A History of Video Games in 64 Objects

by World Video Game Hall of Fame

Inspired by the groundbreaking A History of the World in 100 Objects, this book draws on the unique collections of The Strong museum in Rochester, New York, to chronicle the evolution of video games, from Pong to first-person shooters, told through the stories of dozens of objects essential to the field’s creation and development.

Drawing on the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s unmatched collection of video game artifacts, this fascinating history offers an expansive look at the development of one of the most popular and influential activities of the modern world: video gaming.

Sixty-four unique objects tell the story of the video game from inception to today. Pithy, in-depth essays and photographs examine each object’s significance to video game play—what it has contributed to the history of gaming—as well as the greater culture.

A History of Video Games in 64 Objects explains how the video game has transformed over time. Inside, you’ll find a wide range of intriguing topics, including:


The first edition of Dungeons & Dragons—the ancestor of computer role-playing games
The Oregon Trail and the development of educational gaming
The Atari 2600 and the beginning of the console revolution
A World of Warcraft server blade and massively multiplayer online games
Minecraft—the backlash against the studio system
The rise of women in gaming represented by pioneering American video game designers Carol Shaw and Roberta Williams’ game development materials
The prototype Skylanders Portal of Power that spawned the Toys-to-Life video game phenomenon and shook up the marketplace
And so much more!
A visual panorama of unforgettable anecdotes and factoids, A History of Video Games in 64 Objects is a treasure trove for gamers and pop culture fans. Let the gaming begin!

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Video Games, Audiobook, Gaming, Games, Technology

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minus one star for focusing almost exclusively on the commercial blockbusters (which we already knew about). Recommended only for newcomers to the field of video games.

Plus one star for the lively presentation.

[Bon Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect introduction to history of video games. For those who were there from beginning (pre-80's), this is nostalgia trip hard to resist.

For young gamers (and now I realize some of those may be born after 2010., holly joystick), this is rare learning experience in written form they might actually enjoy.

The point of the book, I think, wasn't to list all your favorite or even concensually favorite games of all time. It's more to bring out the incredible diversity of the art form and peripheral devices. And also point to utilitarian, even humanitarian value of some of them just to plug the mouths of all the naysayers.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first memories of video games were of watching my older brother play his Atari 2600. I was young enough that when I picked up the joystick I would almost immediately die, but I could spend hours watching him play The Empire Strikes Back and Pitfall.

I was part of the NES generation, and I can still beat Super Mario Bros using just one life. So many hours, summer vacations, spring breaks playing my favorites, like Super Mario 3, Ducktales, Snake Rattle n'Roll, and California Games. Should I mention that one of my favorite activities in high school was getting drunk with my friends and playing Oregon Trail? We were rad.

Now that I'm an Adult, with a job and a kid and all those responsibilities, gaming isn't something I make time for very much anymore. I know there are certain games I have to avoid like the plague or else I risk losing entire weeks to slovenly unproductiveness (I'm looking at you, SimCity, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon Go), but even though I don't seek games out anymore doesn't mean that the nostalgia factor has gone away. Not at all. And that's what this book is: full of history and nostalgia that will make you read passages out to your spouse because THIS IS JUST SO COOL and OMG, DO YOU REMEMBER THIS? Not to mention the pre-1970s games I had no idea about.

This book is seriously fun, the items that were chosen are really well-rounded to a variety of different interests, and as a woman, I really appreciated that the authors made a point to highlight the accomplishments of women in video games, and acknowledge that the industry tends to cater to boys over girls.

And now to break out my NES and spend the remainder of my weekend reliving my childhood.

[Bryan Cebulski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and informative vignettes, though it has a positive and forward-focused approach that I think undermines the importance of discussing the less savory aspects of gaming culture. Like, this was published in 2018 and doesn't mention GamerGate? I suppose it does try to focus on the evolution of game development rather than on videogame culture, but it does feel like a big oversight.

Still, a great book to pick up and peruse, or listen if you went with the audiobook version like me, to get a taste of a handful of key areas in videogame history.

