Books on Video Games?

[brianleb]

I've got a fancy shmancy research paper due for my American history class this semester, and I opted to choose my own topic (lest I be stuck with some court case or random election). I chose the history of video games. Long story short, I'm looking for any recommendations of books about video games in America.  I'm (begrudgingly) trying to stay away from Japan as much as possible (well of course citing the lovely country where necessary) because it'll probably just alienate my class and teacher. So I reiterate, anyone know any books (preferably good) about video games in America? Thanks.

[NFG]

Game Over is really good, covers mostly Nintendo but from a primarily US perspective.  Phoenix is also apparently excellent, but those are the only two that spring to mind.

[davidleeroth]

I'd go for these:

High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games
Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames
The First Quarter : A 25-year History of Video Games
The Ultimate History of Video Games

You can be pretty sure though that every book which has the word "videogames" on the title is about the history.

[Chuplayer]

Last spring I did my 11th grade American Literature (English 302) term paper on Atari. I needed some print sources. They could be any sort of print source like magazines. They didn't need to be books. I didn't have any books, so I used magazines instead. If you have magazines lying around, use them. For everything else, use other documentation like the internet or even the Atari Anniversary Edition videos with Nolan Bushnell.

I got a real good grade on it. I think it was a 95. I had a lot of fun doing it, too.

If you want to keep on the American side of things, stick to Atari.

EDIT: Crap. I'm a month late. Oh well    

[brianleb]

lol, thanks. actually, he pushed the due date back so I haven't turned it in yet. I've got a huge stack of nintendo power (starting before they were numbered and going to the beginning of the N64 era). unfortunately I threw away huge stacks of Game Pro and EGM years ago. I thought of magazines too, but as it turns out, they aren't the right kind of source. Foolishly enough, the project is more about your ability to obtain worthless information from certain places than it is to gather quality information.

[Chuplayer]

Foolishly enough, the project is more about your ability to obtain worthless information from certain places than it is to gather quality information.

Isn't that what it always is?    

[Vertigo]

Don't forget Zap! The story of Atari.
I also have a book called something like Inside the Sony Design Centre, which isn't much to do with games except the few pages on the contant refinements of the design of the PlayStation, but it's still really interesting nonetheless.
When will someone hurry up and do a Sega book in the vein of Game Over? I've been waiting ages.

[Richter X]

Blue Wizard is About to Die!

Try that. It's somewhat videogame related.