The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2
Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the Billion-Dollar Battle to Shape Modern Gaming
Reeks: Ultimate History of Video Games
Steven L. Kent
- The
- definitive
- behind-the-scenes
- history
- of
- video
- games’
- explosion
- into
- the
- twenty-first
- century
- and
- the
- war
- for
- industry
- power“A
- zippy
- read
- through
- a
- truly
- deep
- research
- job.
- You
- won’t
- want
- to
- put
- this
- one
- down.”—Eddie
- Adlum,
- publisher,
- RePlay
- MagazineAs
- video
- games
- evolve,
- only
- the
- fittest
- companies
- survive.
- Making
- a
- blockbuster
- once
- cost
- millions
- of
- dollars;
- now
- it
- can
- cost
- hundreds
- of
- millions,
- but
- with
- a
- $160
- billion
- market
- worldwide,
- the
- biggest
- players
- are
- willing
- to
- bet
- the
- bank.Steven
- L.
- Kent
- has
- been
- playing
- video
- games
- since
- Pong
- and
- writing
- about
- the
- industry
- since
- the
- Nintendo
- Entertainment
- System.
- In
- volume
- 1
- of
- The
- Ultimate
- History
- of
- Video
- Games,
- he
- chronicled
- the
- industry’s
- first
- thirty
- years.
- In
- volume
- 2,
- he
- narrates
- gaming’s
- entrance
- into
- the
- twenty-first
- century,
- as
- Nintendo,
- Sega,
- Sony,
- and
- Microsoft
- battle
- to
- capture
- the
- global
- market.The
- home
- console
- boom
- of
- the
- ’90s
- turned
- hobby
- companies
- like
- Nintendo
- and
- Sega
- into
- Hollywood-studio-sized
- business
- titans.
- But
- by
- the
- end
- of
- the
- decade,
- they
- would
- face
- new,
- more
- powerful
- competitors.
- In
- boardrooms
- on
- both
- sides
- of
- the
- Pacific,
- engineers
- and
- executives
- began,
- with
- enormous
- budgets
- and
- total
- secrecy,
- to
- plan
- the
- next
- evolution
- of
- home
- consoles.
- The
- PlayStation
- 2,
- Nintendo
- GameCube,
- and
- Sega
- Dreamcast
- all
- made
- radically
- different
- bets
- on
- what
- gamers
- would
- want.
- And
- then,
- to
- the
- shock
- of
- the
- world,
- Bill
- Gates
- announced
- the
- development
- of
- the
- one
- console
- to
- beat
- them
- all—even
- if
- Microsoft
- had
- to
- burn
- a
- few
- billion
- dollars
- to
- do
- it.
- In
- this
- book,
- you
- will
- learn
- about•
- the
- cutthroat
- environment
- at
- Microsoft
- as
- rival
- teams
- created
- console
- systems
•
- the
- day
- the
- head
- of
- Sega
- of
- America
- told
- the
- creator
- of
- Sonic
- the
- Hedgehog
- to
- “f**k
- off”
•
- how
- “lateral
- thinking
- with
- withered
- technology”
- put
- Nintendo
- back
- on
- top
•
- and
- much
- more!Gripping
- and
- comprehensive,
- The
- Ultimate
- History
- of
- Video
- Games:
- Volume
- 2
- explores
- the
- origins
- of
- modern
- consoles
- and
- of
- the
- franchises—from
- Grand
- Theft
- Auto
- and
- Halo
- to
- Call
- of
- Duty
- and
- Guitar
- Hero—that
- would
- define
- gaming
- in
- the
- new millennium.
