Phoenix  
The Fall and Rise of Videogames
Second Edition
Leonard Herman

[Zube (9/21/97)]

(This book is available from Rolenta Press.  Mail rolenta@aol.com for 
ordering information.)

The praise should always come first, so here it is. This book is easily
the best and most complete source of the history of videogames.  There
is no doubt that if you are interested in a year-by-year chronicle of
the video game industry, look no further.  The second edition adds 100+
B/W photos and the years 1993-1996, so even if you purchased the 
first edition, the second edition is more than worth it.

That being said, I am ever so slightly disappointed with the second edition,
mostly due to the many inaccuracies scattered throughout.  Some of the
inaccuracies are minor but important:

"...[The Intellivision III] was able to produce an infinite number of
colors on the screen at one time ...."

while others are simply incorrect, as shown in this bit on bank-switching:

"What this did was have the VCS read two different 4K programs toggling
back and forth between them so quickly that the human eye couldn't follow.
The two programs complemented each other and there was only one program as 
far as the player was concerned."

These are just two of many examples.

Normally, such inaccuracies in a book are understandable.  Works of any
length are large undertakings.  As in programming, removing every last
bug is almost an impossibility.  Still, most of these inaccuracies are
not newly introduced, but rather are carryovers from the first
edition.  Even more disheartening, these inaccuracies were pointed out
to the author long before (Feb 97) the second edition was released.

In short, as a narrative, this book is fantastic (although there are
several typos, some misuse of words, and a complete lack of understanding
of semicolon usage).  As a historical reference, despite some errors,
it is still excellent; you will be hard-pressed to find a more complete
one short of doing the research yourself.  Alas, because of some errors
and the author's unwillingness to change them (as is his right), it is 
not a perfect reference and should not be used as the final word on
many topics, especially technical ones.