Top 100 (or insert random number here) books have been around for ages. They tend to make great coffee table books, but it takes something really special to start a conversation. Brett Weiss has done just that with his book The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987. Instead of just throwing together a full multiple-page spread with a few generic tidbits and “personal feelings,” this Top 100 book reads more along the line of a great educational text-book. I mean this with only the highest of compliments. With each game featured readers are given a surprisingly in-depth history lesson and a succinct explanation on just why it made this list. The book covers amazing pieces of video game history, some of which are new even to an aficionado like myself.
It is important to note that this isn’t the kind of book that typical gamers today might be expecting. As the book covers the early years of gaming (1977-1987 to be precise), most gamers weren’t even born yet – heck, some of their parents might not have even been born or gaming yet. This means you aren’t going to be seeing any Call of Duty of Mass Effect here. Rather, you’ll see the games that helped inspire the games that the youth are playing today. This text opens up a world that will no doubt be foreign to many, but one that is important and necessary to all gaming fans. It doesn’t matter your age – if you are a hardcore collector, or if you only have a passing interest in video games, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987 will educate everyone on a much simpler time when making games was the wild west and full of limitless possibilities. – Jorge Luis