The First Quarter:

Here are some little-known facts about video games: A dispute over the coin-operated video game Breakout ended the friendship of Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak, the founders of Apple Computers. Several million copies of the Atari game E.T. were buried in a shallow grave in a New Mexico desert. The video game industry routinely garners as much or more revenues than the motion picture industry or professional sports. At one time more American children recognized Sonic the Hedgehog & Mario than Mickey Mouse & Abraham Lincoln. The history of video games is more than just the story of a popular hobby, it is the story of one of the driving forces behind high technology & the computer revolution. The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games tells the story of a new entertainment that started out as coin-operated games, spread to computers & consoles & eventually became bigger than the motion picture industry. It takes readers into boardrooms, development labs & arcades to give a sweeping firsthand view of the video game industry.