Competition: Win A Set Of Third Editions Books, Including Zelda, Dark Souls And Final Fantasy

My favorite book is The Legend of Zelda : Hyrule Historia. I'm a huge zelda fan, and I love the theory about the different Zelda timeline.

I guess right now, it may be the Drakengard 3 novella released with the collector's editions of the game (and most of its contents on its website, at least for North America). Provides even further context beyond what the game or even its Prologue DLC chapters present.

My favorite gaming book is the Splatoon manga. My biggest complaint about the first game was that there was so much untapped potential for lore that they didn’t add, but the book satisfies that itch a little and has a great cast.

Currently it's Tales From The Sea Of Thieves because, well, pirates are cool and Rare have put a lot of work into building up the lore behind the game. That and the style and artwork in the book is just spot on.

My favorite gaming book? Definitely Masters of Doom by David Kushner, DOOM and the other ID Software's shooters being some of the first games I've ever played on my first PC. Lots of nostalgic vibes there.

Hyrule Historia. I love the art

My favourite video game book is ZZT by Anna Anthropy. It was a series I'd never heard of or played before but reading her book made me nostalgic for it despite that. The idea of young people being able to tell stories seems so cool that it made me sad that there doesn't seem to be something comparable happening now. Plus the worlds she described were so cool and fun sounding. Great book.

I’m partial to the Assassin’s Creed novels that correspond with each game

My favorite video game related book is the composition book my brothers and I used to record maps, passwords and codes for our NES games. So many memories scribbled onto those pages.

If you're restricting to published books... Probably the Legend of Zelda manga series. Really fun retelling of the stories. Make for a great read.

I'm going to go for Uncertainty in Games, a little semi-academic book about game design written by designer Greg Costikyan. The book discusses how uncertainty is essential for games to interest us and looks at the different ways in which games generate uncertainty, be it through the uncertainty of physically performing actions, the uncertainty of what will happen next in a game's story or just plain old randomness. I thought it was a really interesting little book that opened my eyes to an aspect of game design that I'd never really thought of before and I still think about the ideas that it presents when I'm playing video games.

My favourite is probably How to Win at Nintendo 64 Games by Hank Schlesinger. It was a handy cheats, codes and tips book.

I often used it to quick reference things like the Rampage 2 Universal Tour unlock codes and it helped me learn about a host of other things like Gossip Stones spawning additional fairies and unlock conditions for Gold Iceman in 1080.

i love the Legend of Zelda arts and Artifacts book as i love seeing concept art and early designs from games i love.

Halo: The Fall Of Reach. The initial 4 books of the Halo universe had great expanded lore and backstory especially covering the wars/flood and Reach before they ever made any games about them.

The best book about games is Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. It is not about sny specific game but it beautifully describes fight for customers between Sega and Nintendo. It is not hard to read documentary book - it is great to read anytime and it does not matter of you are a hardcore, gamer, interested in marketing or just a casual reader.

I grew up in the text games era. I think my favorites have to be the old Infocom adaptations - Zork, Planetfall, and I could have sworn there was a Wishbringer as well. They were related to the game worlds, but not an identical story of the game.

I also enjoyed the novelizations for the Gabriel Knight games. They were a fun read, but definitely something to read after playing and finishing the game.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is fantastic

My favourite is Darksiders II: Death's Door. I only got into Darksiders II when I picked it up for my Wii U but really fell in love with the lore. I went out and got the whole series of books just to learn more about that world. the second was the best.

Zelda books are among the best. Very creative stories, beautiful art, great locations in the different parts of Hyrule. Not to mention all the Characters and monsters of the Zelda universe. Heck, it’s possible to create a console just for Zelda.

Hyrule Historia, the art is amazing and I just think that overall the book was put together really really well.

My favorite video game book has to be Console Wars by Blake Harris. It's such a fun read, while simultaneously being a really fascinating look at one of the biggest eras in gaming. I know I certainly learned about things I didn't think I would be interested in.

My favorite video game book is this one I had as a kid that was like, equal parts walkthrough and novelization of Pokemon Snap. It was kinda cool seeing a more fleshed out story for the game.

Does Scott Pilgrim count? It's based on video games but it's a graphic novel. I pick that if so

It does such a great job of making every day life seem like a video game. Who hasn't dreamed of epic 64 hit combos against an evil ex?

