Extra Lives : Why Video Games Matter

Hello. I know I didn't put books in my things to cover last post, but that was before I finished reading Extra Lives : Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell.

I love the cover

Published in 2010 it covers a lot of recent games such as Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Far Cry 1 & 2, and quite a story about grand theft auto. This book goes into the mind of Tom Bissell as he writes about his experience with video games and how each one gave him fond memories and a story to tell.

You can tell that each time he writes about an experience or describes walking into the main headquarters of Ubisoft, that he fells like a kid in a candy store excitedly looking at all the new flavors of candy and being told that new flavors are being coded and play tested as they speak (Candy = Video Games)

The way he describes the games is fascinating and it make me want to buy and play the games he was talking about for hours apon hours. Having played most of the games he talked about (with the exception of the Far Cries and I'm getting around to play Mass Effect 2) i knew what he was talking about and in some cases did what he did.

I loved the book for this feeling and up to the last chapter all was going well. Do you know that feeling in movies when things are going to good and you know that something bad is about to happen? Yeah, that feeling never happened, and to my surprise the book took a dark turn after a friend of his brought over cocaine. I wont spoil what happens but i honestly felt like Tom was my bud and i had to watch him go through this and there was nothing i could do.

Overall i loved the book and encourage all video game enthusiasts to read it.

Keep Gaming,
Uber