Game Over, Press Start to Continue The Maturing of Mario David Sheff with New Chapters by Andy Eddy ISBN 0-966-9617-0-6 review by Zube (Zube@cs.colostate.edu) Created: May 17, 2002 Updated: Dec 29, 2002 http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~dzubera/game.over [Additions, suggestions, corrections or thoughtful discussion always welcome.] It has been five years since I read the previous edition, _Game Over, How Nintendo Conquered the World_, and I'm sorry to say that time has not been kind to this book. Whether it is because I have learned more about the industry or because I'm a PITA for getting facts right or just that the book doesn't hold up over time isn't clear. What is clear is that it is certainly not in the same class as Kent's Ultimate History of Videogames and it is probably not in the same class as Phoenix, The Fall and Rise of Videogames (although I haven't read the latest edition of that one). Here's a brief description of the book, from the previous review: In short, Sheff details Nintendo's rise from a 19th century playing card company through its expansion in the mid 80's and early 90's, complete with (perhaps a bit too much) biographical information of some of the top executives at the company. The book, while not perfect, is probably the most complete information in one place concerning how Nintendo and its leaders thought, worked and thrived in the video game business of the time period. I still stand by that paragraph, although I now contend that there is far too much biographical information and overall fluff in the book. For example, I can't tell you how much it meant to me to know that Alexey Pajitnov once "downed a mound of wasabi ... [and] felt a stinging explosion in his nostrils and behind his eyeballs," and that KFC "became his favorite American food." Goodness knows I've always wondered about those things. Before I start discussing the real problems with _Game Over_, let me state at the top that I still believe that anyone with an interest in video game history should own this book. "Why are going down to the saloon? You know the game is rigged." "Yep, but it's the only game in town." To Sheff's credit, the book has many interesting insights into Japanese culture and business, Nolan Bushnell, Trip Hawkins, the video game industry, and the toy industry, but the most revealing bits are about greed and power. It also does a very nice job of explaining the background for some of the problems Nintendo faced, including their decision to design the Nintendo64 as a cart-based system. Still, it's a very rough ride. So, what's wrong with _Game Over_? 1) Factual errors, unfixed typos and sins of omission. I started to make an errata similar to the one I worked on for The Ultimate History of Video Games, but quickly came to the realization that the amount of work involved would be immense. Some of the factual bits are so wrong it was hard to know where to begin; the beginning of the book and the Borders chapter are especially bad. The NES and SNES taking over as the main networked computer in the home? Not in this world. A typo for July 1969 (p. 284) continues to survive in the new edition, making me wonder if anyone cares about the quality of the book. Under sins of omission, I'd list a sentence that reads: (p. 36) "...the fourteen competing home video-game machine companies withdrew from the market." If that is true, it's extraordinary! Imagine having fifteen game systems to choose from at any one time. Sheff then mentions the MSX "being put in its place," a Sega SG-1000 that "fizzled" and an offhand remark about Atari. Go on. What were the systems? 2) Bias. This is not "The Unofficial and Balanced Nintendo Story." It is instead almost a documentary that reads as if it were written, produced and authorized by Nintendo. While Nintendo is usually looked upon in a positive light, most other companies are not. When Nintendo exhibits behavior that borders on illegality and certainly crosses the line of morality, they are viewed as tough and shrewd. Also, successes are typically glorified, while failures, when mentioned at all, are just lead-ins to other successes. For example, two of Nintendo's least successful arcade games, Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong 3 are not mentioned, but Donkey Kong and the Super Mario series are given large sections in the book. In one of the new chapters, the Virtual Boy failure is not critically examined; instead, it was an "interesting idea and somewhat of a focus on breakthrough technology" that "in its launch in the Fall (sic), it sold more product than Saturn did." Right. Sure it did. Frustratingly, in many cases _Game Over_ reads like a company white paper, culminating in this Microsoft-ish bit that had me giggling: (p. 469) "We never tried to screw [any third-party publisher] in terms of where their product was versus ours. There's always been a Chinese wall between our licensing department -- the third-party publishing people -- and the rest of the company, and that's always been the case." [Microsoft has always contended that there is a Chinese Wall between their OS and application divisions. For a description of just how paper-thin the MS "wall" is, read Jerry Kaplan's Startup.] If it's a balanced story you are looking for, you won't find it here. 3) Sheff seems to delight in Nintendo's power over others and their ruling through intimidation and fear. Here are some of the quotes that he puts on display. "I thought to myself, you have no idea what you have taken on: a tiger who will skin you piece by piece." "The tiger was poised, with renewed confidence, ready to take on any new threats." "It was revenge, he [Arakawa] says. And you know what they say about how sweet revenge can be." "We knew we had those bastards by the balls." "You don't fuck with a nine-hundred-pound gorilla." "Mr. Nakamura suffered the anguish of the defeated king .... The biggest blow was to have to crawl back to Yamauchi -- the defeated king accepting that he must now be a courtier." 4) In one sense, there is too much Sheff and not enough book. We have a dedication and some acknowledgments (traditional), an epilogue (ok), an afterword (uh ...) and a preface to the two new chapters (oh boy!). In these sections, we are not only treated to Sheff's opinion on Mortal Kombat ("the most inane, repetitive and violent game yet") but we also find out that his son Nicholas can predict trends years in advance and that "Nick" now prefers reading to Nintendo. Again, thanks for that. Now I can sleep at night, my most pressing questions answered. 5) "Here's your suspension-of-reality ticket. Walk this way, please." Sheff spins a very nice tale about how Mario got his name from the owner of the first warehouse Nintendo rented in the US. That part seems plausible enough, but then there is this: "The landlord's name was Mario Segali. "Mario," they decided. "Super Mario!" If this is somehow supposed to imply that the entire Super Mario series derived from this comment, then go on, pull the other one. According the the book, this comment was made just as Donkey Kong arcade machines were starting to take off, a full *3* arcade games before Super Mario Bros. first appeared. It's a wonderful, storybook tale, but unless _Game Over_ is supposed to be in the fiction section, let's as least pretend that reality exits, shall we? 6) The two chapters bolted to the end of the book aren't very insightful, and again, read like a (32-page) Nintendo white paper. 7) Interestingly, the subtitle of the original edition of the book was called "How Nintendo Zapped An American Industry, Captured Your Dollars and Enslaved Your Children." A cynical person might wonder why the title changed and why in so drastic a manner. Wow, that ride was much worse than I thought! Wrapping up, _Game Over_ is a fairly good, fluff-filled *story.* Sometimes the story is interesting and gripping; other times, it's so one-sided as to be laughable, but at almost all times, atmosphere takes precedence over reality. As long as one does not depend on this book for hard facts (or even soft facts) or for a balanced look at Nintendo, it's enjoyable enough for one's bookshelf.