As a Video Games Blogger, what's in your bookshelf?

For the latest articles, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

I just got around finishing The Hobbit. Very good read indeed despite the book being meant for a younger audience than that of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.


On the subject of books, what do video game bloggers read? In terms of non-fiction material regarding video games, my bookshelf has the quintessential John Carmack/John Romero biography and therefore id Software's, the aptly titled Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (David Kushner, 2004, available at Amazon UK and Amazon US)


The book has company in the form of GAMEplan's The Encyclopedia of Consoles, Handhelds & Home Computers 1972-2005 (Winnie Forster, 2005, available at Amazon UK and Play-Asia (cheaper)). This console bible (as I would call it) contains a lot of stuff, particularly on retro video game consoles and their games.


Magazines wise, I used to read quite a bit of PC Gamer, before I grew bored of it. Now the shelf is populated with issues of EDGE. The highlight here is the EDGE Presents the Art of Video Games. An extra thick issue with lots of artwork from video game artists.

In terms of fiction, I've not gone about buying and reading all those Diablo, Starcraft or even Warhammer 40K books, but I do have quite a bit of science fiction books. There's almost the entire Dune series sitting on my bookshelf along with a bunch of Star Wars and Halo books. And that's pretty much it.

So what about you guys? What do you read?

EDGE Presents The Art of Videogames

The closest thing you can get to the I AM 8-BIT exhibition, having missed it, or being stuck where you are, would be to buy the book which costs a pretty penny at USD 44.40. This is of course inclusive of shipping and it does come signed by the author.

I didn't go that way and instead went and purchased EDGE's EDGE Presents The Art of Videogames from a local magazine stand. Although cheaper than the I AM 8-BIT book, this special edition of EDGE magazine is certainly expensive, at RM 57.90.

Featuring art (screenshots, sketches, pre-renders, concepts, etc) from a variety of games along with nifty elaborations from game developers on the ideas behind the works, this special edition also features 15 artworks from the I AM 8-BIT exhibition. I particularly like the one featuring Blanka (Street Fighter II).

More about the games featured in The Art of Videogames. Some worthy mentions that come with really nice art include Devil May Cry, Halo, Virtua On (Temjin) and God of War II. Freak yourself out with the art from Silent Hill and Stalker, I know I did when I first flipped through those pages.

My colleague commented that some of the pictures in the magazine look really real and while the Dead Rising art was nice, the blood splatter did looked a bit like Ribena.

Was it worth the money? Yes. And it's certainly recommended for those who appreciate video game art and design. Give it a few months and you might be able to find this issue with a nice discount to the price tag, usually at book stands with that specialize in back issues.