It has been out for a few weeks now, but the most recent GameSpite Quarterly book is a retrospective about the PlayStation. “GameSpite Quarterly 8: Playstation, 15 Years Later,” covers the history of the original Playstation. The book covers all sorts of topics including: games, hardware, and other things surrounding the gaming console which dominated the later half of the 90s. I’m highly recommending this book because it covers just about anything you may want to know about the PlayStation.
Before I go any further into talking about GSQ8, let me describe what GameSpite is. GameSpite is a personal website/blog from a 1up.com gaming journalist named Jeremy Parish. He also hosts a podcast titled Retronauts Live, which they talk about classic games, consoles, and game franchises. For the last few years now, GameSpite has put out a seasonal book named GameSpite Quarterly. The book is a series of essays written by a number of writers who contribute to each book. They will include their own personal experiences with their writeup as well, so some articles have a bit of personality included with it. Each book has a different topic. For example, GSQ1 was a retrospective about the Game Boy, GSQ2 was about 8-bit heroes, and GSQ6 was about the most under appreciated* games of all time.
GSQ8 is a humongous 436 page book, tightly compacted with great articles and images. They really outdid themselves this time with beautiful layouts, allowing more graphics to be spread throughout the book. Although, it is a shame that the book is only in black-and-white and not in color. I would have gladly payed a bit more to have a version with color. Oh well, I guess that’s some of the limitations of print-on-demand publishing. Included below are some photos of the book. Click here for a 15 page preview.
The book is broken down into five main sections, each of which covers a main timeframe of the console’s life:
I. PlayStation: Sony’s Big Ploy
II. The Launch: Sony Delivers
III. PlayStation Takes the Lead
IV. The Golden Age of PlayStation
V. PS401K: PlayStation Retires
The book can be purchased as either a softcoveror a hardcover edition and both include the exact same content (I noted this because the hardcover usually includes more content). Click here if you’re interested in purchasing the book. But the great thing about GameSpite is that they will eventually post every article that was in the book onto the website. They release the articles over the span of a few months, so probably July/August is when every piece will be posted online. I purchased the softcover edition and have been enjoying the book very much. For starters, I have never heard of Tobal No. 1 before, but now I’m totally interested in getting a copy. And I never knew Namco’s light gun was super accurate because they connected the gun straight into the video cable. Crazy stuff!
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