-
Sid Meier's Memoir!
- A Life in Computer Games
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings
- The Rise and Fall of Sierra On-Line
- By: Ken Williams
- Narrated by: Josh Horowitz
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sierra On-Line was one of the very first computer game companies and at one time dominated the industry. The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best-selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over 1,000 employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal, and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra.
-
-
a fitting ending to Sierra
- By Darrell on 05-10-21
By: Ken Williams
-
Stay Awhile and Listen
- How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire, Book 1
- By: David L. Craddock
- Narrated by: Mike Rylander
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Composed from exhaustive research and hundreds of personal interviews, the Stay Awhile and Listen series divulges the fated meeting that brought the two Blizzards together, the clashes that tore them apart, and their transformation from grassroots democracy to corporate empire. At the center of it all - Diablo, a hack-and-slash adventure through the darkest recesses of Hell that changed online gaming forever.
-
-
Interesting look into the history of Blizzard
- By Dex Kade on 09-06-17
-
Getting Gamers
- The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them
- By: Jamie Madigan
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Getting Gamers will show that rather than being a waste of time, video games can help us develop skills, make friends, succeed at work, form good habits, and be happy. Taking the time to learn what's happening in our heads as we play and shop allows us to approach games and gaming communities on our own terms and get more out of them. With examples from the games themselves, Jamie Madigan offers a fuller understanding of the impact of games on our psychology and the influence of psychology on our games.
-
-
Great look into why we play
- By Jody on 01-08-20
By: Jamie Madigan
-
Masters of Doom
- How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously successful game franchises in history - Doom and Quake - until the games they made tore them apart. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry.
-
-
How it was
- By Ryan on 08-27-13
By: David Kushner
-
Gamedev
- 10 Steps to Making Your First Game Successful
- By: Wlad Marhulets
- Narrated by: Yong Yea
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The book guides you through a step-by-step process of making a commercial game. It teaches you how to learn all the necessary skills and covers various aspects of game development: mindset, preproduction, funding, business, law, development, marketing, PR, publishing, distribution, as well as pre-launch, launch, and post-launch strategies.
-
-
The bible of modern game development.
- By Jason Parks on 11-12-20
By: Wlad Marhulets
-
Braving Britannia
- Tales of Life, Love, and Adventure in Ultima Online
- By: Wes Locher
- Narrated by: Robert Bekuhrs
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Braving Britannia is an oral history of the groundbreaking PC video game, Ultima Online, which launched in 1997 and still operates today. The audiobook features interviews with players as they share how the game affected their lives. In a fantasy world of limitless potential, the only thing players seem to enjoy more than playing the game is talking about it, and yet, the true stories behind the avatars have largely gone unpublished for the past 20 years. Until now.
-
-
A nostalgia filled trip down memory lane.
- By Review on 12-12-19
By: Wes Locher
-
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings
- The Rise and Fall of Sierra On-Line
- By: Ken Williams
- Narrated by: Josh Horowitz
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sierra On-Line was one of the very first computer game companies and at one time dominated the industry. The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best-selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over 1,000 employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal, and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra.
-
-
a fitting ending to Sierra
- By Darrell on 05-10-21
By: Ken Williams
-
Stay Awhile and Listen
- How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire, Book 1
- By: David L. Craddock
- Narrated by: Mike Rylander
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Composed from exhaustive research and hundreds of personal interviews, the Stay Awhile and Listen series divulges the fated meeting that brought the two Blizzards together, the clashes that tore them apart, and their transformation from grassroots democracy to corporate empire. At the center of it all - Diablo, a hack-and-slash adventure through the darkest recesses of Hell that changed online gaming forever.
-
-
Interesting look into the history of Blizzard
- By Dex Kade on 09-06-17
-
Getting Gamers
- The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them
- By: Jamie Madigan
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Getting Gamers will show that rather than being a waste of time, video games can help us develop skills, make friends, succeed at work, form good habits, and be happy. Taking the time to learn what's happening in our heads as we play and shop allows us to approach games and gaming communities on our own terms and get more out of them. With examples from the games themselves, Jamie Madigan offers a fuller understanding of the impact of games on our psychology and the influence of psychology on our games.
