Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life"Chris Kohler brings the passionate intensity of a hardcore fan to his writing, but he also has the background knowledge and the critical facilities to explore video games as an industry, as a medium, and as a cultural phenomenon." — Wired. 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. Interviews, anecdotes, and personal accounts offer insights from giants of the industry, including Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, and others involved in the creation of Donkey Kong, Mario, Pokémon, and other games. This revised edition includes updated material throughout the book as well as a new bonus chapter. "While it appears that Japanese gaming is on the wane today, it's worth your time to read about an era when nothing could be further from the truth." — IGN "Quite excellent... a great read." — Hardcore Gaming 101 "Direct and insightful ... I believe that it belongs on the top shelf of any collector." — Steve Kent, author of The Ultimate History of Video Games |
Contents
Chapter | 1 |
Chapter | 6 |
An Early History of Cinematic Elements in Video Games | 17 |
Chapter 3 | 104 |
Nintendo Super Mario and Shigeru Miyamoto | 119 |
Future Games | 160 |
Chapter 4 | 267 |
293 | |
Index | 309 |
313 | |
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Common terms and phrases
adventure Akihabara album American anime Aonuma arcade games Atari cartridge chip cinematic comic console controller copies create culture Cuthbert Disk Donkey Kong Dragon Quest Dyack electronics Enix Famicom game fans featured film Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy VII Game Boy game design Game Developers game industry game music game play game system game's GameCube gamers genre Goddard going graphics hardware interview Iwatani Japan Japanese games Japanese video games Kyoto Legend of Zelda look machines main character manga movie Namco Ninja Nintendo DS Nobuo Uematsu original otaku Pac-Man Parappa player PlayStation Pokémon popular released Sakaguchi Satoru Iwata says scenes screen Sega sell sequences Shigeru Miyamoto sold songs Sony soundtrack Space Invaders Square Star Fox story Super Famicom Super Mario Bros Tajiri Tokyo toys translation Uematsu wanted Yamauchi Yano