Being an 80s kid who spent s lot of time at the locale arcade, my favorite book is Artcade by Bitmap books.

My grandfather managed an arcade in Paris when I was little, so I spent a lot of time there, and that book, with the cabinet art in bright, big pages, really brings me back to that time, when Arcades were a time of wonder, excitement and total joy.

https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/artcade-the-book-of-classic-arcade-game-art?variant=6989580099

Hyrule Historia because Zelda is my favourite series and it has some flattering pictures of Tingle and co. in it

@Shamp0ing

I almost picked that one! Great read!!!

"What's your favourite video game-related book, and why?"

I would say one of the "Mario Mania" books published by Nintendo since I had it had helped me get to know the Mario of the Super Mario Bros. games beyond the series itself years before I had access to more information regarding him (for example, it had made me aware of the existence of the person who had created him and the very fact that he did).

Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library

This book actually lives up to its title. More than everything I wanted to know. Only a true lover of the NES could write a book like this.

My favourite video games-related book is Hyrule Historia; it's my favourite because it was the first video game-related book I cared to buy.

NES game manuals.

I can't choose just one so here are three from different categories.
Actual book: Spelunky
Art book: Splatoon
Manga: Pokémon Adventures

(my 11-year-old son, who doesn't have a log-in says):

"Game On 2017, definitely. You can use it to find incredible secrets of video games! I read it, like, once a week!"

For me, personally, I'd have to go with the Legend of Zelda manga series. I've been a Zelda fan since back in the day (cough, 1988!), but my son introduced me to the manga, which really adds more story and characterization to the old favorites!

Ha! Mine is the Versus Books Official Phantasy Star Online Perfect Guide. i read this book up and down, left and right back in the day still flip through it from time to time.

I have to say mine is "The Morrowind Prophecies", both GOTY and non-GOTY versions. While it's essentially a guide, it's clear (to me at least) it was written by people who are passionate about the game, including small jokes and insights that make it a joy to just... read. While the game itself is so fun to play, this guide is just so fun to read, and I think that's what it's all about, in the end.

Ready Player One. I listened to it in audio book format, borrowed from my local library. Hearing Wil Wheaton read his own name made me laugh. I remember most of the things that the book referred to, and hey, the book is always better than the movie, right?

The first Devil May Cry novel. Easy short read, but I loved how it tied to the third game and gave Dante and Vergil some backstory to their feud.

My favourite definitely has to be the History of a Legendary Saga. The official style lore introductions to each game make me feel like I'm reading something akin to Lord of the Rings, with their great use of wordplay and fantasy language!

I'm going to go with the Awaken Online series. I was hooked on it as soon as i started listening (audiobook form). I loved the imagery and plot the author gave, and overall it's just a phenomenal series. If you like books like ready player one give AO a listen!

Fangamer's Earthbound Handbook. It has such incredible attention to detail and effort put into it and gives captures the feel of one of my favourite games of all time so well... It's super pretty and fun to read! Shout outs also to "Power Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life" and Kari Fry's beautiful books.

My favourite its The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, the best zelda related book/enciclopedia its full of contents and art from the saga.

My favourite video game related book is Video Games You’ll Never Play by Unseen64. A fantastic compendium of cancelled titles on a myriad of systems. I choose this one not because I contributed to it but because because the wealth of knowledge relating to the subject of canned games is astounding and it features some really talented writing and research.

That's a tough call between the Nintendo 64 Anthology (by Mathieu Manent) and Console Wars (by Blake J. Harris).

N64 anthology really dives into the weeds of all kinds of production info. While Console Wars details Sega and Nintendo's crazy saga. Both great reads I'd suggest to any gaming enthusiast.

Obviously the Hyrule Hystoria. I mean, that cleared the timeline conundrum up once and for good, right?!

Oooh, pick me! I like The Hyrule Historia because my favorite person ever does! Oh, and her Birthday is coming up soon, so I'm sure she'd love another great book about her favorite series.

And also because I actually like thinking about the story and history of the Zelda world more than I like playing the games. Such great lore, I love hearing peoples theories about the Zelda timeline.

Probably Hyrule Historia, or The Art of Zelda. Pretty much anything Zelda.

My favorite is a gift my wife got me for Christmas: Super Mario Adventures. It's a collection of Mario comics that used to run in Nintendo Power magazine.

The Legend of Final Fantasy VII seems really interesting!
I am definitely a fan of Final Fantasy!