-
-
Great look into why we play
- By Jody on 01-08-20
By: Jamie Madigan
-
Masters of Doom
- How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously successful game franchises in history - Doom and Quake - until the games they made tore them apart. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry.
-
-
How it was
- By Ryan on 08-27-13
By: David Kushner
-
Gamedev
- 10 Steps to Making Your First Game Successful
- By: Wlad Marhulets
- Narrated by: Yong Yea
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The book guides you through a step-by-step process of making a commercial game. It teaches you how to learn all the necessary skills and covers various aspects of game development: mindset, preproduction, funding, business, law, development, marketing, PR, publishing, distribution, as well as pre-launch, launch, and post-launch strategies.
-
-
The bible of modern game development.
- By Jason Parks on 11-12-20
By: Wlad Marhulets
-
Braving Britannia
- Tales of Life, Love, and Adventure in Ultima Online
- By: Wes Locher
- Narrated by: Robert Bekuhrs
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Braving Britannia is an oral history of the groundbreaking PC video game, Ultima Online, which launched in 1997 and still operates today. The audiobook features interviews with players as they share how the game affected their lives. In a fantasy world of limitless potential, the only thing players seem to enjoy more than playing the game is talking about it, and yet, the true stories behind the avatars have largely gone unpublished for the past 20 years. Until now.
-
-
A nostalgia filled trip down memory lane.
- By Review on 12-12-19
By: Wes Locher
-
All Your Base Are Belong to Us
- How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture
- By: Harold Goldberg
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the stories of gaming's greatest innovations and most-beloved creations, journalist Harold Goldberg captures the creativity, controversy - and passion - behind the videogame's meteoric rise to the top of the pop-culture pantheon. Over the last 50 years, video games have grown from curiosities to fads to trends to one of the world's most popular forms of mass entertainment.
-
-
A History of Game Developers, Not Games
- By Brandon on 05-06-16
By: Harold Goldberg
-
Prepare to Meet Thy Doom
- And More True Gaming Stories
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Masters of Doom author David Kushner comes Prepare to Meet Thy Doom, a compilation of true gaming stories covering many facets of America's biggest entertainment business: the video game industry. In addition to more than a dozen fascinating tales of game creation, play, business, and controversy, Prepare to Meet Thy Doom follows up on Kushner's previous best seller, Masters of Doom, with a long-awaited update.
-
-
A mixtape of essays
- By Scarlet Spark on 03-18-17
By: David Kushner
-
Console Wars
- Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation
- By: Blake J. Harris
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 20 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video-game industry. In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video-game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But all that would change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a former Mattel executive who knew nothing about video games and everything about fighting uphill battles.
-
-
My Childhood: Explained
- By Shane Snyder on 07-22-14
By: Blake J. Harris
-
Video Game Storytelling
- What Every Developer Needs to Know About Narrative Techniques
- By: Evan Skolnick
- Narrated by: D.G. Chichester
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With increasingly sophisticated video games being consumed by an enthusiastic and expanding audience, the pressure is on game developers like never before to deliver exciting stories and engaging characters. With Video Game Storytelling, game writer and producer Evan Skolnick provides a comprehensive yet easy-to-follow guide to storytelling basics and how they can be applied at every stage of the development process - by all members of the team.
-
-
Starts great but drifts away from writing.
- By Lemondrop S on 03-24-22
By: Evan Skolnick
-
The Making of Prince of Persia
- Journals 1985 - 1993
- By: Jordan Mechner
- Narrated by: Yuri Lowenthal
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The creator of one of the most innovative and best-selling video games of all time gives an unvarnished look into the process in this one-of-a-kind compilation. Before Prince of Persia was a best-selling video game franchise and a Disney movie, it was an Apple II computer game created and programmed by one person: Jordan Mechner.
-
-
Reliving the journey
- By Nawal Al Muhairi on 05-23-22
By: Jordan Mechner
-
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
- The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes listeners on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius.
