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reviewed Who Are You? by Alex Custodio (Platform Studies, #10)

Alex Custodio: Who Are You? (Hardcover, 2020, MIT Press)

The Game Boy Advance platform as computational system and cultural artifact, from its 2001 release …

Review of 'Who Are You?' on 'Goodreads'

An interesting take on the 20 (or so) year old GBA. "Who Are You" continues the high quality seen in the other books in the Platform Studies series, and builds off them. The previous exploration of the SNES is particularly relevant here.

The hardware variations of the system are explored, as are the systems ancestors and descendants, where relevant. This was on point without being terribly technical. I wouldn't have minded a little bit more here, but I suppose I could be the minority there.

I found the discussion of the impact of use on the system's materials interesting, but may need to agree to disagree with the author on particular points.

There's a chapter on the social aspects of the system next, which I found acceptable.

The sections on platformizing the experiences and the ways in which fans are contributing to the continued life of the system are the best chapters, by far.

Overall, I enjoyed "Who Are You, " learned a moderate amount about the system, and appreciate the insight and thought that went into the social and societal study of the GBA.