August Weekend Reads: eBooks on Gaming and Geeks

Check out our selection of E-books for August! This time we’re taking a look at video games; either their history, or their sociological impact. If you’re a video game fan, feel free to put the controller down and scroll through, or find out what all the fuss is about if you’re a newbie!

Getting a Life: The Social Worlds of Geek Culture by Benjamin Woo

“Getting a Life recenters our understanding of geek culture on the everyday lives of its participants, drawing on fieldwork in comic book shops, game stores, and conventions, including in-depth interviews with ordinary members of the overlapping communities of fans and enthusiasts.”

Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life by Chris Kohler

Why are Japanese video games a worldwide sensation? This enjoyable and informative survey explores the reasons, starting with how Japanese developers raised the medium to an art form. The book also traces the ways in which the developers’ ideas infused popular culture beyond the gaming world.

Playing to Wiin: Nintendo and The Video Game Industry’s Greatest Comeback by Daniel Sloan

“How did a struggling Japanese family company, with its origins in nineteenth-century playing cards, come to dominate a competitive, high-tech industry? Playing to Wiin details the key succession issue for Nintendo, the development of the DS and Wii consoles, and the creation of remarkable new gaming software.”