Easily the Hyrule Historia. I love Zelda, and the artwork and lore (in some games) are some of the best in gaming history.

XenobladeX The Secret File - Art of Mira
http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Xenoblade_X:_The_Secret_File

Very comprehensive book about the art of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Even if it's in Japanese, I simply enjoy looking at the pictures...

My favourite gaming book(s) would probably be the Pokémon Adventures manga series, which I read and reread countless times as a kid. They've got a surprisingly dark tone but very likeable characters and clever storylines.

My favorite was always Myst: The Book of Atrus. You don't see many legitimate novels that you can read as a normal book and it makes sense apart from the game it is based on, and getting to read this adventure and see into the lives of these characters that are so mysterious in the game was amazing.

for me it is the super mario maker book that came with super mario odyssey it serves as inspiration, lets me see how things are come up with, and i just love the artwork in it. lets not forget the signature in the back page.

What's your favourite video game-related book, and why?
Megaman robot master field guide, cause i'm a HUGE Megaman fan.

My favorite video game related book would be Ready Player One. It has a great story and commemorates the classics of the eighties. It is also the best example for how I want virtual reality to become.

Hyrule Historia! I love the Frankensteinian lore that emerged from a franchise that was never intended to be a consistent story and which borrows so transparently from fables across the world. I bought that book to give to a friend. It sat in my bookcase for a while until I could give it to him, and now there's a Zelda shaped opening there

My favorite one is Zelda Hyrule Historia, such great care they took from the images to the quality of the book itself, and bought it for 22 dlls only, that is such a steal.
The other one i liked a lot was Pat's Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library, maybe is not a history of the games but at least it has revived my interest in some obscure Nes games from reading some paragraphs.

I’ll go with the Super Mario World manual. Loved to read that thing, for some reason or other.

Video War by Stephen Manes, published in 1983

I'd say my favourite video game-related book(s) would have to be the Pokémon anime novelizations by Scholastic, I have fond memories of reading those.

The guide for the original version of Link to the Past for Super NES. I loved the way it was written like a storybook and just enjoyed reading it. Guides back in the day used to be so creative and filled with background info and goodies, I miss that. I barely even used it as an actual guide!

Close runner up would be Hyrule Historia. Love that book.

I loved reading and collecting the Archie Sonic The Hedgehog comics. Once I learned of their existence, I just had to pick up the new issue every month, and even began ordering back issues and 48 page specials! They were expanding the universe in an interesting direction that involved my favorite characters and some really entertaining new ones. The story was pretty awesome and the project evolved very well. My favorite cover artist/penciler would be Pat Spaziante (and of course Tyson Hesse more recently). These books provided something hedgehog-related to keep me busy while SEGA made many failed attempts at new Sonic games. Archie kept the dream alive until I could make it to Sonic Mania: A brilliant emerald-filled, ring ridden, retro-inspired land-o-plenty. I don't have room for too many issues these days but still have a little stash to take me back. I really had a great time with those comic books.

My favorite would have to be "Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World". Definitely a great read!

My favorite is Family Computer 1983-1994. I love collecting for the Famicom, and that one has screenshots, boxarts, and summaries about all of them. And it's in Japanese and English at the same time!

My favorite video game related book would have to be "Ready Player One." This is one of my all time favorite books period but it's just something that is very special to me. I remember first diving into it, familiarizing myself with characters, the scene, and just the whole concept of this type of virtual reality. I was just so in awe of the possibilities this could bring and it gave me hope for the future of VR to be this way, and I truly hope I live to see it. I was honestly lost in this world the author made and I was completely indulged with the picture he painted. This book will always hold a special place in my heart and I've read it countless amounts of times, I highly recommend it and I'm very excited for the upcoming film.

I’m currently loving my Ocarina of Time Manga. I want Twilight Princess next as it’s probably my favourite Zelda game.

My favourite video-game related book is the Eyes of Bayonetta artbook. It's such a beauty! <3

The SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works is a loverly book, the interviews are very interesting and I love the sprites and artwork from so many classic games!

I remember all of those Nintendo Power Magazines. Those were great before internet became a thing. Other than that it would be Hyrule Historia. Waiting for Encyclopedia to come out.

