There is a growing library of videogame readers emerging, from industry-centred games design manuals to hints and tips for getting emotion into games, to examining the medium as a cultural phenomenon. Perhaps this is indicative of a mass market demand, or maybe publishing houses have run out of ideas.
I got a book in the post the other day from Public Beta, an organisation which aims to dispel myths about the games industry and to clarify what we all mean when we're talking about interactive entertainment. It is called, provocatively, Difficult Questions About Videogames and has a whole host of folks' opinions about what games are, from people like me to visionaries like Ian Livingstone, Warren Spector and Jez San. It's a strange collection of verbatim quotes, some eloquent, some vague, about what it is to "game", and offers a variety of insights into the rationale behind some of the decisions made in the industry.
My bookcase is starting to fill up with games publications, but there are a few titles I'd like to read if they were written, like autobiographies of Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and many other Nintendo staples), Willy Higinbotham (developer of the very first computer game, "Tennis for Two") and Nolan Bushnell (Atari creator). I'd also like to see something that critically examines the cultural relativity of games. In the meantime, here's a top five from my library:
Trigger Happy by Steven Poole Gender-Inclusive Game Design by Sheri Graner Ray What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee Rough Guide to Videogaming by Kate Berens and Geoff Howard Arcade Fever: A Fan's Guide to the Golden Age of Video Games by John Sellers
What games books would you be interested in reading? Read any good ones lately?
