LudoScience

History of videogames (focused book)

Author(s) : Alexis Blanchet
Editor : Editions Pix'n Love
Publication date : 04-04-2010
Language : french

This book deals with the rich history of videogames and cinema, and more specifically their relations with American movies. The author details with a high level of precision the various links between the movie and videogame industries, such as the numerous movies-games and games-movies adaptions. But the author doesn't remain at a surface level, he pursues his analysis at a deep level: he studies the evolution of games-movies relations according to the different economical eras of the videogames industry. Indeed, the interest of the Hollywood majors for videogames varied greatly according the kind of dominant players in the industry, which ranged from toy makers (Nintendo, Mattel) to entertainment corporations (Warner) and electronic/computer giants (Sony, Microsoft). This brilliant book is a "general public" version of Alexis Blanchet's PhD thesis, who successfully managed to present the results of his academical research in a clear and simple manner, while keeping intact its precision and richness. An excellent book, that anyone showing interest in videogames and/or movies should read.