My favourite video game books would be the 3 from this competition if I was to win them,with the Zelda book being top of the pile. I've never played any Dark Souls or Final Fantasy games but I'll be picking up Dark Souls Remastered in May so the book would be great to have for learning the lore of the game before it arrives.The reason these 3 would be my favourites is because I've never actually owned a video game book even though I've been gaming for around 37 years. Why that's the case I'm not really sure to be honest. I was mad about gaming magazines as a lad. Oh well, maybe that will change in the unlikely chance I win this competition.

Good luck everyone!

Secret of Mana Official Game Secrets. Got this with the game on a trip to York in GameStation about 15 years back. Paid £60, which seemed a bit much but having the game AND the book made it a must have.I lost the book in a house move 5 years ago. I'd stored a fair bit of stuff at my parents. Any ways, 2 weeks ago my dad brought round a few odds and ends from their place. Low and behold there was the Secret of Mana book, along with N64 Diddy Kong Racing in a slightly bashed box. Truly a great weekend - cheers dad! Any ways the book is written as a fantasy story to be read alongside the game, rather than a straight strategy guide. It uses cheap paper, and photo images are black and white, but like the game it oozes charm. Beats the pants off a wiki page any day.

My favorite video game book is Ready Player One. Having grown up in the 1980s, it resonated with me quite a bit.

I think my favourite would have to be Bitmap Books' 'Sinclair ZX Spectrum: A Visual Compendium'. I also have the SNES and Amiga books in that series (which are also excellent), but the Speccy one pips the post for me because:

(a) the computer has a special place in my heart, it was the only games machine I had until I got a Game Boy in 1991 at the age of 10 (and my only home system until a Master System the following year);

(b) the bright vibrant simple colours just look amazing with whatever fancy printing techniques they used.

Just exquisite.

Funny you should mention Game Over (my favourite videogame related book).
I read that back in the 90s after a spell away from Nintendo. It filled a gap for videogame nostalgia and trivia during a time for me that was almost internet (and totally Nintendo) free.
Even back then I couldn’t imagine a time when Nintendo would have struggled to find US partners to carry their product but the detail given to those earlier, pioneering business moves of NoA in Game Over was fascinating.
I remember being surprised how much of the company was built off of the back of Donkey Kong (and I loved how Nintendo cut down Universal’s “King Kong” claim against them by turning the studio’s own tried and tested argument that there was no actual copyright on the monster back on them).
The main reason I loved that book, though, was because it kick started a major retro Nintendo phase for me (back in a time where you could build a pretty stellar NES collection without breaking the bank). Ultimately it brought me back to Nintendo gaming full stop.
It was fun to read about, what were at the time, emerging technologies and i’d like to go track a copy down just to read it again knowing how it all turned out.

Definetly, dagnrompa zero, as I had never read a Japanese light novel before. It had a grim atmosphere but with lighter comedic moments, fitting in with the established Dagnrompa tone. It also heavily links in to daganrompa 2 and makes a certain character machavellian through their plans and it strengthened the motivation of characters and improved my perception of daganrompa 2. Its a great read.

My favorite is Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation (try saying that five times fast). It's about Sega's early years into the console race, the localization of Sonic, and the drama that happened behind the scenes. It's a pretty good read if you're interested in Sega's backstory.

My favourite video game-related book is whichever one Nintendo Life currently has an affiliate link to Amazon for.

My favorite video game-related book is "Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form" by Anna Anthropy.

This book inspired me because I was reading this book in the bookstore, and someone came to me and was asking me what I was reading or something like that , and we started talking about how we love videogames and what inspires us , and how it is our dream to make a videogame one day, and that this writer just gets it - she is saying that videogames are born out of our hearts and that they are the true form of art, of pure love. Later we had a coffee and it turned out this woman and me went to school together, and we completely forgot about it, and we, and our families have been good friends since. Our children now actually play videogames together.

@Swoltacular Back in the day my parents would drive 30 miles to the mall and I would get to pick out one Nintendo game. On the drive home I would have already read the entire instruction manual. I remember being frustrated when it was night because that made it even harder to read while riding along.

Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown. A graphic novel that recounts the history of how Tetris was created and the saga that followed.