The earliest sections on the pre-history of videogames, discussing pinball and Tennis for Two and other progenitors, I found especially strong. Its highlighting of moral panics caused in response to innovations in video game tech was really cool too.

I liked the inclusion of some lesser-known or more niche entries, like the one on HeR Interactive, the developers of the Nancy Drew games. Although not to knock That Dragon, Cancer, but it felt... odd to construe it as the first significant game that was made with distinctly emotional motivations in mind.

There are gaps here for sure--especially when considering non-Western gaming--but it gets the ball rolling.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts, but a little repetitive. I wanted more from the King’s Quest section and the Oregon Trail section. And where were Uncharted and The Last of Us? There were interesting facts about the history of video games, though I was somewhat disappointed that they went into more detail about some games than others.

[Ollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to be addicted to video games and totally immersed in the culture. I wasn’t much of a reader growing up, but when I did, it would be video game magazines. I would religiously collect issues of Electronic Gaming Monthly and all its offshoots, and my friends and I would trade issues, comparing reviews and features and get excited about what games we would spend our allowances on or ask our parents for Christmas. I held the belief (and still do) that video games can change someone’s life for the better. I always think of Final Fantasy 7 and how it instilled the idea in me that a story could be as important (if not more) than gameplay. It also taught me patience and perseverance: something that’s taught me to get through many boring books in my life.

I was a Nintendo NES kid, then Sega Genesis, and progressed to the Playstation, then Playstation 2. But something happened when I got the PS2, and the best way I can describe it is that life happened to me. Video Games were evolving and I wasn’t into the direction they were headed. They seem to be getting more violent (and not in a cartoonish Mortal Kombat way), less innovative, less original, and very first-person-shooter heavy. With Halo’s rise my interest also waned. I found my EGM magazines piling up as I would forget about them, and soon realized that I was reading about games I didn’t care about and was never going to buy. It was time to start a new chapter in my life. But video games and Street Fighter remain thoroughly embedded in my DNA and you can bet I visited more than one arcade while I was in Japan.

A History of Video Games in 64 Objects is more than a coffee book but not exactly a full-blown book. It’s too visually-heavy for that, but then again video games were always about the graphics, so why not have that here as well. It’s also deceptively dense, and does a wonderful job of covering the beginnings of video games, from pinball machines, to games that have made us contemplate our mortalities and deal with grief. Expertly put together by the Strong Video Game museum, this book has very wordy and in depth articles on the important games, puts them in historical perspective and gives readers an inside look on how they got made. Some favorites are not here (like Contra, or Castlevania), and some entries are downright perplexing (like the train conductor game), but the trend can be seen: video games have gone from fringe culture to the mainstream and have continues to build on the foundation of their predecessors.

It’s a hefty beautiful book that can just as easily tell the story of the growth of video games as it can offer casual gamers the highlights to their favorite games.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A History of Video Games in 64 Objects" was written by a pair of Ph.Ds working at the The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. They get a few technical details wrong here and there, but more than make up for it with well-researched historical backgrounds that place the 64 game objects into a larger context. Nice visuals (at least, in the hardback version that I have).

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun listen about a selection of 64 items related to the chronological history of gaming and the importance of them. This works pretty well as an audiobook as each item is a short and sweet 5-8 minute listen and generally a good overview of that point in history. The selection of items starts off strong but unfortunately gets weaker as it gets closer to modern day with some odd inclusions and an inclination to be very US/Japan focused with a complete disregard for UK/European gaming. Additionally each item seems to be written in isolation so you end up going over the same history over and over with no reference to previously read items.

This is a fun quick read but wouldn't really recommend unless you really are missing out on a quick gaming history audiobook to listen to.

