Picture 1 of 1
Gallery
Picture 1 of 1
Have one to sell?
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
US $18.72
ApproximatelyRM 78.95
Condition:
Brand New
A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.
2 available
Oops! Looks like we're having trouble connecting to our server.
Refresh your browser window to try again.
Shipping:
Free USPS Ground Advantage®.
Located in: Long Beach, California, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Tue, 29 Jul and Sat, 2 Aug to 91768
Returns:
14 days return. Buyer pays for return shipping. If you use an eBay shipping label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.
Coverage:
Read item description or contact seller for details. See all detailsSee all details on coverage
(Not eligible for eBay purchase protection programmes)
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:365267089423
Item specifics
- Condition
- Brand New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
- ISBN
- 9780307378705
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
ISBN-10
0307378705
ISBN-13
9780307378705
eBay Product ID (ePID)
79257406
Product Key Features
Book Title
Extra Lives : Why Video Games Matter
Number of Pages
240 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2010
Topic
Social Aspects, Television & Video, Popular Culture, Video & Electronic
Genre
Technology & Engineering, Social Science, Games & Activities
Format
Hardcover
Dimensions
Item Height
1 in
Item Weight
15 oz
Item Length
8.6 in
Item Width
5.9 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2009-039602
Dewey Edition
22
Reviews
"Bissell has written the finest account yet of what it feels like to be a video game player at 'this glorious, frustrating time,' a rare moment when humanity encounters, as he writes, 'a form of storytelling that is, in many ways, completely unprecedented.'" -New York Times Book Review "Fantastic . . . I wish, someday, to play a game that will stay wit me as long as this book about games." -Farhad Manjoo,Slate "A master prose stylist, the erudite Bissell is frequently insightful." -Boston Globe "A fascinating book . . .Extra Livesis like taking a private tour at a very exclusive museum, filled with lost masterpieces you never knew existed. You may not find yourself becoming a collector, but you won't soon forget the experience." -San Francisco Chronicle "This journalistic memoir is not only about the meaning of video games; it's about the heat and hesitation of love." -Los Angeles Times "Mr. Bissell is so descriptively alert that his accounts of pixelated derring-do may well interest even those who are immune to the charm of video games . . .Extra Livesis the most fun you'll ever have reading about videogames." -Wall Street Journal "Extra Livesis the first truly indispensable work of literary nonfiction about society's most lucrative entertainment medium. Bissell's commentary is marvelously astute and his enthusiasm for videogames beams through every inch of text." -PasteMagazine "Tom Bissell's brave book, occupying a niche somewhere between journalism and an extended personal essay, couldn't come at a better time." -BarnesAndNobleReview.com "Bissell, a whip-smart writer, is engrossed by the new artistic and narratological possibilities that video gaming opens up to us, and his prose is never dry or academic-rather, it's sweetly personal, and always engaging, even as it pushes its readers to reconsider gaming's lowbrow status." -Time Out New York "A scintillating meditation on the promise and discontents of video games . . . Bissell excels both at intellectual commentary and evocative reportage on the experience of playing games . . . If anyone can bridge the aesthetic chasm between readers and gamers, he can." -Publishers Weekly(Starred review) "Bissell explores not just his own affection for video games but also the games themselves. What separates good games from bad? Where do video games fit on the sliding scale of art? . . . Not just for gamers, the book should also appeal to readers who have some serious questions about the nature and impact of video games." -Booklist "Bissell successfully dissects key aspects of the medium with razor sharp sense and artfully crafted analysis. A thought provoking, thorough, and ultimately personal study of the industry and its denizens." -Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director, Epic Games "The last thing I ever thought I'd do in this life is read a book about video games. And yetExtra Livesis sharp, critical, very funny, and Tom Bissell's description of killing zombies in the first iteration ofResident Evilis simply a tour de force. If you've ever wanted to know whatGrand Theft Autoactually is, and why a highly intelligent person would be interested in it, and whether it is in fact "art," you will really like this book." -Keith Gessen, author ofAll the Sad Young Literary Men "The best long-f, "Tom Bissell is a Renaissance Man for our out-of-joint time . . . His descriptions of simulated gore and mayhem manage to be clinical, gripping, and hilarious all at once. He transmits to the reader the primitive, visceral excitements that make video games so enticing, even addictive, to their legions of devotees. One can almost understand why an intelligent, cultured man such as Bissell has been driven to dedicate large chunks of his adult life to bouts of gaming." -The New Republic "Even ifExtra Liveswasn't the only book to deal with the future of videogames in a serious manner, it would probably still be the best one." -Newsweek "What should videogame criticism look like? Bissell's book offers plenty of tantalizing possibilities. . . A deeply personal work, as entertaining as the video games it profiles . . . It's also the first book about videogames that non-gamers can actually enjoy." -Entertainment Weekly "For anyone who has spent a weekend thrilled by the prospect of beating a game, "Extra Lives" will cast the addiction in a new, cerebral light." -Washington Post "An important, relentlessly perceptive book . . . Bissell proves that it's possible to ruminate on the past, present, and future of video games in a way that is both intellectually rigorous and consistently entertaining." -San Francisco Bay Guardian "Bissell has written the finest account yet of what it feels like to be a video game player at 'this glorious, frustrating time,' a rare moment when humanity encounters, as he writes, 'a form of storytelling that is, in many ways, completely unprecedented.'"