Loads of information
If you’re a video game enthusiast, like we are here at DC, and you want to find random bits of information mingled in with loads of record breaking moments that surround gaming then you need not look any further. The book that Guinness has produced is nothing short of stuffed stats mingled with stories from across the industry. It’s a the Wal-Mart Super Store of gaming knowledge, where you can virtually find anything you want to know about the industry, outside of how games are created.
It has a bit of history and fun facts. Each section has a timeline of interesting moments in the gaming industry. Each section is divided into a genre of its own, which makes this all the more impressive. So, for example, in the Action-Adventure section of the book you get a beautiful spread detailing some interesting facts and record breaking moments pertaining to that particular genre of gaming. On the bottom there are selected bits of past action-adventure titles that made an impact in some way or another for the video game industry as a whole. Did you know that ADVENT was first text-based adventure game made? Did you know it was made in 1976? Neither did I, but I do now thanks to the very short blurb that was included in that section.
At the beginning of the book you also get a nice, comprehensive breakdown of each system and what the ‘best’ offerings each has currently. It’s a great way of introducing a book and it works perfectly with the next set of sections, which are the genres. After the genres you get some additional info in the ‘Top 50 Video Game Series’ and the book ends with the timeless classic Twin Galaxies leaderboard. If you’re not familiar with Twin Galaxies it’s a place where video game records are broken. If you’ve ever seen King of Kong then you’ll understand. If you haven’t seen it then you need to see it.
For me, I really enjoyed this book. I love reading about facts and records when it comes to gaming and there is no one else in the world I would trust as much as I do Guinness World Records. They are accurate and they present this material in a very interesting fashion.
Now, if I had to complain about anything it would be the layout of the book. While each section is carefully crafted and color-coded, it does have a bit of a sporadic feel in the actual page layout. Everything seems to be a bit squished in and sometimes has no flow to it when you’re going from one fact to the next. I think the layout could have been a bit more organized. I like the blurbs, but i want them ordered in a way that makes it a bit more ‘flowing’. With that said, I think by having this layout the reader is bound to miss something and it’s a great reason to go back and re-read it.
This was my sole complaint, though.