[Aengus Schulte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It does two things really well: it includes some very obscure items that you wouldn’t read about elsewhere, and it explains the ways in which each object affected the gaming world, which very cleverly showcases that world’s changing history. Everything was explained clearly and in simple language, which made it a lovely casual read.
One thing that I’m curious about is the fact that almost all entries referred to either Japan or the USA. Sure, these countries were hugely important to the development of video games, but were there no contributions from Africa, Oceania, South America, or the rest of Asia? That’s something that I would be very interested in learning about.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly interesting book about--YOU GUESSED IT--the history of video games through 64 objects. They go from pinball to Pong to Pungeons & Pragons. That last one is actually Dungeons & Dragons, but I wanted to keep the alliteration strong. On second thought, maybe I should have gone with something else entirely. I mean, it's not really important that D&D was in there and the history of video games went far beyond that time. What were some of the more recent entries that started with "P"? None, really. Dang.

Anyway, pretty good book if you like stuff like video games and history.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un must para el memory lane.

4.2/5

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The games/items chosen to represent the history of video games in this book range from the expected (Donkey Kong), to the surprising (the NES Hands-Free Controller), to the head-scratching (Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen). There were also some glaring omissions, like Rogue (which spawned an entire sub-genre of games named after it), or recent games like Undertale or Rime, which both highlight the rising prominence of indie developers, as well as the fact that even today, a good story can vastly outweigh graphical shortcomings. Despite a few questionable choices and blank spots however, A History of Video Games in 64 Objects is still an illuminating, entertaining read, full of interesting milestones that you may not have heard of, even if you're into this subject, like I am. E.g. Everyone knows about the moral panics surrounding video games, rock music, and comic books, that cropped up in American history, but did you know there was a similar panic over pinball of all things?

Very informative on the topics it covers, and certainly worth a read for anyone who's interested in a broad cross section of the history of gaming as a whole.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting overview of some of the most important games or artifacts in video game history but it's not that in depth. Each "object" only gets a short section (I did this as an audio book and each section was 5 - 10 minutes. The narration by Ray Chase was solid though).

It's a good starting point to go more in depth though if you do like some of the games, people or technologies talked about. I liked in particular that most of the focus was on early games and technologies before the 90's and I learned about some games or machines that I'd never heard of before.

[CTEP]

From Humpty Dumpty to tennis for two from computer space to pong from Atari to Pac-Man to E.T to Zelda to Mario to Virtual Boy to PlayStation to Wii to Minecraft to Society actively playing Pokemon Go. In this January book club I want to write about the history of how video games have changed our culture since the 1940s. as a inspiring hard worker, I didn’t have a history of a game industry one day. As I read the text of the making of Humpty Dumpty pinball machine game by the end of world war II that the machines were mostly at porn shops and dive bars as they wanted were just products of gambling but the products wanted their machines to diverse spots that had gaming in their buildings.

Therefore pinball gaming had entered in the gaming scene by manufactures proving that their game could become popular. It’s hard in the video game market to prove just not how much money you make in the game industry but just fighting battles with people who don’t believe in the goals of others. Particular the White and Asian cultures the dominate the game industry and can be easily destroyed by business owners that don’t care about the creators and good examples of companies are Nintendo and Atari had to raise hell back in the 80s for their games to sell in that golden era.

Sega was my first game console in the 90s when I was younger as I came into the gaming world when their icon Sonic the Hedgehog started to dive in the main stream not to mention he’s my favorite game icon and is the best selling game franchise on Sega Genesis. As much as Mario was popular, Sonic really stuck with me all these years in the history of gaming. But it’s made me diverse as a gamer and my history of gaming has me play other franchise that are not only just Sonic type of genre but it made me love platforming levels my favorite genre.

This book is highly recommended to people who are into gaming but can be read to others who are into tech not just gaming and it gives a lot of history lessons in the past 50 years! I really love this book and it was a great price to buy at Barnes and Noble and I knew I had to share it with people someday!

[Ricardo Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a robust account of video games history, served through 64 well researched and contextualized stories.

