Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter

Tom Bissell

Jun 2010 · Sold by Vintage

About this eBook

Tom Bissell is a prizewinning writer who published three widely acclaimed books before the age of thirty-four. He is also an obsessive gamer who has spent untold hours in front of his various video game consoles, playing titles such as Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, and Oblivion for, literally, days. If you are reading this flap copy, the same thing can probably be said of you, or of someone you know.
 
Until recently, Bissell was somewhat reluctant to admit to his passion for games. In this, he is not alone. Millions of adults spend hours every week playing video games, and the industry itself now reliably outearns Hollywood. But the wider culture seems to regard video games as, at best, well designed if mindless entertainment.
 
Extra Lives is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming—but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. Along the way, we get firsthand portraits of some of the best minds (Jonathan Blow, Clint Hocking, Cliff Bleszinski, Peter Molyneux) at work in video game design today, as well as a shattering and deeply moving final chapter that describes, in searing detail, Bissell’s descent into the world of Grand Theft Auto IV, a game whose themes mirror his own increasingly self-destructive compulsions.
 
Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is like no other book on the subject ever published. Whether you love video games, loathe video games, or are merely curious about why they are becoming the dominant popular art form of our time, Extra Lives is required reading.

Ratings and reviews

I love games to the point that, I want this book. I haven't bought it yet, but man when I get the money! LoL! I'm just like Tom, I love games, and I think games are getting ready for the next generation, which believe it or not, is "wait for it" VR. That's right VR is going to rule the world! Let's be honest, would you rather be controlling a character in front of the TV, or would you rather be the character in a VR SUIT! You'd still be be in front of your TV, but... inside of your VR SUIT, you'd have a 360° view of the stadium If you were playing MADDEN (for example), YOU WOULD FEEL THE GROUND MOVE UNDER YOUR FEET, (HAPTIC FEEDBACK) YOU WOULD HEAR THE RAW ENERGY OF THE CROWD. LASTLY YOU WOULD SEE THE 8 MEGA JUMBOTRON SCREENS (advertising, this is where most of the game developers will make their money.) and you'll know this is it, we can't go any further. And you'd be right. The player controlling the character without a controller, is as good as it gets! Lookout GTA V!

A great, addicting read.

good liked reading

About the author

Tom Bissell (Xbox Live gamertag: T C Bissell; PlayStation Network gamertag: TCBissell) is the author of Chasing the Sea, God Lives in St. Petersburg, and The Father of All Things. A recipient of the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Bay de Noc Community College Alumnus of the Year Award, he teaches fiction writing at Portland State University and lives in Portland, Oregon.