6 ms·

I very strongly disliked Console Wars, the book this is an excerpt from. The chosen style of the book is overly detailed recreations of events with cheesy dial

by jsnell 12y ago

I very strongly disliked Console Wars, the book this is an excerpt from. The chosen style of the book is overly detailed recreations of events with cheesy dialogue. It's a very grating style, and one that makes everything feel incredibly fake. Also, I'm sure that there are a huge number of awesome stories that could be told of that industry and era. The author of the book found very few of them. Instead the rather thick book is filled with retellings of cheap marketing stunts, ad design, junkets, uninteresting human interest stories of people who aren't important enough to the story to really merit fleshing out, etc. And of course all told with way too many words. There's actual material for maybe 150 pages, not 550 pages.

ageitgey 12y ago
I had many of the same feelings about this book. It's way too long and it has some major style issues. There are whole chapters covering single sales meetings in excruciating detail. The writing in the book often reads like cheesy narrator copy from a bad episode of "Behind the Music". That said, there's still some really fun tidbits in the book. If you are interested in the video game industry from 1985-1995, there's enough in there to make it an interesting read. Just feel free to skip any chapters that seem boring because there are several that you could skip without losing anything.
Tyr42 12y ago
Having just finished reading it a few days ago, I have to disagree with you. I really enjoyed it, and as a programmer and gamer, found it really interesting to read about what goes on outside of just writing a great game and shipping it. I didn't find the dialogue cheesy and I was quite immersed in the story. I felt sad once the book was over, and started playing through Sonic the hedgehog. I do wish it had more about what was going on at Nintendo. It was much more about Sega, or really just Tom Kalinske.
- swivelmaster 12y ago
  If you want to know more about what was going on at Nintendo at the time (and earlier), check out Game Over: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Over_(book) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Over_(book) It was originally written in 1993, but received revisions up until 1999. I read the original version so I have no idea how the revised content stacks up.
- mavis 12y ago
  I recall the author stating in an interview that Nintendo for the most part would not talk to him, nor would Sega of Japan.
chasing 12y ago
I see where you're coming from. I enjoyed actually reading the book -- it's a page-turner, at least -- but after I finished reading it I had a feeling of: "Great! Now I'm curious as to what really happened." Similar to how I feel after watching a film that purports to be "based on a true story." And, yeah, it's really more about Sega's marketing efforts than anything. It's a story of the business side of things, with less detail about technology, game design itself, etc. And that's a shame, because there's a more interesting cultural tale there, I suspect. Also, I believe this book was actually written at the behest of Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg. They also write the (god-awful) introduction. And they're apparently making a film based on the story. So treating it as one would treat a "based on a true story" film is probably fair.
- spbaar 12y ago
  I backed that book you want. It's coming out next month. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-dr...
jlawer 12y ago
I listened to it on Audible... and found it enjoyable, but I think that would be down to the narrator.
frozenport 12y ago
Engineering stories are too hard for the general public to understand.
brymaster 12y ago
I'm halfway through the book right now and I share your same thoughts on this. Most of the dramatizations on the marketing side of things are just cringeworthy. If you haven't already, you'd probably rather read http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20523933-service-games http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20523933-service-games and definitely http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68571.The_Ultimate_History_of_Video_Games http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68571.The_Ultimate_Histor... if you want to know the history of the entire industry from the very beginning.

by jsnell 12y ago

ageitgey 12y ago

I had many of the same feelings about this book. It's way too long and it has some major style issues. There are whole chapters covering single sales meetings in excruciating detail. The writing in the book often reads like cheesy narrator copy from a bad episode of "Behind the Music". That said, there's still some really fun tidbits in the book. If you are interested in the video game industry from 1985-1995, there's enough in there to make it an interesting read. Just feel free to skip any chapters that seem boring because there are several that you could skip without losing anything.

Tyr42 12y ago

Having just finished reading it a few days ago, I have to disagree with you. I really enjoyed it, and as a programmer and gamer, found it really interesting to read about what goes on outside of just writing a great game and shipping it. I didn't find the dialogue cheesy and I was quite immersed in the story. I felt sad once the book was over, and started playing through Sonic the hedgehog. I do wish it had more about what was going on at Nintendo. It was much more about Sega, or really just Tom Kalinske.

swivelmaster 12y ago
If you want to know more about what was going on at Nintendo at the time (and earlier), check out Game Over: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Over_(book) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Over_(book) It was originally written in 1993, but received revisions up until 1999. I read the original version so I have no idea how the revised content stacks up.
mavis 12y ago
I recall the author stating in an interview that Nintendo for the most part would not talk to him, nor would Sega of Japan.

chasing 12y ago

I see where you're coming from. I enjoyed actually reading the book -- it's a page-turner, at least -- but after I finished reading it I had a feeling of: "Great! Now I'm curious as to what really happened." Similar to how I feel after watching a film that purports to be "based on a true story." And, yeah, it's really more about Sega's marketing efforts than anything. It's a story of the business side of things, with less detail about technology, game design itself, etc. And that's a shame, because there's a more interesting cultural tale there, I suspect. Also, I believe this book was actually written at the behest of Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg. They also write the (god-awful) introduction. And they're apparently making a film based on the story. So treating it as one would treat a "based on a true story" film is probably fair.

spbaar 12y ago
I backed that book you want. It's coming out next month. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-dr...

jlawer 12y ago

I listened to it on Audible... and found it enjoyable, but I think that would be down to the narrator.

frozenport 12y ago

Engineering stories are too hard for the general public to understand.

brymaster 12y ago

I'm halfway through the book right now and I share your same thoughts on this. Most of the dramatizations on the marketing side of things are just cringeworthy. If you haven't already, you'd probably rather read http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20523933-service-games http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20523933-service-games and definitely http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68571.The_Ultimate_History_of_Video_Games http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68571.The_Ultimate_Histor... if you want to know the history of the entire industry from the very beginning.