-New York Times Book Review "Fantastic . . . I wish, someday, to play a game that will stay wit me as long as this book about games." -Farhad Manjoo,Slate "Extra Livesis the first truly indispensable work of literary nonfiction about society's most lucrative entertainment medium. Bissell's commentary is marvelously astute and his enthusiasm for videogames beams through every inch of text." -PasteMagazine "Tom Bissell is a Renaissance Man for our out-of-joint time . . . His descriptions of simulated gore and mayhem manage to be clinical, gripping, and hilarious all at once. He transmits to the reader the primitive, visceral excitements that make video games so enticing, even addictive, to their legions of devotees. One can almost understand why an intelligent, cultured man such as Bissell has been driven to dedicate large chunks of his adult life to bouts of gaming." -The New Republic "Even ifExtra Liveswasn't the only book to deal with the future of videogames in a serious manner, it would probably still be the best one." -Newsweek "What should videogame criticism look like? Bissell's book offers plenty of tantalizing possibilities. . . A deeply personal work, as entertaining as the video games it profiles . . . It's also the first book about videogames that non-gamers can actually enjoy." -Entertainment Weekly "For anyone who has spent a weekend thrilled by the prospect of beating a game, "Extra Lives" will cast the addiction in a new, cerebral light." -Washington Post "An important, relentlessly perceptive book . . . Bissell proves that it's possible to ruminate on the past, present, and future of video games in a way that is both intellectually rigorous and consistently entertaining." -San Francisco Bay Guardian "A master prose stylist, the erudite Bissell is, "Extra Livesis the first truly indispensable work of literary nonfiction about society's most lucrative entertainment medium. Bissell's commentary is marvelously astute and his enthusiasm for videogames beams through every inch of text." -PasteMagazine "Tom Bissell's brave book, occupying a niche somewhere between journalism and an extended personal essay, couldn't come at a better time." -BarnesAndNobleReview.com "Bissell, a whip-smart writer, is engrossed by the new artistic and narratological possibilities that video gaming opens up to us, and his prose is never dry or academic-rather, it's sweetly personal, and always engaging, even as it pushes its readers to reconsider gaming's lowbrow status." -Time Out New York "A scintillating meditation on the promise and discontents of video games . . . Bissell excels both at intellectual commentary and evocative reportage on the experience of playing games . . . If anyone can bridge the aesthetic chasm between readers and gamers, he can." -Publishers Weekly(Starred review) "Bissell explores not just his own affection for video games but also the games themselves. What separates good games from bad? Where do video games fit on the sliding scale of art? . . . Not just for gamers, the book should also appeal to readers who have some serious questions about the nature and impact of video games." -Booklist "Bissell successfully dissects key aspects of the medium with razor-sharp sense and artfully crafted analysis. A thought-provoking, thorough, and ultimately personal study of the industry and its denizens." -Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games "The last thing I ever thought I'd do in this life is read a book about video games. And yetExtra Livesis sharp, critical, and very funny, and Tom Bissell's description of killing zombies in the first iteration ofResident Evilis simply a tour de force. If you've ever wanted to know whatGrand Theft Autoactually is, why a highly intelligent person would be interested in it, and whether it is in fact 'art,' you will really like this book." -Keith Gessen, author ofAll the Sad Young Literary Men "The best long-form writing about games I've read. No one else has written an experiential consideration of games that so carefully and lovingly examines their blossoms and warts. No one else has written such an astute personal account of the push and pull of games, both in terms of their meaning in our lives and in the many ways they infiltrate our consciousness and drive us bananas. No one has given me more reason to believe I'm not crazy when I say I cherish-and I don't casually use that word-the experiences video games have given me." -Michael Abbott, brainygamer.com, "A scintillating meditation on the promise and discontents of video games . . . Bissell excels both at intellectual commentary and evocative reportage on the experience of playing games . . . If anyone can bridge the aesthetic chasm between readers and gamers, he can." -Publishers Weekly(Starred review) "Bissell explores not just his own affection for video games but also the games themselves. What separates good games from bad? Where do video games fit on the sliding scale of art? . . . Not just for gamers, the book