I wondered if a few of these were any good.. might pick a couple up now.

Also The History of Nintendo vol. 1 & vol. 2 by Pix n Love are ranked #3 and #6 in the ranking.

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1234 ... s#12393199

I have the first History Of Nintendo book and its really good!

I have heard Phoenix: Rise & Fall is a really good book.

I've read about half of the books on that list... Ultimate History, Phoenix, and Game Over are all excellent overviews on the history of the videogame industry. There's a lot of overlap but they all have some unique details/perspectives. If you're only buying one or two, my preference is in the order that I listed.

For fiction, Ready Player One is one of my all-time favorite books. If you're old enough to remember Zork, early arcade games, and obscure 80's movies/music it's loaded with fun. The whole plot revolves around 80's nerd culture. Might be too much nostalgia but I didn't mind. Warner Bros bought the movie rights.

I have a lot of other favorites that aren't on that list. There are a lot of great books about retro gaming...

Nice one Tom, why don't you do a write up on a few?

Masters of Doom is a brilliant book. It's a joy to read, is comprehensive and full of character.

Buy it and read it!

I miss this one on the list:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Machines-197 ... 0987830503

I have it signed by the author. It lists almost all consoles and home computers from the 70ies to currebt gen, with a short history, overview of the games and variations... there are a few errors or disputale things, but that comes with the territory; after all it's one author trying to do the entire business justice. He always corrects errors when he can validate them in new print runs; I reported a few to him as well.

Pong systems are not included, the basic theme is systems with exchangeable games. But really cool stuff.

Personally, I'd recommend this: The Hardcore Gaming 101 Guide To Classic Adventure Games. Basically, it's a book full of articles on point and click adventure games. There's the obvious stuff in there, of course, like Monkey Island, King's Quest, and Myst, but there's a lot more obscure stuff in there, too. For example, did you know there was a Scooby Doo adventure game for the Genesis/Megadrive? Did you also know that it wasn't terrible?

Also, I wrote a section of the book, myself for the Hugo Trilogy on DOS. They're awful! You should buy this book so you can read about it! Blatant advertising!

For example, did you know there was a Scooby Doo adventure game for the Genesis/Megadrive? Did you also know that it wasn't terrible?

I did. And I did. 🙂

Here's a good one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Home-Vi ... 518&sr=8-2

I really like "Invasion of the Space Invaders" by Martin Amis, it´s a review of how things were in the arcades in the early 80s with a lot of pics of people playing and also reviews some hits like Tempest, Space Invaders, Galaxian etc...

It´s a bit pricey and it´s not a big book but the pics and stories are superb.