English language
Published Sept. 8, 2012 by John Wiley & Sons.
"The book explains how British prep school brothers Sam and Dan Houser took their dream of fame, fortune, and the glamor of American pop culture and transformed it into a worldwide videogame blockbuster. Written by David Kushner, author of Masters of Doom and a top journalist on gaming, and drawn from over ten years of interviews and research, including firsthand knowledge of Grand Theft Auto's creators and detractors. Offers inside details on key episodes in the development of the series, including the financial turmoil of Rockstar games, the infamous "Hot Coffee" sex minigame incident, and more"--
Если вы более-меенее представляете, кто такие братья Хаузеры и Джек Томпсон, играли в GTA и слышали про Hot Coffee, то особенно ничего нового в книге не найдёте. Зато вам расскажут про то что консоли оказывается выходят поколениями, а также что есть такая организация ESRB.
I recall enjoying Kushner's Masters of Doom, which gave you two interesting characters and some insights into game design and game design personalities. Jacked is not as good a book. It focuses primarily on two people. One is Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, but while the book tries to portray him as he apparently sees himself - rebel rock star of the gaming world - he comes across more as a pretentious jerk. The other is anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson, who is given a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal.
Unfortunately this fails to give enough shape and tension to the book, perhaps because these two characters don't know, and don't generally even acknowledge one another. The book probably would have been more interesting if Kushner had detailed more of the bizarre actions that got Thompson disbarred and had focused more on Sam's megalomania. The book also might have been more interesting if it …
I recall enjoying Kushner's Masters of Doom, which gave you two interesting characters and some insights into game design and game design personalities. Jacked is not as good a book. It focuses primarily on two people. One is Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, but while the book tries to portray him as he apparently sees himself - rebel rock star of the gaming world - he comes across more as a pretentious jerk. The other is anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson, who is given a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal.
Unfortunately this fails to give enough shape and tension to the book, perhaps because these two characters don't know, and don't generally even acknowledge one another. The book probably would have been more interesting if Kushner had detailed more of the bizarre actions that got Thompson disbarred and had focused more on Sam's megalomania. The book also might have been more interesting if it gave you more of a sense of how GTA was developed in the way Masters of Doom gave you a strong sense for what game development was like.
Jacked is also poorly copy edited - I saw an unusual number of typos - and Kushner's prose is sometimes clumsy. It's a perfectly readable book, but ultimately doesn't bring much to the table.