-
-
Behind the Scenes
- By SAMA on 11-27-17
By: Jason Schreier
-
Press Reset
- Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.
-
-
Audio Quality is Inconsistent
- By Amazon Customer on 09-14-21
By: Jason Schreier
-
Replay
- The History of Video Games
- By: Tristan Donovan, Richard Garriott
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A riveting account of the birth and remarkable evolution of the most important development in entertainment since television, Replay is the ultimate history of video games. From its origins in the research labs of the 1940s to the groundbreaking success of the Wii, Replay sheds new light on gaming's past.
-
-
Excellent Book
- By Devin on 01-17-18
By: Tristan Donovan, and others
-
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Steven Levy
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers - those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers.
-
-
Remember Why You Got Into Computing
- By Dan Collins on 07-01-16
By: Steven Levy
-
Fire in the Valley
- The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer
- By: Michael Swaine, Paul Freiberger
- Narrated by: Don Azevedo
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1970s, while their contemporaries were protesting the computer as a tool of dehumanization and oppression, a motley collection of college dropouts, hippies, and electronics fanatics were engaged in something much more subversive. Obsessed with the idea of getting computer power into their own hands, they launched from their garages a hobbyist movement that grew into an industry, and ultimately a social and technological revolution.
-
-
Covers history that most others do not
- By R. Stearns on 01-13-19
By: Michael Swaine, and others
-
The History of the Future
- Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality
- By: Blake J. Harris
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From iconic books like Neuromancer to blockbuster films like The Matrix, virtual reality has long been hailed as the ultimate technology. But outside of a few research labs and military training facilities, this tantalizing vision of the future was nothing but science fiction. Until 2012, when Oculus founder Palmer Luckey - then just a rebellious teenage dreamer living alone in a camper trailer - invents a device that has the potential to change everything.
-
-
Fantastic book
- By Rodney on 04-01-19
By: Blake J. Harris
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
Publisher's Summary
The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the "godfather of computer gaming" and creator of Civilization.
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond.
Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be "a series of interesting decisions", Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design.
More from the same
What listeners say about Sid Meier's Memoir!
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dylan Kelly
- 03-30-21
Great!
Genuinely some of the best game dev insight I've heard. Narrator really gets into performance when needed.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. Squyres
- 10-05-21
Only the Interesting Stuff
This is the way to do biography. Skip childhood, marriage, divorce, remarriage, grandparents and so on -- and just get to the part of your life we're actually interested in. In this case, it's video games.
This isn't actually a biography, it's Meier talking about video games he made. And some of it is technical geek stuff that isn't interesting. And then there's CIV... and that's really interesting. His insights are great. He is humble throughout.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joel Balyeat
- 07-04-21
Inspiring us all to make interesting decisions
An inspiring story from a man who has designed and created at least 55 video games, a true icon in the industry.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Mcfee
- 04-06-22
Fantastic! now there is a true role model
Going in I did not expect to be as enamored with Meier as I now am. He's genuine, guileless, and humble. And he tells great story, warts and all.
If you are interested in game design, the industry, for just a fan, you can't go wrong here.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- No Quarter
- 01-31-22
Nice Insight into the Mind of Sid Meier
Found this Sid Meier's Memoir to be a nice story chronicling Sid Meier's time in game development, from the first Tic Tac Toe game up until Civilization. The author does a very good job of giving explaining how events from his life led to him thinking of ideas for games. Also, goes into a lot of Sid Meier's philosophies for how to make a game, how to make a fun game, and how to look for ideas to develop into games. Towards the end of the book, it does sort of speed up, there isn't too much insight into what Sid Meier is currently doing. I still found it interesting all the way through.
The narrator does a good job of telling the story. I didn't have any problems paying attention and didn't feel that I got lost when listening. I also appreciated that there were a few areas where the narration mentions that it is an audiobook, which is nice knowing the book was at least modified a little before being read. One aspect that I did find a little annoying is the story has "achievements" so there are instances where the narrator will stop mid-paragraph to say "Achievement Unlocked" and tell what the achievement is. I can't really blame the narrator for this, as the author had them in the book, but there were a few times I felt it detracted from a story by interrupting the flow. By the end, I grew to sort of like the achievements as nice callbacks to early moments in the story and as an example of how some things really do work much better in games than other mediums.
