So, I was in Walmart today when this caught my eye:
The Videogames Hardware Handbook. It's basically a book telling the history of video games from the Magnavox Odyssey to the Nintendo 64, one console at a time. This was the latest edition of the magazine, and needless to say, I was intrigued. However, when going through the table of contents and skimming through the book, there were some...questionable choices made.
For example, the two Sega machines that had their own sections were the Genesis/Mega Drive (duh) and...the Nomad? Why? I know it was impressive for being a portable Genesis, but was it really significant enough to get its own section? The Saturn has a much more interesting history, being the dark horse of the big 3 consoles of its generation. I know most "professional" game magazines hate the Saturn, but they really should have given it the limelight for a couple pages like the PS1. They even gave the 3DO the spotlight, so why not the Saturn?
Also, why stop at the fifth generation? I would've liked to see a sixth gen section describing Sony's brilliant strategies to win over non-gamers with the PS2, Microsoft entering the ring with the Xbox and, of course, Sega making their Dying Moment of Awesome with the Dreamcast.
I'm sure it contained some good information, but the exclusion of some notable systems, and the inclusion of un-notable ones, seemed strange and off-putting.
The Videogames Hardware Handbook. It's basically a book telling the history of video games from the Magnavox Odyssey to the Nintendo 64, one console at a time. This was the latest edition of the magazine, and needless to say, I was intrigued. However, when going through the table of contents and skimming through the book, there were some...questionable choices made.
For example, the two Sega machines that had their own sections were the Genesis/Mega Drive (duh) and...the Nomad? Why? I know it was impressive for being a portable Genesis, but was it really significant enough to get its own section? The Saturn has a much more interesting history, being the dark horse of the big 3 consoles of its generation. I know most "professional" game magazines hate the Saturn, but they really should have given it the limelight for a couple pages like the PS1. They even gave the 3DO the spotlight, so why not the Saturn?
Also, why stop at the fifth generation? I would've liked to see a sixth gen section describing Sony's brilliant strategies to win over non-gamers with the PS2, Microsoft entering the ring with the Xbox and, of course, Sega making their Dying Moment of Awesome with the Dreamcast.
I'm sure it contained some good information, but the exclusion of some notable systems, and the inclusion of un-notable ones, seemed strange and off-putting.