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"Game Over...is ultimately less absorbing than 'Tetris' but not by much. The opening chapter alone stuns us... A fascinating insider's loook into the Nintendo juggernaut."(Wall Street Journal) -- The New York Times
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Everything you would expect is here, from Nintendo's humble beginnings as a Hanafuda playing-card company in 1889 to the release of the N64 game console in 1996. During the journey we are introduced to all of the players involved, along with their facinating bios. From Japanese president Hiroshi Yamauchi, to game design wunderkind Sigeru Miyamoto, to Nintendo of America head Minoru Arakawa...we follow the early stumbles of the fledgling company, and its rise to the top of the vicious, cut-throat videogame market with the help of some Western allies. Game Over delivers both a facinating glimpse into the operations of a Japanese conglomerate, as well as a thrill-ride though the volatile games industry. Author of the original book Sheff adopts an easy-going, if somewhat dry, prose style...but it still reads better than your typical business tome.
You know that any company as tight-lipped and controlling as Nintendo is going to try and put the thumb on any would-be biographer looking for privledged access, and while I won't go so far as to call Game Over biased towards Nintendo, it certainly does lean towards the point-of-view of its subject matter.
... Read more ›See how ruthless Nintendo could be! See how incompetent Nintendo can be! Watch as the book finishes just as the 16 bit console market begins!
I was a little bit annoyed by Sheff's book-dedication to his child, that although they used to like videogames, they now like reading better. A little bit snobby from a book devoted to videogames: the new leisure pastime of the millennium. Or whatever.
But I miss information on Nintendo's operations in Europe and to some extent Japan. And as the book ends in the 16-bit console era its more of a history lesson than a guide to the contemporary video games market.