The Gamer's Bucket List: The 50 Video Games to Play Before You Die
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Imagine with me
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Getting Gamers
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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.
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A History of Video Games in 64 Objects
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- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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5 out of 5 stars
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Console Wars
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- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 20 hrs and 41 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,633
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,386
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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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My Childhood: Explained
- By Shane Snyder on 07-22-14
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Lost in a Good Game
- Why We Play Video Games and What They Can Do for Us
- By: Pete Etchells
- Narrated by: Ryan Burke
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
When Pete Etchells was 13, his father died from motor neurone disease. In order to cope, he immersed himself in a virtual world - first as an escape, but later to try to understand what had happened. Etchells is now a researcher into the psychological effects of video games, and was co-author on a recent paper explaining why WHO plans to classify "game addiction" as a danger to public health are based on bad science and (he thinks) are a bad idea. In this, his first book, he journeys through the history and development of video games via scientific study....
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- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Great look into why we play
- By Jody on 01-08-20
-
Replay
- The History of Video Games
- By: Tristan Donovan, Richard Garriott
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 578
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 549
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 544
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
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A fine addition to my game history collection.
- By Jeffrey Webb on 10-26-17
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The State of Play
- Sixteen Voices of Video Games
- By: Linus Larsson, Daniel Goldberg
- Narrated by: Zachary Webber, Alex Hyde-White, Tonya Cornilesse, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
The State of Play is a call to consider the high stakes of video game culture and how our digital and real lives collide. Here, video games are not hobbies or pure recreation; they are vehicles for art, sex, and race and class politics. The 16 contributors are entrenched - they are the video game creators themselves, media critics, and Internet celebrities. They share one thing: They are all players at heart, handpicked to form a superstar roster by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A mixed bag
- By Bryan on 03-09-16
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Minecraft
- The Unlikely Tale of Markus 'Notch' Persson and the Game that Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Hawkins (translator), Linus Larsson, Daniel Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 602
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 524
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Story4 out of 5 stars 528
Three years ago, 32-year-old Markus "Notch" Persson of Stockholm was an unknown and bored computer programmer. Today, he is a multi-millionaire international icon. Minecraft, the "virtual Lego" game Markus crafted in his free time, has become one of the most talked about activities since Tetris. Talked about by tens of millions of people, in fact.It is the story of unlikely success, fast money, and the power of digital technology to rattle an empire. And it is about creation, exclusion, and the feeling of not fitting in.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A decent depiction of a fascinating story
- By Christopher on 03-07-14
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Bit by Bit
- How Video Games Transformed Our World
- By: Andrew Ervin
- Narrated by: Andrew Ervin
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
Video games have seemingly taken over our lives. Whereas gamers once constituted a small and largely male subculture, today 67 percent of American households play video games. The average gamer is now 34 years old and spends eight hours each week playing - and there is a 40 percent chance this person is a woman. In Bit by Bit, Andrew Ervin sets out to understand the explosive popularity of video games.
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1 out of 5 stars
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This book doesn't know what it wants to be
- By Frank Gabriel on 10-11-18
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Stay Awhile and Listen
- How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire, Book 1
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- Narrated by: Mike Rylander
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 129
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting look into the history of Blizzard
- By Dex Kade on 09-06-17
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Of Dice and Men
- The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It
- By: David M. Ewalt
- Narrated by: David M. Ewalt, Mikael Naramore
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 867
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 809
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 805
In Of Dice and Men, David Ewalt recounts the development of Dungeons & Dragons from the game’s roots on the battlefields of ancient Europe, through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides, to its apotheosis as father of the modern video-game industry. As he chronicles the surprising history of the game’s origins (a history largely unknown even to hardcore players) and examines D&D’s profound impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nerrrrrrrrrrd!
- By A. Listener on 12-28-15
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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
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,098
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,771
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,763
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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Behind the Scenes
- By SAMA on 11-27-17
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Game Thinking
- Innovate Smarter & Drive Deep Engagement with Design Techniques from Hit Games
- By: Amy Jo Kim PhD
- Narrated by: Amy Jo Kim
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
In this groundbreaking audiobook, Amy Jo Kim lays out a step-by-step system for crafting products that people love...and keep loving. The secret? Develop “impossible to put down” products by using techniques that the fast-moving games industry employs when making games that glue millions of players to their screens.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Common Sense Reminders
- By Amazon Customer on 07-10-19
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Prepare to Meet Thy Doom
- And More True Gaming Stories
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 327
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 302
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 301
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A mixtape of essays
- By Scarlet Spark on 03-18-17
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Super Mario
- How Nintendo Conquered America
- By: Jeff Ryan
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,172
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,015
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,011
Nintendo has continually set the standard for video game innovation in America, starting in 1981 with a plucky hero who jumped over barrels to save a girl from an ape. The saga of Mario, the portly plumber who became the most successful franchise in the history of gaming, has plot twists worthy of a video game. Jeff Ryan shares the story of how this quintessentially Japanese company found success in the American market.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Truly super!
- By brenty on 07-20-13
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Neuromancer
- By: William Gibson
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,084
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 5,524
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,536
Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Story? Classic. Narrator? Ugh.
- By Sage on 11-11-14
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Jacked
- The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 277
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 259
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Story4 out of 5 stars 258
Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest and most controversial videogame franchises of all time. Since its first release in 1997, GTA has pioneered the use of everything from 3D graphics to the voices of top Hollywood actors and repeatedly transformed the world of gaming. Despite its incredible innovations in the $75 billion game industry, it has also been a lightning rod of debate, spawning accusations of ethnic and sexual discrimination, glamorizing violence, and inciting real-life crimes.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Kushner Writes Well, Verner Drops the Ball
- By L. Productions on 03-24-13
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Dungeon Hacks
- How NetHack, Angband, and Other Roguelikes Changed the Course of Video Games
- By: David L. Craddock
- Narrated by: Mike Rylander
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In 1980, computers were instruments of science and mathematics, military secrets and academia. Stern administrators lorded over sterile university laboratories and stressed one point to the wide-eyed students privileged enough to set foot within them: Computers were not toys. Defying authority, hackers seized control of monolithic mainframes to create a new breed of computer game: the roguelike, cryptic, and tough-as-nails adventures drawn from text-based symbols instead of state-of-the-art 3-D graphics.
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5 out of 5 stars
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awesome!
- By E H on 10-28-16
Publisher's Summary
Number one Amazon Best Seller!
Which games are worth playing?
The 50 best games: From pixelated pioneer adventures to stunning space odysseys, the boundaries of the video game world are expanding every day. Grand epics and gritty mysteries. Fierce competition and friendly cooperation. Powerful emotions and uproarious laughter. Video games are fantastically diverse and wonderfully creative, but not all games are created equal.
With so many games out there on so many different consoles, computers, and devices, how do you decide which games are worth playing? Backed by years of writing about games professionally and decades spent playing them, Chris Watters lays out a list of 50 games to entertain and enlighten you. Whether you’re trying to learn more about the world of gaming or strengthening your claim to true gaming fluency, these are the games you’ll want to play and why you’ll want to play them.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Charles Harrington
- 06-12-19
Definitive list - Re-Record with the author!
None of us have as much time to play games as we would like so I loved having a list of the standout titles I shouldn’t miss.
Only complaint: why have anyone besides the author record this? He’s a talented video personality and would have made this even better.