Description

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A thrilling illustrated journey through the history of video games and what they really mean to us

Golden Axe. The Sims. Half Life. Mega Drive. SNES. Like many teenagers around the world, Edward Ross grew up on a steady diet of video games and fascinating gadgets. As he continued to obsess over video games while drawing comic books, he started wondering what it was that made them more than just a pastime. Why do we play?

This gorgeously illustrated book takes us deep into the history of video games, from the early prototypes created in the late 1940s through the growth of the medium in the 1970s and into the modern era, in which games are a crucial part of mainstream culture.

Exploring politics, history, and personal stories, and moving seamlessly from the greatest hits to engrossing indie games, Gamish is a love letter to an obsession that has gripped more than two billion people around the world.

About the Author

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Edward Ross is an Edinburgh-based comic-book artist, writer, and illustrator. He is the author of the widely acclaimed Filmish: A Graphic Journey through Film and has also worked on a series of science-themed comics.

Praise For…

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'A love letter to gaming in all its forms - from board games, to role-play, to virtual reality and video games. For fans of gaming, this is the perfect read. For those new to gaming, it is the perfect introduction' The Scotsman

Gamish is a fascinating read. Insights for anyone who games, and revelations for those who don't -- Val McDermid

Fascinating, revealing and thoughtful ... Ross constructs loving, pastel-coloured visual narrative around titles such as Metroid, Doom and Papers Please, exploring not just the timeline of games but also the culture that makes and consumes them -- Keith Stuart ― Guardian

A love letter to gaming in all its forms - from board games, to role-play, to virtual reality and video games. For fans of gaming, this is the perfect read. For those new to gaming, it is the perfect introduction -- Hannah Sycamore ― The Scotsman

A very fast paced and entertaining read ― Metro

Gamish is warm, it has a sense of fun and humour and importantly it has a lot of optimism for the media and for the way it can empower all sorts of people (the book takes pains to include a lot of diversity in the characters we see, which again I appreciated greatly), and right now that feels like a wonderful, uplifting notion to leave the readers on -- Joe Gordon ― Down the Tubes

I'm adding non-fiction comic book Gamish to my Christmas list. It's a graphical history of gaming, with an emphasis less on the technological beats of the last 40 years, and more on the games themselves and the culture surrounding them -- Colin Campbell