Overall, the book flew by, there were very few dull moments or times that I wished the story would just move on. The anecdotes are nice and the insight into the development of some of my favorite games was good. I really also appreciated the anecdote about Nuclear Gandhi and the way that Sid Meier traces the story and what he has to say about it.
I Would recommend it for anyone interested in learning about Sid Meier, the development of video games from the late 70s to the 90s (the sections of post-2000 development are not that detailed), or for someone just interested in video game history.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mahoneko
- 01-31-22
The greatest games designer and dev in history.
An absolute must read for anyone who has played, never mind developed computer games. I had not idea that Sid had made so many of the seminal games in history. Many great fundamental insights into game deign. The industry has come full circle so that indie designers can now again replicate what Sid was doing at the dawn of the industry.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mickie G
- 11-02-21
for those interested in his games or game design..
A thoroughly enjoyable view into the mind of the iconic Sid Meier, who chronicles the rich history from his early games up to Civilization 6. Sid deposits valuable game design axioms, background info, acknowledges the lore, and more for each game/phase of his career. the narrator's straightforward, grounded but not muted delivery makes for an easy listen while preoccupied with other tasks..
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pete Njagi
- 10-07-21
Great memoir
I really enjoyed listening to the perspectives of what went into one of the best game designers ever! The memoir was a complete picture of how one could aim to produce a consistent and creative career from scratch
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MFamily
- 09-23-21
Great memoir with Easter Eggs of life advice
Got the audiobook for Gen X gaming nostalgia only to discover the life advice I wish I'd had growing up. So bought the hardback for easy reference as I try to course correct here in middle age, and to give to my young sons when they're a but older.
Thank you, Sid, for the hours (days/months/years) of fun your games gave me growing up, and now for this wonderful, inspiring autobiography.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James Cameron Abreu
- 09-10-21
Witty and Inspiring for Game Designers or Fans
I was a little taken aback when I first started listening. I thought Sid Meier sounded a little overly proud in the first chapter. It didn’t occur to me how down to Earth a guy he really is until I continued to read on. He’s optimistic and positive but also humble and transparent. His personal life is inspiring, a sort of American Dream kind of theme. Additionally, there are some incredible game design lessons in here that, a hobby game designer and programmer like myself, can make real practical use of. My thanks to Sid for passing the torch! We won’t let you down!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Samuel Garrett
- 02-28-22
One of modern gaming's founding fathers
A great journey through Sid Meier's life: a warm-hearted, humble genius and video game pioneer
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jamie O'Shaughnessy
- 02-23-22
Great trip down memory lane
Having played many Sid Meier games growing up, this was fascinating. Highly recommend for anyone who has a fondness for his games. Well read as an audiobook
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Hugo
- 09-02-21
Outstanding
Extremely interesting for who like me grew up playing Microprose games and has an interest in game development.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- DJ Ricks
- 08-12-21
Awesome insight into the world of Sid Meiers
Awesome insight into the gaming industry, Sid Meier's thought process on making game and his inspiration between games. His history and the gaming world's history of how games have come to be since he has been there from the beginning! Great read/listen
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jamie McGarry
- 01-17-21
"May all of your decisions be interesting"
What a warm, humble and wise man Sid is, and what great company I had during the hours I spent with this book, narrated to perfection by the superbly named Charles Constant. It does start off a touch slow... "is he really going to talk about EVERY game?" I thought after the first half-hour, but this choice was convincingly explained half way through.
It needed one more structural edit to get that fifth star, but the version of it in my head now (with the material rearranged) is full-house worthy. There are a half-dozen ideas here I'm definitely going to use in my life (which barely features any computer games!) like the "doubling or halving" change rule, so you know you're going in the right direction and don't waste time on smaller iterations. Sincere thanks to everyone involved with his book, it was a privilege to hear it.