This is a little bit of a cheat because it is only kind of a book but let me explain.. Growing up as a gamer in the late 90s early 2000s I lived on a small archipelago of islands literally in the middle of know where. I was also super into Nintendo. We had one major shop and even that was about the size of a corner shop in the UK!! We were isolated as is possible. This provides fairly obvious problems for a young gamer as the islands entire game selection consisted of a few nes/snes/n64 games that had been sat on a shelf for years gathering dust so if we wanted to order games we would have to get a UK Argos catalogue and order and hope that six months later they would arrive (I waited up to a year sometimes!!) I find it kind of funny how we now complain when something is a week late. The internet?? Hell the whole world was on dial up still I don't think I even knew what the internet really was until around 2003 when our house had it's first non ms dos computer. So anyway I'm rambling as a kid around 12ish I somehow acquired a copy of NOM (Nintendo Official Magazine) and my mind was blown I read about games past present future I discovered cheats and read letters and gazed longingly at screen shots of Wind Waker. I'd never even read a game magazine or even knew they existed. Growing up the only fan of something is hard anyway but in a place where literally no one knows it even exists I did feel isolated. I managed to convince the occasional person I knew visiting overseas to bring me back any copies of NOM they could find and u ended up with a small collection and I read them over and over again to the point of memorising them cover to cover. My mother couldn't understand it how I could read them over and over but finally young me living literally in the middle of nowhere felt a part of the Nintendo community and going into those formative years it felt good to be a part of something you loved. So I would like to nominate Nintendo Official Magazine by Tim Street (and team) and especially issue November 2003 (the one with Medal of Honor: Rising Sun review) for printing my letter!!

Hyrule Historia has been my favorite, followed closely by the original Secret of Mana game guide that was almost more of a story than a game guide.

My favourite video game-related book is also the most creatively written video game manual ever.... Wario Land 4 on the GBA. Why, you ask? Because it's written by Wario himself of course! Wario narrates every single page, and he pulls no punches. Below is a small excerpt:

"After you've seen a bit of the demo, the Map Screen will appear. I should be standing at the entry passage. How do I look? Gorgeous, right? Get a hold of yourself! Just press the A button. Man, this game uses the A button a lot!!"

Wario is everything that Mario isn't...and we love him because of it. If you don't own the game yourself then you can check out the full copy on Nintendo's website (PDF format):

http://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/downloads/games_8/emanuals/game_boy_advance_8/Manual_GameBoyAdvance_WarioLand4_EN_DE_FR_ES_IT.pdf

Game Over

I've always followed videogames but really didn't understand what went into making it the industry we know today. Game Over was that first book that really opened my eyes to the struggles Nintendo went through to make the system happen, the story of Tetris, and many other details. It not only tells the history but it also makes it compelling to read. Great book for anyone to read.

My favorite book is READY PLAYER ONE.

I love the combination of the Post-apocalyptic world, a love story, VR, Super Sentai And Mecha's and thrown into a video game world!

That representation is why I love video games. It can be shown in so many ways and if you like a genre/medium there is a game for it.

One of my top-3 favorite books of all time had a video-game adaptation, if that counts...? Brave Story, written by Miyuki Miyabe and translated by the amaaaaazing Alexander Smith (of Kajiya Productions - worked on FFXII and VIII, Vagrant Story, Ace Attorney, Tactics Ogre, MadWorld, etc...) is incredible if anyone here hasn't read it before. Overall feels like a dark / Japanese version of The Chronicles of Narnia. Explores a child's life in Japan with his mother in a really unique way during the first large part of the novel, and then gets into the fantasy aspect where it builds an amazingly creative and fleshed-out world. Inspired an anime film, I believe, and the PSP game, Brave Story: New Traveler, which is an extremely underrated RPG-gem for the system that was localized by XSEED Games.

Beyond that, currently going through The Witcher books (doing so before I play any of the games) and they are all PHENOMENAL. One of the best action/fantasy series I've ever read. Quickly (and very unexpectedly) bolted up my personal favorite book list along with TLotR and A Song of Ice and Fire. First two books are comprised of several short stories, and they set the stage for the rest of the series in a really cool way. The world-building, characters, morality, and pacing are all excellent. Highest recommendations!

