Book Review: Comic Book Story Of Video Games

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books and this is my honest review.

Original Release Date:

October 3rd 2017

My Star Rating:

5 Stars

Official Summary:

A complete, illustrated history of video games–highlighting the machines, games, and people who have made gaming a worldwide, billion dollar industry/artform–told in a graphic novel format.
Author Jonathan Hennessey and illustrator Jack McGowan present the first full-color, chronological origin story for this hugely successful, omnipresent artform and business. Hennessey provides readers with everything they need to know about video games–from their early beginnings during World War II to the emergence of arcade games in the 1970s to the rise of Nintendo to today’s app-based games like Angry Birds and Pokemon Go. Hennessey and McGowan also analyze the evolution of gaming as an artform and its impact on society. Each chapter features spotlights on major players in the development of games and gaming that contains everything that gamers and non-gamers alike need to understand and appreciate this incredible phenomenon.

My Review: (Vague Spoilers)

I am a big fan of video games, ever since I was three years old and my dad bought a Nintendo 64 and a Gameboy. The first games I played were Pokemon Snap and Leafgreen (this is what motivated me to learn to read).

I am also a big fan of comics and graphic novels. Normally, I stick to Marvel/DC type comics, but this was on Blogging for Books, and I thought it looked too cool to not request.

And I was not disappointed. The artwork is supercool. The art is really well done, with the panels easy to follow, and the artwork of various games really well depicted.

Despite being nonfiction, the format made it so it didn’t get bogged down in details and thus never got to the point of some nonfiction books where they get boring no matter how interesting the subject is. Everything is well explained, and I thought it was super interesting. You don’t need a vast knowledge of video games to enjoy it (I certainly don’t know much beyond Nintendo) but its certainly nice to recognize events/people/games in the book.

If you have an interest in video games on the meta level, this is a really great read.