Geek Read: All Your Base Are Belong To Us: How Fifty Years of Video Games Conquered Pop Culture

Title: All Your Base Are Belong To Us: How Fifty Years Of Video Games Conquered Pop Culture
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Author: Harold Goldberg
Published: 05/04/2011
Page Count: 352 pages

Final Verdict 9/10~

So I was hoping this book to be a winner, something I could enjoy so that I may save all the excessive swearing for at least my second post. My expectations for a book that names itself after one of gaming's most popular inside-jokes were pretty high, and yet I was facing a flimsy paperback novel unadorned with the beautiful, colorful screenshots and pictures I've grown accustomed to in the many gaming books that have already found their home on my shelf. Though I'm definitely not one who relies on pretty pictures to define the integrity of a book, I'm not going to deny that it usually helps when you're talking about a visual media to have visual aids throughout.

I have to start by saying the title is a smidge misleading. It does promise to inform you on the way video games have conquered pop culture, but not how that information was going to be delivered.

Harold Goldberg spent 3 years of his life dedicated to interviewing media giants such as the ever beloved, ever smiling Mr. Miyamoto, to put together this golden nugget of gaming history. Although, this book isn't really gaming's history, it isn't even that much about the games. It focuses more on the founders, creators and important people whom helped video games become a mainstream media and/or helped gaming take important steps forward in their evolution. This is an interesting point of view though, as most books concentrate either on a historical outline by concentrating on the games-of-the-day rather then the who behind it all which helped this book stand out from the growing pile of other gaming history books.

I know other reviewers critique this book on the inexactitude of the details. Gaming had such a rough start, that this isn't something that really bothers me in any respect because the odds of getting the honest facts are to me very slim. If the timeline isn't accurate enough, it's your prerogative to bitch and moan about it and spew out what you believe is right, but you sure as hell can't really argue with the author about it as it's not really the point he's making.

It was really interesting to find out the professional roots of gaming's pioneers and to discover their hopes and ambitions and what their personal goals were with video games. The personalities you get to "meet" throughout the book are so eccentric and their stories so intriguing that you can't help but feel for them, from the disappointment of repeated failures to the ecstasy of hitting it big. I was grateful to learn more about the faces behind my favorite creations all condensed into one handy book

Another interesting factor is that the writing is user-friendly enough to compel a non-gamer to read, and yet peppered with enough details and obscure tidbits for the more experienced gamer to indulge in, though the more hardcore gamers usually stick their chins in the air and claim they already know it all. I will add though, I have to admit my ever-slight annoyance at the seemingly never ending corny gaming metaphors. It feels as though authors can't help but splurge in bad gaming humor which is just face-palm worthy. This annoyance is like gum on my shoe though. It's annoying but I don't care enough to stop walking.

Another admirable point I enjoy is the objective standpoint Harold takes. Though this was obviously a labor of love from an experienced game critic, he doesn't try to cram any opinions down your throat. This is especially appreciated in chapters like the one concerning video game controversy in games such as Grand Theft Auto. The facts are played out and clearly defined, yet it permits you to take your own position on the matter, quickly switching to concentrate on the psychological toll the incident has taken on the game creators rather then ramble on about what is right or wrong and why, which clearly no one will agree on (ever) anyways. This is a breath of fresh air as most gamers are passionate people who feel the need to preach their love of games to you like door-to-door religious recruiters having a 'roid rage with a lot more bad language.

Truly, this book is wonderfully written and contains fascinating facts about more then the history of games, as it also explores the many turns games have taken, to movie and book deals, to technological advances games inspired and much more. There's a richness in this book that few others have, and I believe part of that is due to having an experienced writer behind the whole thing. A gaming book written by a passionate gamer that is also a professional writer that has experienced some important events of gaming's life firsthand is a major advantage on the lonely nerd with Microsoft Word and a lot to say  like myself.

Overall this book is everything it promises to be and delivers what it promises to deliver, purely and simply. How Fifty Years of Video Games Conquered Pop Culture is exactly what you'll learn in this quirky and enticing book though maybe not in the way you expected to at first. The title may not be entirely accurate, and sure it is far from a complete collection of the important people in the life of gaming, but it's really all you need for a general look. Not only is this book good, it takes what you knew about games and pushed it to the next level and explained the why and how and who. I have a hard time finding something wrong with it, other then I wanted more, and I really don't think that's a flaw at all. I'll have to give this 9 pixels out of 10.