So many, so many... I lived for those Worlds of Power books when I was in years 3 through 6. I still have all the ones I bought through Scholastic book orders: Mega Man 2, Castlevania II, Wizards & Warriors, Blaster Master (which was actually retconned into later Blaster Master games), and Ninja Gaiden. I really like the You Are Now Earthbound: Unofficial Earthbound Guidebook by Dan Moore as well as the Mother 3 handbook. Great illustrations. I really like the art in I Am 8-bit (9780811853194). The Legend of Zelda series manga by Akira Himekawa were pretty fun. Probably my FAVOURITE book so far though, is the Bitmap Books' Super Nintendo Entertainment System Visual Compendium, recently published (9780995658622). It is amazingly well put together and amazing value for money, considering for its price you can get a massive hardback book in a thick slip-case with a lenticular (animated) cover, four ribbon bookmarks, and hundreds of pages of great screenshots, art, and interviews from the SNES era. I've never seen a video game book crafted so well. The NES one is a very close second.

My favorit video game book must be The Official Pokémon Handbook. My original copy (in Swedish) is teetered and torn from all the love and scotch taped together to at all hold its form. I have fond memories reading about all the Pokémon and drawing them with the aid of the pictures in the book.

This is possibly a bit off topic but I go way way back. One of the better books is All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture.

Now All Your Book Belong to Me.

My favorite book about video games is Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, by Blake J Harris. Its an excellent story about the Rise and Fall of Sega during the 16-Bit Wars.

My favorite video game book is the Turok: Seeds of Evil junior novel. I remember getting it at a Goodwill for a dollar. It was incredibly cheesey and had some goofy characters mixed with oddly serious situations, but I really enjoyed reading it as a kid.
Plus the corners of the pages had pictures of Joshua Fireseed, and if you flipped through them quickly it would show him transitioning from a regular guy to Turok. That part still entertains me.

Probably Hyrule Historia, love the art and all early designs for everything. Though Arts & Artefacts and the Legend of Zelda manga series are both close runner ups.

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Fable: The Balverine Order was a fantastic read to get more out of the Fable universe back in the day!

Screwattack's Video Game Vault: The Best of Nintendo 64 is an amazing trip down memory lane.

My favorite video game book so far is Encyclopaedia Eorzea: The World of Final Fantasy XIV. I love the art and lore in this book. The cover is also beautiful and amazing quality. I've been a huge Final Fantasy fan since I can remember. I would love to see them do these types of books for other games. Final Fantasy VII is my all time favorite game so far, so I would love to win that book.

I have to say my favourite book based on games was the Resident Evil trilogy by S.D. Perry. I feel the books captured the atmosphere of the games really well and added extras that may not be as obvious in the games. Also, I just love the Resident Evil franchise anyway and these books really captured the essence of the games.

My favorite gaming related book is the Pokémon Ultimate Handbook. It has descriptions of every Pokémon in Generation 1-4, and while it has a lot of errors and is outdated at this point I will never forget how I got it all those years ago. It was a book one of my teachers (he was a big Pokémon fan and is my favorite teacher) had and let me borrow, I was new to Pokémon at the time so I just absorbed every piece of information in it. Eventually he relized how much I liked it, so he just let me have it and it’s still sitting on my bookshelf to this day. I admit, it’s a bit irksom to go back to since it has so many mistakes, but it still has a special place in my heart.

It might sound silly, but I love the really old guide book for Sonic & Knuckles back on the Sega Genesis. It was filled with so much extra amazing artwork and funny blips. Even if you didn't play the game it felt like you were still enjoying it in some way.

The Final Fantasy VII Omega Ultimania. One of the key reasons I learned Japanese was the ability to read the Ultimania series.

I haven't read of video game books but my favorite has to be Ready Player One, its got a lot of good video games and references as well as to the 80's and Spielberg movies like Star Wars and Back to the Future. Also, got a good blend of action and romance while not feeling lopsided. Good enough to be made into a film. I would agree also I like hyrule historia if only for the manga in the back of the book. looking forward to the encyclopedia to close out the trilogy of dark horse zelda books.

The original NES GAME GENIE CODE BOOK!!!

It was thick as and I must have spent hours exploring every code for my games to witness their effect.

And after exhausting all that, going down the list of games included in the book to see what game I could borrow from my local video store on the weekends, test the codes on them and CHEAT MY WAY TO VICTORY!!!!

MUHAHAHAHA!

What a time to be alive

If manga count, then I'd say Pokemon Adventures. I've only read it through the Yellow arc, but it's a really fun and unique take on the universe I've grown up with. I need to continue it at some point, there's a lot more ahead of me.