As often occurs with these exercises, the final list rarely reaches consensus and I’d personally consider a more complete coverage from the 90s onwards (which account for only ~1/3 of the objects). Some noteworthy omissions were Tomb Raider (with undeniably one of video games most iconic characters), Mario 64 (for its groundbreaking 3D graphics & playability), Half-life (for bringing intricate storylines to the FPS world - but also for paving the way to Counter Strike & Steam), America’s Army (for its non-entertainment agenda), Angry Birds (as a testimony to the rise of mobile gaming) and League of Legends (for its contribution to MOBAs and eSports).

However, I must give due credit to the two authors list as the last of the 64 objects caught me entirely off guard. By researching and watching some gameplay, ‘That Dragon, Cancer’ seems to be the most brutal, authentic and unapologetically heart-wrecking experience I ever came across in video games. Even if, due to its nature, it will never become popular enough to go down in the video games hall of fame, it is an entirely deserved addition to this list, illustrating how much more video games can make us feel.

[Edith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone who is interested in the history of video games. I consider this book a "starter pack" of sorts for people who wish to gain more knowledge on the subject, and a fantastic addition to the bookshelves of the people, like me, who already own a number of books about video games. This is one of my favourites, because it summarizes the evolution of video games extremely well with an interesting format. Each step forward in history is represented by an object found at The Strong National Museum of Play; the object is described and put into context, which offers both excellent information on the object itself and the state of video games at the time of its conception, as well as its impact on modern technology and social development. Additionally, I was surprised at how much this book goes out of its way to showcase obscure, but meaningful, objects (ex. NES Hands Free Controller) alongside other well-known artifacts (Tennis for Two, Pong). Most books about the history of gaming focus on the obvious players, but I appreciated learning about the impact lesser-known inventions. This one's a yes from me.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting time capsule of the video game history, studded with photos of important relics of the era. There's some fascinating information here, and details about games and systems I wasn't previously aware of. However, there's some issues with the editing - it feels like the articles were written separately and then tied together without much editing (certain facts and stats are repeated numerous times throughout the book, for example). And some of the items chosen are only peripherally related to video games (an article about Spacewar, the Densha de Go! controller). It seems that some of the choices were based on the items the Strong National Museum owned rather than their true impact. But that's a minor complaint. Overall, this makes a nice drop-in book with some decent art and photos and a bit of insight into the role of video games in culture.

[Luka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this just out of curiosity, when it popped up in my "suggestion" section on Scribd. I thought I might enjoy it, since I loved the Netflix series "The Toys That Made Us" and I hoped it'd be similarly interesting.
Now, I have no knowledge about video games at all, so I can't say how much use a real video game nerd would get out of this book, but for me, with my "gaming experience" limited to mostly Wii games and the Sims, it was very informative, it didn't get too technical and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. And I learned a thing or two, which is just fantastic, because I honestly went in with no expectations of gaining anything from this book, just wanted something to pass the time.
Like I said, idk how someone with more knowledge might perceive this book, but I personally thought it was great.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book that illustrates the timeline of video games, using both well-known, blockbuster games (such as Doom and Pokemon Go) and lesser-known milestones and artifacts, such as an accessibility accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Each object is pictured, described in its historical context, and given further place and context in the story of video games, up until about 2016. The book also serves as a partial catalog of the collection of the World Video Game Hall of Fame, at the Strong National Museum of Play. I'd love to see some of the game design documents and memoirs in that collection! And indeed, that's my only flaw with this book -- as with most resources of this type, I would love to see more pictures and images of the items discussed; sometimes one image doesn't tell the whole story.

[Crystal Zavala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had intended to give this book to my 12 year old son because he loves facts, video games, and trivia. Before he had a chance to read it, I flipped through it and ended up reading through it. The 64 items were not the ones that I had envisioned, they were even better. DOOM! Oregon Trail! Madden! Dungeons and Dragons! I had not heard of The Strong National Museum of Play in New York, now I have added it to our family's to do list.

Once my son did get his hands on it, he read it while telling me facts that he found interesting. He has flipped through it several times since. I call this book a success.

