Replay cover art

Replay

The History of Video Games

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Replay

By: Tristan Donovan, Richard Garriott
Narrated by: Gary Furlong
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About this listen

A riveting account of the birth and remarkable evolution of the most important development in entertainment since television, Replay is the ultimate history of video games. From its origins in the research labs of the 1940s to the groundbreaking success of the Wii, Replay sheds new light on gaming's past. Along the way it takes in the spectacular rise and fall of Atari, the crazed cottage industry spawned by the computers of Sir Clive Sinclair, Japan's rapid ascent to the top of the gaming tree, and the seismic impact of Doom. Replay tells the sensational story of how the creative vision of game designers across the globe gave rise to one of the world's most popular and dynamic art forms. Based on extensive research and more than 140 interviews, Replay includes insights from video game legends such as Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Will Wright - the creator of The Sims , Doom designer John Romero, and Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame. Replay also includes a foreword by Richard Garriott (AKA Lord British).

©2010 Tristan Donovan (P)2017 Tantor Art History History & Culture Social Sciences Technology Video Game Imperial Japan Game Entertainment Computer History

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All stars
Most relevant
This being the 5th book I listened to on the subject, it's nice to have a different perspective. since the topic is vast, it is not easy to provide a good summary, only if you focus on a niche area, which this book does well.
The reading is nice and enjoyable, though the accent can sometimes be misleading to a not native speaker, like myself, but it is not the reader's fault.
IMHO, this book is to those who have a general knowledge about video game history but need to have certain milestones to hold on to in order to have a better structure of the truly rich history of video games.

I really liked it and recommend it to all gamers out there who need that extra bit of wisdom.

Game history focusing on innivations and outliers

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I loved this because the book covers things like the games scene outside of the USA, (such as UK gamers using the Spectrum, the Amiga etc. It also goes into each topic thoroughly, I learned loads of new stuff about every major game and platform and the memories came flooding back. Well written, well performed. 5 Stars all round.

At Last A Comprehensive History of Video Games

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If you could sum up Replay in three words, what would they be?

ZEE EX Spectrum

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyed this fascinating look across the history of video games. Interesting American-centric fairly comprehensive and nicely divided into areas of gaming history. Pity the narrator cant pronounce sinclairs ZED X Spectum properly.. although sadly the UK machines are not covered enough to make this too grating,

Great book, a little American

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I really enjoyed this book. It takes you on a journey through the evolution of video games with lots of very interesting facts.

A great book for both gamers and game devs alike and can see this being invaluable to any one studying game development.

I found the narrator really good and kept the pace of enthusiasm throughout the book. I wasn’t bothered by his pronunciation of the letter Z. Some people have commented he is using the American pronunciation, I believe Zee is in fact also the Irish pronunciation.

A divinities history of video games

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This book is wonderful, no hyperbole. It would be easy for a lesser author to get bogged down into technical jargon and industrial buzzwords. Tristan Donovan does not let all that cloud his narrative and alienate his readers. I imagine that even if one knew nothing about video games, they would come away not only with all the pertaining knowledge, but a thrilling story aswell. if like me, you already knew a thing or two about the subject going in. Well then you will come away with some interesting insights and the same very entertaining narrative that a newcomer to the subject would get. so it's basically a win win.

A brilliant ride through the pixilated past.

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