Either the Viz published Legend of Zelda Link to the Past or Super Mario World mangas. Those were the first games I played and I adored the comics when I was a kid. While I love Link to the Past and Shotaro Ishinomori's inclusion of Cyborg 002, I'd have to give the edge to Mario. It not only has some hilariously memorable moments like Stanley the salesman's Yoshi guide, but it also had a bonus Mario and Wario story at the end. It's still my head Canon.

Probably Half Life: Raising the Bar. Offered terrific insights into the game at a time where art books and other extras were rarely sold alongside games (except maybe Prima guides). The fact it shows content we’re yet to see but has been alluded to over the years, due to the inexplicable delays with the franchise, only adds to the books wealth for fans.

My favorite video game related book is I am Error by Nathan Altice. The NES had a huge impact on my youth and I loved digging deeper into its intricacies. I have a soft spot for video game history and I am Error approached the topic from a deeper technical perspective than I had experienced before.

Valkyrie Profile (the ps1 version) walkthrough guide is my favorite video game related book. It was one of the first ones I ever bought, and I still have it to this day. I remember spending hours covering its pages for little clues and strats on how to best go through the game and get the good ending. I even tried drawing the character art in myself using the book as a reference.

Hyrule Historia, it's just such a great book to flick through

Console Wars - as a kid in the 90's and the only Nintendo owner of my group I took a lot of ribbing from my friends but it was all in fun and the rivalry produced amazing games in the prime of my video game life

My favorite video game related book is "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" by Harold Goldberg. I loved reading the origin stories of games like Donkey Kong, Mario, Tetris and Bioshock . My favorite chapter of course, being the one about Miyamoto and how DK and Mario were born. I even love the title of the book; a reference to Zero Wing, broken English and all.

Well, my favorite one is Mass Effect Universe. The detail is astonishing with high quality printing.

My favourite right now is still Hyrule Historia. I got 2 of my kids hooked on Zelda games thanks to that book, and by lending it to several kids at church I've also gotten heaps of the new generation of gamers into some of my favourite games. Its such a beautiful book, and shows the passion of the developers so well, it just hooks people in

@KryptoKrunch
On a related note, when I met the woman who is now my wife, she was wearing a geek love poem shirt that read:
Roses are #FF0000
Violets are #0000FF
All My Base are
Belong to You

My favorite video game related book is Gears of War: The Slab.

Would the Pokémon Adventures Manga count?

Ready player 1 was an awesome book. Hopefully the movie is just as good?!?

Hyrule Historia for suuuuure. The art alone makes it the best.

I hate to be unoriginal, but I'm at a spot between the Hyrule Historia and Dark Horse's compilation for Splatoon. Ultimately I probably have to go with the former.

I'm a bit of a writer and what I have gotten so much out of is the notes and design processes taken when creating the worlds and characters. Even just looking at the concept art and thinking about how the minute details are used to speak volumes and create the image/tone they want, and considering how different the turnout would be if they went with one of the alternatives: I find it so fascinating!

The same definitely goes for the Splatoon book, but HH captured such a deep and rich variety in its pages that I've gone back to many times to learn how to create and operate a living world.

My all time favorite video game related book would have to be the ordinal Pokemon game manual. I would take it with me every day to school. Me and my friends would flip through it and marvel at all the cool creatures we could find. We would even try and trace/draw the different pokemon.

More recently I would say the Hyrule Historia and Ready Player One.

Another vote for Masters of Doom! (https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155) I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it. It did a great job of capturing the Renaissance of video games and the characters behind them. There's also a funny anecdote about Id software replicating Super Mario bros on PC and their attempt to work for Nintendo doing ports! Needless to say it didn't happen and their port instead turned into Captain Keen! Good times .

I'm guessing it's a popular answer but I've got to go with Hyrule Historia. As a huge Zelda fan it is just great to have a book (and the other 2 in that collection) that go into such detail on the series.

My favourite is the xenoblade 2 art book. That is because I love the art style of the game and art in general

I loved Nintendo Power as a kid, and Nintendo Life is my adult version of that.

My favourite is the ZX spectrum book 1982-19xx by Andrew Rollings.The book is a pure nostalgia time machine.For a start the book is the exact size and shape of the ol speccy.Each page has a brief description and screenshots of the game.Lot of the classics Manic miner,Sabre wulf And some underrated ones.Just looking through each page brings back memories.
There is many spectrum books out there but this had to be the best.

