narrazione non è sempre ripercorribile. Cosa c'entra il suicidio di Hitler con la storia dei videogiochi?? Questo fumetto di sicuro non entrerà nella mia collezione di libri sulla storia dei videogiochi. È piu che evidente che il tutto è stato messo insieme di gran fretta e buttato sul mercato forse solo per poter dire : "Primo!!" La casa editrice è la TEN SPEED PRESS.... "TEN SPEED" il nome sembra essere stato programma...

Hace no tanto costaba encontrar libros de temática retrogaming. Ahora la oferta es tan amplia que lo costoso es encontrar los libros que valen la pena entre bastante título del montón. Este libro probablemente pase desapercibido para mucha gente por no haber sido traducido y es una pena. Una historia de los videojuegos en formato de novela gráfica. Se remonta a la invención del tubo de rayos catódicos y los primeros juegos electrónicos, anteriores al famoso Space War, y de los que al menos yo no sabía nada. La última parte dedicada a la guerra entre Sega y Nintendo es probablemente lo más trillado y la pega habitual de casi ignorar lo que no sea USA o Japón. En todo caso, la agilidad de la narración y la calidad de la información lo compensan, se nota que hay un gran trabajo de documentación. La época más reciente de Xbox y Playstation sale solo de pasada, ¿pero quién quiere que le cuenten lo que conoce de primera mano cuando hay toda una época por descubrir?

I’ve bought this as a last minute present and I’m so pleased with the quality. For a reasonably priced book it looks and feels expensive. I’m sure my friend who loves console games and is a complete computer nerd is going to love it.