List of books about video games
Design and theory
- The Art of Computer Game Design
- (ISBN 0881341177) by Chris Crawford is attributed by Wolf & Perron in The Video Game Theory Reader as being the first book devoted to the theory of video games. It was originally published in Berkeley, California by McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media in 1984. The original edition is now out-of-print but available for free download from a site maintained by Washington State University, Vancouver.
- More Than A Game: The Computer Game as Fictional Form
- (ISBN 0719063655) by Barry Atkins
- Trigger Happy
- (ISBN 1559705981/ISBN 1841151211) by Steven Poole examines videogames in terms of their aesthetic appeal — what makes certain games more fun to play than others. It covers aspects such as the effective use of space and perspective in videogames, rewards and progression through games, the design of an appealing video game character and the debate over violence in games.
History
- High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games
- is a book published in April 2002 by McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. It was written by Rusel Demaria and Johnny Lee Wilson. The book also has a second edition, published in December 2003 , which featurs a brief history on Japanese and English video game companies. It details the history of video games, beginning with a page about the earliest computer processors to the current days, this book goes into detail about what was happening to companies like Atari back before, during, and after the Video Game Crash of 1983-1984.
- Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution : by Dean Takahashi
- Playing to Win
- by David Sirlin
- The Video Game Theory Reader
- (ISBN 0415965799) edited by Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron.
- The Ultimate History of Video Games
- (ISBN 0761536434) by Steven Kent
- Masters of Doom
- (ISBN 0375505245) by David Kushner
- Game Over
- (ISBN 0966961706) by David Sheff
- Power Up
- (ISBN 0744004241) by Chris Kohler
Artwork collections and "making of" books
- 1000 Game Heroes
- (ISBN 3822816337) by David Choquet
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
- (ISBN 0761543643) by David Hodgson
- Sega Video Game Illustrations
- Japanese and English language book featuring artwork from early-1990s Sega Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear titles.
Books based on games
Novels
Three licensed novels based on the Halo series have been published:
- Halo: The Fall of Reach
- Eric S. Nylund(ISBN 1841494208)
- Halo: The Flood
- William C. Dietz (ISBN 1841494216)
- Halo: First Strike
- Eric S. Nylund (ISBN 1841494224)
Gamebooks
A series of six Sonic Adventures gamebooks were published in the UK between 1993 and 1996 by Puffin under the Fantail label:
- Book 1 - Metal City Mayhem
- James Wallis (ISBN 0140903917)
- Book 2 - Zone Rangers
- James Wallis (ISBN 0140903925)
- Book 3 - Sonic v Zonik
- Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland (ISBN 0140904069)
- Book 4 - The Zone Zapper
- Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland (ISBN 0140904077)
- Book 5 - Theme Park Panic
- Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green (ISBN 0140378472)
- Book 6 - Stormin' Sonic
- Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green (ISBN 0140378480)
Novels
- Stay Sonic
- Mike Pattenden developed a detailed origin for the character later used as the basis of most subsequent UK Sonic stories.
James Wallis, Marc Gascoigne and Carl Sargent (under the pseudonym of Martin Adams) wrote four Sonic the Hedgehog novels based on the origin established in Stay Sonic. They were published in the UK by Virgin Publishing.
- Book 1 - Sonic the Hedgehog in Robotnik's Laboratory
- (ISBN 0426204018)
- Book 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog in the Fourth Dimension
- (ISBN 0426204026)
- Book 3 - Sonic the Hedgehog and the Silicon Warriors
- (ISBN 0426204034)
- Book 4 - Sonic the Hedgehog in Castle Robotnik
- (ISBN 0426204050)
Michael Teitelbaum has also written a series of Sonic novels:
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- (ISBN 0816731993)
- Robotnik's Revenge
- (ISBN 0816734380)
- Fortress of Fear
- (ISBN 0816735824)
- Friend or Foe?
- (ISBN 0816736723)
- Sonic & Knuckles
- (ISBN 0816737819)
- Sonic X-Treme
Two novels have been written based on the Second/Third season of Sonic X:
- Meteor Shower Messanger
- Spaceship Blue Typhoon
- Where's Sonic?
- Using a similar idea to the Where's Wally?/Where's Waldo? books, each page presented the reader with a different puzzle, each one inspired by a different level from Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis / Sega Mega Drive. Published by Ladybird Books Ltd.
- Where's Sonic Now?
Picture books:
- Robotnik's Oil
- The Invisible Robotnik