That would probably be The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. I just love to read it, learn about the lore of the games, and sometimes just simply just look at all the pretty images.

That’s tough. The N64 Anthology was one that I really poured though. The art was great but the sheer volume of information present was amazing.

My favorite one is the hyrule historia. I like most because of the amazing art all these games have, but the Zelda one is a visual track through memories of my own.

My favorite video game book(s) would have to be the Legend of Zelda manga by Akira Himekawa. It was a huge part of my childhood, I have so many fond memories of checking them out of the library and learning all about the fantastical adventures of Link and his friends. I'm a part of a younger generation, all I had back then was my Dsi, so for me most of Zelda's narratives were introduced to me through the manga. My friends and I would read those books and play Four Swords Anniversary edition together on our Dsi's after school. I remember getting Hyrule Historia back when it came out too, can you believe it came out 7 years ago??? I was so happy when I found the little Skyward Sword manga in the back, that was a neat touch. Man, those were the days. It seems so long ago now...

But I'm very grateful, for the new Twilight Princess manga have started coming out, giving me some nostalgic reading to look forwards to. And for once I've played the game before reading the manga! Its so nice to go back and read something for the first time, but yet still be so familiar with the characters of my childhood being presented in that artistic style I know so well. And they've changed the story up a bit too, which gives it a fresh new take on the story.

Anyways, thanks for reading my nostalgic musings. It was nice to talk about them. Good luck to everyone who entered!

'Indie Games' by Mike Diver
Opened me to a lot of indie games out there which I didn't know about.. it is also split in various categories and tells quite a bit of the actual creators... do recommend it!

I love Bitmap’s ‘SNES/Super Famicom: a visual compendium’. Such gorgeous artwork and so lovely seeing all that history in one beautiful book.

My favorite book is Hyrule Historia because I love Zelda and it’s deep lore.

Oh man, I've been suffering from a rather prominent reading block as of recent. I think a good read for a video game franchise would bring me back. I would kill for a good Metroid book or maybe even a Smash Bros book which poses a similar story to Subspace Emissary. That Zelda book looks pretty tasty as well.

Favourite game book I own is Zork Book II - The Malifestro Quest. I love how "literature" was brought to microcomputers as interactive-fiction, but then they tried to bring interactive-fiction to real-world print as this choose-your-own-adventure style Zork book. I find this round-trip meta thing super amusing. Bonus - actually written by Steve Meretzky who worked at Infocom on pretty cool games like A Mind Forever Voyaging and Hitch-Hikers...

Gotta say, though, I'm surprised that no-one gave a nod to John Szczepaniak's Untold History of Japanese Game Developers series. His commitment to tracking these developers down and getting what he does out of them sets such a high bar for video-game historians.

The Legend of Heroes Zero no Kiseki Pre-Story: The Ring of Judgement. It's from my favourite series in gaming. It perfectly connect the Trails in the Sky series to the Crossbell arc. It also sets up an important character for the Trails of Cold Steel arc, that comes after the Crossbell arc. It's very smartly written. One of the other characters in this book, is also in a in game book series that appears throughout the series.

It's just excellent for fans of the series.

I only have the Hyrule historia, but its a awesome book. Lovely artwork and information. I especially love all the cut Skyward sword stuff. There where soooo many cool ideas cut, hopefuly they will use them in future Zelda games!

recently i have been reading blood,sweat, and pixels (by jason scheier) and to be honest it's pretty good! and more than that! it has given me a lot of useful information on the gaming industry as a whole, and what are "things" that need to be done so we can get the "final product" and most importantly how are those "things" are done.

Prima's official guide for Mario Sunshine because how else were we supposed to find all those darn Blue Coins back then?!

The Sky the art of final fantasy..I loveeeeeeee Final fantasy and love Yoshitaka Amano art style.I wish square would make a game using his art style this gen,it would look so beautiful!

My favorite is a collection of books I gifted my Wife for Christmas: The Legend of Zelda Box Set Official Prima Guide.

Jason Schreier’s Blood, Sweat and Pixels. Really fun, accessible and occasionally sad stories of game development. Finished it in all of three sittings and wanted to re-read it immediately.

Hi my favourite book is The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Historia I loved seeing all of the weapons and armour separately in detail and love reading books and playing on Zelda so it combined my 2 favourite things together,I also have the ocarina flute but haven’t managed to blast a tune out yet 🤣thankyou