There's a lot of good information here, and I liked how the the writer and illustrator made themselves characters and took the audience on an adventure through years of video games. I liked the art, and it's technically well written but I did find the timeline difficult to follow at times. I appreciated that the creators were self-aware and commented when it started to feel like a slog, but I feel like instead of commenting on it, they could have just worked out a way to make it a bit more interesting. I also disliked the way they sort of brushed past gamergate by bringing it up only to say it was bad but never really explaining what it was or how detrimental it was to women in gaming.

Overall, I think anyone who enjoys videogames and wants to learn more about them might enjoy this.

7.5
Funny and charming, yet educational. The reader joins the crazy ride through story of beloved industry from it's beginings unitl most recent mile stones. Powerhouses like Sony, Nintendo and cult classics like Mario, Fallout, StarCraft or even Pong - everything has it's place. The artwork is not fully up my alley, but it's stylized concept fits the narrative. Nice read for all video games' fans - regardless of their age.

This is a very comprehensive history of video games with fun illustrations that reference historic moments in video game history. While this was structured as a timeline, the narrative loops made it hard to get a clear sense of the progression. The audience was somewhat unclear: most of the time, it reads as if it were written for fans of video games, but occasionally it will define basic terms that even those unfamiliar with the topic will know. Overall, I recommend this for current fans of the medium looking to learn some fun facts for their next trivia night.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I couldn’t quite figure out the beginning of this graphic biography. It features an older man who is about my age, so peak Generation X, and the young 20-something illustrator. It turns out that the man is a professor and he’s teaching the artist all about the history of video games.

From Pong to The Oregon Trail to the early Atari and Nintendo console systems, I found the actual facts and history much more interesting than the weird subplot of the two characters traveling through time with what looks like a super soaker gun that blasts them through wormholes to different parts in time. The book was sometimes humorous but other times, the jokes fell flat on me like it was Dad humor.

The artwork is bright and colorful and may engage the younger reader who may not realize the depth and breadth of the history of video gaming, and how even though our generation grew up, we didn’t stop playing the games.

Several of the fonts this graphic novel utilizes are extremely hard to read and contributed to me not being able to finish the book. The writing lacks fluidity and a nuance, which is a shame because the information seems well researched. The illustrations are great and I believe with some writing tune ups this graphic novel would have better promise. I think the advantage an artists has to "show not tell" in a graphic novel should be examined and better incorporated here.

I can't see the words on this arc, very unfortunate so I will have to give this a 1 star due that. To specify the letters are literally not visible at all.

I recieved a digital ARC of this graphic novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for review.

This is a fun graphic novel where the artist and the writer go through an adventure through various points in history related to video games. The art is really lovely, and the book is packed with history and context for the changes throughout time. I think this would be a great graphic novel for someone interested in history. For me, it was perhaps too much history but I could see other people really enjoying this book.

The reason I picked up this book was the fact that I didn't know much about the history of video games and it seemed like a fun way to learn since I love graphic novels and I don't really read them as much as I would like to.

It didn't disappoint in the slightest. It was super easy to read and the illustrations are SO SO cute and well drawn. The story is a bit more on the informative side, which was precisely what I expected - it really did educate me about the history of video games and technology and how it all evolved during the last couple of decades, so I didn't mind.

I would absolutely recommend this to someone who wants to broaden their knowledge of this particular topic, but also to those who are already familiar with it, to see it in this format as well.

I would like to thank McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Informative, charming art, the writing isn't particularly engaging. A decent debut, not too likely to draw interest to anyone of anyone not already interested in the subject matter however.

This was such a fun and informative book. I really love the illustrations and the storyline accompanying the history of video games.

There were definitely some fun plot ideas here, but it ended up feeling more like a bunch of facts being rattled off with cute illustrations. That being said, I think this would make a great gift for someone really into video games or tech. The art is super cute and there are some genuinely interesting facts in there!💗

ARC — Thanks NetGalley!

A very cool graphic novel about the different eras and evolution of video games and who the masterminds were that created them.

I am into video games along with my family so getting to read this and seeing the evolution of how and who they were made by is pretty cool. It was very well done and engaging, funny, and informative.

This is for you if you are into graphic novels, history, and video games.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing via Netgalley for the Epub in exchange for my honest review.