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice walk through the history of video games, courtesy of the Strong National Museum of Play. They choose an interesting variety of representative objects, from the obvious ones you'd expect (like the Atari 2600 and the NES) to esoteric obscurities (such as Death Race or Utopia). Each object has a key place in game history and/or involves an interesting tale, and every history is a worthwhile read, even if they occasionally streamline things for better storytelling. Definitely recommended for fans of video game history, and likely of interest to those curious about pop-culture history in general. (A-)

[Lucaxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come molte storie dei videogame americane, questo libro dà molta enfasi ai fenomeni culturali del passato USA: Pong, Atari, Pac-man, la crisi dei videogame, il NES etc., e tratta superficialmente e senza metodo i fenomeni più recenti o avvenuto fuori dal Nordamerica. Lo sforzo di arrivare fino a Pokèmon Go c'è, ma la parte dopo il 2000 è frammentaria e sfilacciata: forse questo periodo è semplicemente troppo recente per un'analisi storica. A parte questo, il libro nasce da un museo e quindi ruota intorno a degli oggetti fisici, con belle foto di corredo: è un approccio interessante, e complessivamente è ben scritto.

[Clint Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It never gets much beyond the surface of the objects chosen, and is almost entirely focused on mainstream Western gaming, but this is a well crafted book on the subject. The objects cover a wide timeline and a well varied swath of artifacts, including actual games, peripherals, idea sketches, marketing materials, and consoles.

The photography is a major highlight and the way these pieces of gaming history are presented with the same reverence as museum artifacts. That's a trip. A pretty quick read as coffee table books go. I'd read a second edition in a heartbeat.

[CrossG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casi todo lo que aparece en él merece estar ahí, pero lo que más se nota son las omisiones. Sería mucho más fiel a la realidad si el título fuese "A History of Videogames in United States in 64 Objects". Quitando varios puestos de Nintendo lo único no estadounidense que aparece es Street Fighter II, Sonic the Hedgehog y Densha de go.

Va perdiendo interés a medida que se acerca a la etapa actual. Siendo su primera mitad de lo más interesante, mostrando el desarrollo inicial del medio y pudiendo descubrir algún clásico que no se conocía por el camino.

[Pinkspeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I feel like there were some missed opportunities; such as documenting the Nintendo Switch or Animal Crossing; I really liked the stories of The Sims and the Wii, both important games in my life... and the last entry really touched me. I’ve been searching for the value in my life recently, and I feel like this has made me feel that I do, at least for today. I’m really thankful to have found this book.

[brian andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are of that vintage, this brings back memories. Atari consoles, games and arcade units, NES, Apple, PC, and more modern consoles. Games that resided on them to entertain, frustrate, pass time and challenge the brain, from Zork, Pong, Mario, Doom, Halo, Warcraft and much more.
Short chapters about the evolution of the computer game from single text mainframe to MMORP games.
As said, enjoyable read and brought back some memories.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this! Great objects picked for this. Some I was really familiar with and others I either didn’t know much about or hadn’t heard of. Entertaining and informative. I wish the reason why it was chosen and why the object was particularly special was at the beginning of the chapter but it was always at the end. Sometimes after reading the ending of the chapter I wound up rereading the beginning of the chapter because of this.

[Prasanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book and when I got it, I didn't realize this was part of the Strong Museum of Play. I feel like the experience would've been intensified if I had visited the museum but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It captures the evolution of the video game industry and various tradeoffs and evolutions that happened over the years as well as the people driving those.
A more visual version is over here
https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/a-h...

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic romp through my childhood with this marvelous book. Excellent graphic design on the cover and plentiful photos of games worth noting. I've been a video game fan since I first plunked a quarter down for Space Invaders & this book still taught me a lot I'd not known about the games & their history.

Received as a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, we are treated to the history of video games as told by objects. The objects begin with the first computer game and continue onto Playstation 2 and beyond. Each entry contains text that is about 1-2 pages long as well as a few photographs. The book is very well presented and it a quick read that one could read in about 2-4 hours.