Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games--including Deus Ex, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming's classic titles.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Foreword by Brett Weiss

Preface

Introduction

Michael Mendheim, Mutant League Football: The Gruesome ­Sports-Hybrid That Could

Petri Järvilehto, Max Payne: From the Basement to the Norse God of Noir

Mike Skupa, Bully: Jimmy Beats World

Ryuichi Nishizawa, Wonder Boy in Monster Land: Countdown to Major

­Tom-Tom

Howard Scott Warshaw, E.T.: The ­Extra-Terrestrial: The Best Game Ever Made in Five Weeks

David Crane and Garry Kitchen, A Boy and His Blob: The Best Game

Ever Made in Six Weeks

Sarah Jane Avory, Fighting Force: From Streets of Rage 3D to Core Classic

Dane Bigham, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?: Explorational Not Educational

Richard Rouse III, The Suffering: The Shining in the Darkness

Rob Fulop, David Crane and James Riley, Night Trap: The Truth About Catz and Dogz

Greg Johnson, ToeJam & Earl: Sega's Funky and Fantastic "Other" Mascots

Julia ­Keren-Detar and Itay Keren, Mushroom 11: Appetite for Destruction

Kan Gao, To the Moon: John's Tale

Emeric Thoa and Audrey Leprince, Squids: The Game That Beat Those Angry Birds, for a Little While

Matt Thorson and Alec Holowka, Towerfall: From Arrows on the Ouya

to Ascending on the PlayStation 4 and Beyond

Eric Holmes, Hulk Ultimate Destruction: The Big Green Monster That

Could, and Did

Jamie Fristrom, Spider-Man 2: Great Power = Great Fun

Howard Scott Warshaw, Yars' Revenge: From Star Castle Port to ­Game-Changing Shooter

Dan Geisler and Randy Breen, Road Rash: The Game That Kicked

Hang-On and Akira, in the Face

Mike Posehn and Richard Robbins, Desert Strike: From Killer Choplifter Clone to Classic

Garry Kitchen, Bart vs. the Space Mutants: The First and Best Simpsons Game Ever

Jane Jensen, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers: Voodoo Chile

Ron Gilbert, David Fox and Gary Winnick, Maniac Mansion: ­Point-and-Click's Original ­SCUMM-Bags

Clayton Kauzlaric, Voodoo Vince: Pain for Pleasure

Warren Spector, Deus Ex: From Troublemaking Shooter to ­Genre-Defining Conspiracy Theory

Jon Van Caneghem, King's Bounty: Putting the "Heroes" into "Might

and Magic"

Garry Kitchen, Super Battletank: Even Better Than the Real Thing

Taichi Ishizuka, The Firemen: Through the Fire and Flames

Dave Wishnowski, Pro Wrestling X: A ­Decade-Long Dream in Development

Mark Turmell, WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game: Scotch and

Treadmills

John Tobias, Mortal Kombat: Enter the Fatality

Michael Brook, NHLPA '93: Fighting for Fun Before "If it's in the game,

it's in the game"

Craig Broadbooks, NHL FaceOff: A Christmas Story

Mark Turmell, NBA Jam: The Birth of Boomshakalaka

David A. Palmer, Doom: The Little Jaguar That Could

Ken St. Andre and Brian Fargo, Wasteland: Fallout's Unlikely Papa

Conclusion

Index

Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by Nintendo, Disney and EA Sports.