should also appeal to readers who have some serious questions about the nature and impact of video games." -Booklist "Bissell successfully dissects key aspects of the medium with razor-sharp sense and artfully crafted analysis. A thought-provoking, thorough, and ultimately personal study of the industry and its denizens." -Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games "The last thing I ever thought I'd do in this life is read a book about video games. And yetExtra Livesis sharp, critical, and very funny, and Tom Bissell's description of killing zombies in the first iteration ofResident Evilis simply a tour de force. If you've ever wanted to know whatGrand Theft Autoactually is, why a highly intelligent person would be interested in it, and whether it is in fact 'art,' you will really like this book." -Keith Gessen, author ofAll the Sad Young Literary Men "The best long-form writing about games I've read. No one else has written an experiential consideration of games that so carefully and lovingly examines their blossoms and warts. No one else has written such an astute personal account of the push and pull of games, both in terms of their meaning in our lives and in the many ways they infiltrate our consciousness and drive us bananas. No one has given me more reason to believe I'm not crazy when I say I cherish-and I don't casually use that word-the experiences video games have given me." -Michael Abbott, brainygamer.com, "The last thing I ever thought I'd do in this life is read a book about video games. And yetExtra Livesis sharp, critical, very funny, and Tom Bissell's description of killing zombies in the first iteration ofResident Evilis simply a tour de force. If you've ever wanted to know whatGrand Theft Autoactually is, and why a highly intelligent person would be interested in it, and whether it is in fact "art," you will really like this book." -Keith Gessen, author ofAll the Sad Young Literary Men "Bissell successfully dissects key aspects of the medium with razor sharp sense and artfully crafted analysis. A thought provoking, thorough, and ultimately personal study of the industry and its denizens." -Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director, Epic Games "The best long-form writing about games I've read. No one has written an experiential consideration of games that so carefully and lovingly examines their blossoms and warts. No one has written an astute personal account of the push and pull of games, both in terms of their meaning in our lives and in the many ways they infiltrate our consciousness and drive us bananas. No one has given me more reason to believe I'm not crazy when I say I cherish-and I don't casually use that word-the experiences video games have given me." -Michael Abbott, brainygamer.com
Dewey Decimal
794.8
Synopsis
Tom Bissell is a prizewinning writer who published three widely acclaimed books before the age of thirty-four. He is also an obsessive gamer who has spent untold hours in front of his various video game consoles, playing titles such as Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, and Oblivion for, literally, days. If you are reading this flap copy, the same thing can probably be said of you, or of someone you know. Until recently, Bissell was somewhat reluctant to admit to his passion for games. In this, he is not alone. Millions of adults spend hours every week playing video games, and the industry itself now reliably outearns Hollywood. But the wider culture seems to regard video games as, at best, well designed if mindless entertainment. Extra Lives is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming--but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. Along the way, we get firsthand portraits of some of the best minds (Jonathan Blow, Clint Hocking, Cliff Bleszinski, Peter Molyneux) at work in video game design today, as well as a shattering and deeply moving final chapter that describes, in searing detail, Bissell's descent into the world of Grand Theft Auto IV , a game whose themes mirror his own increasingly self-destructive compulsions. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is like no other book on the subject ever published. Whether you love video games, loathe video games, or are merely curious about why they are becoming the dominant popular art form of our time, Extra Lives is required reading., Combining the author's personal experience with interviews of some of the leading game designers at work today, "Extra Lives" is an insightful--and highly entertaining--appraisal of this ubiquitous form of popular art.
LC Classification Number
GV1469.3.B55 2010
Item description from the seller
Seller feedback (2,217)
- d***a (1178)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseItem perfect as posted. Fast ship. Recommend this ebay seller.
- 3***4 (5)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseWas as expected. Great condition.
- t***e (232)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseArrived as described.
More to explore :
- Video Game Magazines,
- Video Game Monthly Magazines,
- Computer Games Magazines Video Games,
- Video Game Magazines 1980-1999,
- Magazines Subscriptionless Video Games,
- Video Games with Subscription Magazines,
- Video Game 1st Edition Magazines,
- Nintendo Power Video Game Magazines,
- 2000-Now Magazines Video Games,
- Sega Visions Magazines Video Games
Seller feedback (2,217)
- d***a (1178)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseItem perfect as posted. Fast ship. Recommend this ebay seller.
- 3***4 (5)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseWas as expected. Great condition.
- t***e (232)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseArrived as described.