This is a graphic novel that sets out to cover the long history of video games as a medium. As someone who has been fascinated by games since the age of 5, I found the concept extremely interesting, and having read the entire thing I can say that the book certainly did not disappoint.

'The Age of Video Games' has its two protagonists, Jean and Émilie themselves, travel through time, and sometimes into the worlds of each specific game they are referencing, telling the story of how video games started as a concept, how they interconnect with the history of programming and the personal computer, and how they evolved into the global industry that is now an inseparable part of modern pop culture. There are also many mentions of the people who helped shape the gaming medium, from the early days of the Atari and on. It was good seeing some lesser known names appear, and also seeing the many, many women who have been a part of gaming history since the beginning, being mentioned and credited for their contributions too.

The book wins major points for using comic book format to tell its story. Having the reader being flooded with facts could have become boring very soon, but the beautiful, colourful illustrations accompanying the banter really kept things interesting. I loved the art, and I loved all the video game references and how it changed and adapted accordingly when it depicted different worlds and characters. It kept a solid balance between remaining consistent and making each homage immediately recognisable.

Of course it was impossible to reference every single game, but the book really does an impressive job in covering a lot of ground in that regard. Apart from the big players that one cannot omit when talking about the history of gaming, it was nice seeing indie titles also referenced. On a personal level, it was also good seeing games like 'Full Throttle', 'Maniac Mansion, and 'Grim Fandango' pop up as well. If I had a nitpick, it was that the modern slang sometimes felt a bit inorganic, but admittedly the jokes between the two characters did land for me.

It's a read I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in the history of gaming, as it's a love letter to the medium written with a lot of knowledge and a lot of love for the subject matter.

A big thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with a copy.

I enjoy reading books about video games, and I enjoy graphic novels, so this book was basically the perfect fit for me! It covers the history of video games (so it’s technically nonfiction) but also has a fantasy element with the author/illustrator of the book being transported to various game worlds. The art was gorgeous and they did an excellent job capturing known video game characters and settings to be easily recognizable. The book was also surprisingly humorous at times. Being a graphic novel, it was an easy read, but had plenty of interesting information. I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in video game history.

Such a cool fun concept! This should be the new way of textbooks. So cool to see the history of video games in a graphic novel format.

"The Age of Video Games" is a graphic novel that tells the history of video games in many different forms by Jean Zeid and Emilie Rouge. The artwork is bright and fun and the information is solid, but there was a lot of jumping back and forth throughout time that became a little confusing. Many of the jokes (usually at the expense of the sentient hand-held game console Roby) fell a little flat. An interesting read, especially as someone who grew up with early computer games and at the beginning of the internet. It was fun to spot the different visual references to games. An additional purchase for libraries where informational graphic novels are popular.

As an avid gamer I was excited to pick up this one. Anything that is a deep dive, especially into the history and evolution of video games or different technologies is probably something I will find interesting. I really enjoyed the format of the graphic novel, not just taking us chronologically through the history of video games, but also touching on a wide range of different aspects of video games and how they progressed. I think for anyone there are going to be games they wished had been mentioned, but there's no way to name everything and I felt the author did a good job of not only naming huge titles, but also highlighting a lot of other titles as well, all the way from the beginning of the industry to today. Plus, I loved that even through I've been gaming all my life pretty much there was a lot I didn't know and tons of little factoids that ranged from nuggets of knowledge to humorous tidbits.

this had some fun facts, but the chronology was so discombobulated, the language contained a lot misused Gen Z slang, and the explanations ranged from explaining what MMORPG means and then following it up with what MMO means, as well as including phonetic pronunciation of MMORPG (hint: it's just the letters) and gives a definition for "fail", but then doesn't explain LAN or AAA

alsooooo, the art style, premise, and language reminded A LOT of Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games so that was interesting

I am from the Nintendo generation and I have to say I have never known any of the facts, people, or how video games came to be. My husband and I love video games so much and we kept devouring the information. I loved the illustrations they were well done. If you are a gamer like everyone is in my house then read the origins of gaming…. Game over!

I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read this cool ARC

The progress of the video game industry has come far since its beginnings of games like Pong and Spacewar!. Its history is intertwined with the history of computers "to demonstrate the machine's capabilities". The guides, Jean and Emilie, throughout the graphic novel are a little obnoxious, but the history of video games that they unveil is intriguing. History and video game lovers alike may enjoy this read!

#ThxNetGalley #JeanZeid #TheAgeofVideoGames