Story: An overview of the history of Nintendo, one of the most influential companies in the video game industry. Traces the company from its beginnings as a playing card manufacturer to the heights of its popularity, when its video game consoles were in practically every home across the world. New chapters continue the story into the PlayStation era, when Nintendo’s dominance was surpassed by the international conglomerate Sony.
Review: “Game Over” is the story of a company. If you have ever read a corporate history, you know that they generally do not make scintillating reading. But author David Sheff has done something impressive. He has taken the hard corporate world and put a human identity to it. While there is plenty of hard information: data, trial information, etc., it is the stories of the men and women behind Nintendo that makes the story real.
And it all begins with Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi took over Nintendo in 1949 at the age of 21. From then until very recently he ruled over Nintendo with an iron hand and it is his vision of the company that drove it to its heights. Sheff deftly shows how every major move came right from the top and was rooted in Yamauchi’s corporate philosophy. It illuminates a company whose decisions (cartridges on the N64, no DVDs on GameCube) often seem bizarre to those who don’t “get it”.
But there are others who have had an impact over the years. The company’s two major creative influences, Gunpei Yokoi (creator of the Game Boy hardware and the Metroid franchise) and Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Nintendo’s primary mascot Mario and the Legend of Zelda series), both have extensive coverage. And while this material is interesting, the most fascinating internal story is the long friendship of Minoru Arakawa, first President of Nintendo of America, and Howard Lincoln, the lawyer who joined NOA and had a great deal to do with shaping its success.
But don’t misunderstand. Although it takes pains to show why Nintendo acts the way it does, “Game Over” is no love letter. Nintendo’s failings, from its condescending attitude towards licensees and its infamous anti-trust case of the 80s all receive airings. Yamauchi, particularly, comes off negatively as he seems to put the company above all else, at the expense of personal relationships.
The new chapters by Andy Eddy have the same attention to detail as the originals, but lack the depth. This is to be expected, since the backstory hadn’t really changed much by 1999 and the new significant voices within Nintendo had not yet emerged (including new President Satoru Iwata and game designer Eiji Aonuma). Also, given the “where are they now?” nature of the chapters, they are quite linear in comparison to the more holistic view taken in the main book.
“Game Over” is as in-depth as any corporate history book, but with a focus on the people that most lack. It’s nice to see the video game industry treated with this kind of respect. For an industry that is all too often viewed as nothing more than either distractions for children or juvenile shenanigans for the “key demographic”, it’s a breath of fresh air to see such an influential company and its point of view given its due.
Year: 1999
Author: David Sheff; with new chapters by Andy Eddy
Publisher: GamePress
Pages: 484 pages