Extra Lives

Why Video Games Matter

By: Tom Bissell

Narrated by: Tom Bissell

Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Tom Bissell is a prizewinning writer who published three widely acclaimed books before the age of 34. 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 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 work 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 listening.

©2010 Tom Bissell (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"A scintillating meditation on the promise and discontents of video games....Bissell excels both at intellectual commentary and evocative reportage on the experience of playing games...If anyone can bridge the aesthetic chasm between readers and gamers, he can." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Bissell explores not just his own affection for video games but also the games themselves. What separates good games from bad? Where do video games fit on the sliding scale of art?....Not just for gamers, the book should also appeal to readers who have some serious questions about the nature and impact of video games." ( Booklist)

“Bissell successfully dissects key aspects of the medium with razor-sharp sense and artfully crafted analysis. A thought-provoking, thorough, and ultimately personal study of the industry and its denizens.”(Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games)

Ever Wonder about Video Games?

First, I am not a gamer. Second, I try to find books that inform me about subjects unfamiliar. This book will inform and excite those seeking to understand the attraction of games. It will inform people with family members and friends who spend hours, in the dark, competing with others on-line.

The book combines gaming history, psychology of gamers, programming, and the development of gaming as an art form.

The book is wonderfully written and read by Tom Bissel. It will keep the interest of anyone who listens.

Exactly what I was looking for

Was very refreshing to read a book so critical but clearly passionate about video games at the same time. The style is a mix, and I have seen reviews that say the personal essay sections seem navel gaze-y, but for me it was hugely refreshing to see a book that got into discussions I have Been trying to find more of in books.

If you ever feel frustrated by video games and their lack of innovation at times (especially in AAA titles), this book does a great job of focusing on not only looking at those flaws, but developers who openly talk about design in certain chapters (Jonathan blow and Peter molyneux are highlights). The author’s personal relationships with games helps ground us in why he goes on this journey in the book.

Meh.

The author makes some strong points about gaming, it's social impact, and it's place as a form of art. Comes off more like an essay and really falls off in the last third when talking about his use of cocaine and binge gaming. In the end you get the feeling that games are a huge negative which is starkly in contrast to how the book is in the first half. Is the author playing devil's advocate or did he abandon the original premise?

The guy has some excellent views on the matter, but as a book? May want to pass this one up.

Was not as expected based on the title

I agree that the subject matter of this book was interesting, but the point of the book was “ why video games matter “ and the author never really wrote about this topic in this book. The author talked about specific games and some criticisms he had on those games, but he did not explain why those games, or games in general, matter; if he did I just didn’t understand the way he chose to explain it. Overall I learned some interesting things about video games but I wish the advertised subject matter was more talked about in this book.

Love from a Gamer

Tom Bissell is engaging and fascinating as he guides you through both the gaming industry in general and his personal experience with gaming. As a gamer who enjoys stories in games, this book was everything I was hoping for and more.

Interesting, even for a novice...

With the exception of a handful of hours at Goldeneye and Super Mario Galaxy, I haven't played video games since the days of the SNES. Sometime last year, I saw what kids these days were playing and was quite frankly was scared. Not because of the super violence in them. But because the apparent limitless entertainment possibilities of them seemed to threaten my business - movies - with obsoleteness. I've been looking for a book about video game aesthetics and with this I finally found it. The narration is personal and casual - making me wish that more authors did their own narration instead of hiring "professionals".

Gamer or Not, Must Listen

Extra Lives is an incredibly interesting account of the authors personal experience with video games. It's not quite what I expected, but it was incredibly enjoyable.

Average but Interesting

This book was an okay book. I found the subject matter rather interesting and enjoyed Tom's vivid depictions of the sensations he felt during various moments of game play. The scope of games he reviewed were somewhat limiting but he warned the reader of this fact in the prologue and mentioned it a few times during the story.

One of my greatest displeasures in reading this was Tom's usage of superfluous words to describe things. I consider myself quite well read and commanding a higher than average vocabulary but some words he used either were so wrongly pronounced that I could not ascertain the actual word or he simply made up words using common root combinations. This would have been less jarring had he not used a string of colorful words followed by an f bomb... This just seemed as though he was trying to appear more scholarly than he actually is to appeal to some internal facet of his personality that he would otherwise be unable to reach.

Despite this, I did enjoy the book and believe it is a solid attempt and merging two genres that are usually considered mutually exclusive (namely... Art and Video Games).

A Sobering Confession by a Deep Gamer

Although I am a Mmo player and don't play FPS or MA games this was a fascinating journey down the rabbit hole

Dated exploration of what the author got out of games

It’s got a talented narrator, the author goes through games that he’s played and what he’s gotten out of them.

It’s surprising how dated in just about 10 years this book has gotten, I had to remind myself multiple times that this was an older book written before better recent examples have come out.