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Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter (2010)

by Tom Bissell(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0307378705 (ISBN13: 9780307378705)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Pantheon

review 1: The book I read was “Extra Lives Why Video Games Matter” by Tom Bissel. The book is a non-fiction book about Tom Bissel’s life playing video games. He starts off saying “Someday my children will ask me where I was and what I was doing when the United States elected its first black president.” He says that he was playing Fallout 3 when CNN announced the new president. Bissel argues in this book that we are in the golden age for games but the games could be better. The author’s purpose of the book is to show people that video games aren’t as bad as people make them seem. The theme of the book is do what you like to do and do not let people tell you that you can’t do it. Video games can teach you things about historical events such as “World at War” whic... moreh is about World War 2 . If you are good at a certain game you can be paid for playing it and some game companies might sponsor you (give you things for showing off their software.) This book argues about why video games are important to life. This book provides an argument about how we are living in the golden age for video games and that video games can be better than they look. I read this book because I myself am a “gamer” and was interested in how the author would argue the point on why video games matter. I felt the book was written in a style that was easy to read. I did enjoy this book and people that enjoy video gaming will most likely enjoy this book.
review 2: I began reading Extra Lives as research, to gain an insight into the mind of a gamer, and found it fascinating. Bissell views gaming through a writer's lens, looking in particular at several first-person shooters and role-playing games (RPGs). I was initially thrown as these are not the types of games I play, but Bissell's interviews with game designers and creators, alongside his personal insights as a gamer, drew me in.There's a lot of discussion about fixed game narrative and narrative formed through gameplay or choices made by the player; what makes a player connect with a computer game character; and whether it's possible to replicate a human character in a game (Uncanny Valley is a phrase that's stuck with me!). Themes relating the believability of characters, drawing an emotional reaction from players, and how real is too real were directly relevant to writing and the way the reader interacts with and responds to characters.This book won't be for everyone - and will be of particular interest to gamers - but the exploration of character- and world-building, what makes a person lose hours in front of a screen playing games, and how and why 'traditional' narrative structures work or fail in the gaming industry are well worth the read. less

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