Rating: 
Summary: 1997 Look, Still Relevant, Deeper Than Some May Think
Review:
This is a rich-kids/rich-parents book, in the sense that those who buy it probably will not think for an instant of the fact that 90% of the world will never, ever, play a video game or have a computer. Having said that, I give the book a solid four stars on three planes:
1) Believe it or not, this book is in vogue within Army training circles and has even been recommended to the Commanding General of the Special Operations Command.
2) As a parent of three boys, 15, 12, 9, this book helped me appreciate the "new" knowledge that they have which offsets my annoyance at their being online too much. Every parent of young teens who have at least one computer in their home should read this book or one of the alternative recommended books--it will increase your appreciation for them. On page 117 the book makes it clear that kids have *better* judgment than their parents in evaluating high-tech as well as in navigating cyber-space, because they have different metrics, different patterns that they apply.
3) For my young teen himself, I marked pages 94-97, 102, 105, 109, 118, 123-124, and 129-130. He read those, liked them, and agreed that he would like to read the book. Super!
The book's opening is packed with insights--we're entering third generation of kids, six generation of videogaming, 50 million adults have now been "programmed" by earlier gaming, it is moving us from passive watching to interactive manipulation, and--well before Microsoft got this--it is creating an adult generation (at least in the US and Japan) that is juggling sixteen different information streams at once, with a result that most adults--including US general officers--are in what is called "constant partial attention" mode all of the time.
The author touches upon but does not discuss the offsets of millions (more like billions) in lost-time cost to those who play at work, versus how it changes our productivity. A very nice timeline of game evolution from 1962 to 1996 is provided early on. Somewhat interesting to me is the author's observations that the games and the new computer power have not changed the "basic plots" which tend to pursue the same enduring patterns that Shakespeare and others did...
Relevant to Department of Defense and Homeland Security: on page 35 there is a discussion that confirms my long-held belief that while DoD investments in very expensive earlier generations of computers helped spawn the consumer industry, the time has come for DoD to get out of the unilateral C4I business, and concentrate on improving security and functionality for the generic whole. We must depart from secret unilateral expensive C4I systems, toward open (but secure) generic inexpensive systems that can be thrown away easily while the data is ported over. This merits emphasis--on page 77 the author emphasizes that as hardware and software get fancier, they actually make it *harder and more expensive* to port data forward, and the author suggests that the true test of a new system should be FIRST, its ease of "reach back" to old data, and ONLY then, its ability to excel with new data. This is an extremely important point that I am fairly certain neither CIA nor DoD nor JFCOM take seriously.
Page 41 is helpful in discussing the "wife/whore" mindset that prevents the US in particular from merging tools--one complete set for "work", one complete different set for "play", leading to the obvious point that lots of money could be saved, and functionality cross-migrated, if we could break out of this mindset trap.
Page 89 sums up some really excellent coverage of how the earlier games rocketed in both sales and sophistication because of their commitment to giving out free simplified samples and the open source code. If we are ever to stabilize the world, we need to learn from this: generic open source software, open source intelligence, and open spectrum are the heart of 21st Century peacekeeping and capitalism, and anyone that does not get this is part of the problem. Open source (3) is the key to harnessing COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE (great Google search).
Unexpectedly for me, the author covers the "model Prisoner of War" or gulag/sweatshop of the modern videogame industry, and for those aspiring to working in this field, absolutely worth the price of the book.
Three final points that many will miss:
1) The book does a good job of noting that most games represent a form of cultural imperialism, value-free games that promote dominance through violence, and are not nuanced at all.
2) Boy games and girl games are different because boys and girls are different--boy games focus on violence and take-over, girl games focus on problem solving and peacekeeping. Obvious thought to me: use them to cross train boys and girls with one another's strengths.
3) Games are limited in both possible outcomes, and in terms of who is able to create them. THEY DO NOT PROVIDE FOR THE FOG OF WAR--while useful in terms of improving *technical* skills, they are NOT a substitute for real-world training with respect to *judgment*, *nuance*, and *situational awareness*. These games are lacking INTELLIGENCE in the combat sense. I was reminded by this section of an old Isaac Asimov short story, in which the world evolved to where everyone had to qualify to run an "expert system" and those that did not were "executed." In the conclusion we learn that the ones executed were actually exported to a moon where they WROTE the expert systems, keeping the fiction alive that everything was okay with the machines back home. DoD is in that trap right now.
I liked this book--of the 10 or so recommended to the Special Operations leadership, this book and Marc Sageman's book on Understanding Terrorism are the only two that have been really worth my while.
Rating: 
Summary: Like lots of games I've played...
Review: ...absolute fluff. While Herz is trying to put a spin on the history of gaming, she just about ignores the actualy history behind much of it, instead depending on personal experiences. All this is fine and good, but not particularly meaningful to anyone but herself. Anyone looking for a good book on videogames need look no further than Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of Videogames by Leonard Herman, which is a much more in-depth, detailed looked into the complex world that is videogaming. Now, I realize that's probably not what Joystick Nation had in mind, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually enjoy reading this...particularly anyone who plays games in this day and age.
Rating: 
Summary: It's like a game you really WANTED to like...
Review: ...but it just irritated you to no end. I must say that Herz's prose is quite unique-- more colorful than Kent's 'The First Quarter' but not anywhere near researched. All I have to say is, Picky, the skateboarding character from Sega's 'Fighting Vipers', is a male character. Herz's use of Picky as an example of a female game character in a chapter focusing on depiction of women in videogames is an unacceptable factual error. There are plenty of female videogame characters she could have used in this chapter-- and not just the usual teen-boy fantasy characters, but strong women characters that actually wear clothes. It's a terrible error-- one that accentuates all the other fact errors in the book. It IS a nice read, being less heavy-handed than most other videogame books. However, its glaring factual inaccuracies hurt the final product.
Rating:
Summary: interesting topics but not much critical content
Review: As a life long gamer who has worked in the video game industry, I was very interested in what this book had to say. While the fluffy sounding titled turned me off at first. The books best features are the chapters on early game history and classic games, while the writing that tries to be stylish but fails miserably, littered with bad pop-culture metaphors and not much content. While I liked her writing on her childhood memories of playing games, the rest of the book it just SOOOOOOOO lame!
Rating: 
Summary: Lighten Up!
Review: Come on, guys. This was, at heart, a very well written and interesting book. The title may be misleading, but who cares? Apparently, most of the reviewers of this book were looking for a complete history of the video game and were disappointed to find an ethnography instead. Frankly, i like the ethnography more. Mixing in pieces of memoir, tech knowledge and good, old fashioned good writing (something hard to come by in any book having anything to do with video games), _Joystick Nation_ was incredibly enjoyable and informative. Ms. Herz is a very talented and versatile writer; unfortunately, her target audience is a very unforgiving one. Just remember, if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of the subtle electronic nuances of 'Frogger,' you're in the wrong place. If you're looking for a book not so much about video games, but more about the generation that these games have effected and in what ways they have, then definately read this book; you will not be disappointed, i assure you. And while we're at it, why don't we lay off the author's gender, okay boys? That fifth star is for all you Y-chromosome elitists out there.
Rating:
Summary: It's like a game you really WANTED to like...
Review: I was intrigued by this book's premise & picked it up eagerly a while back. Given how ubiquitious video games have become, I think it's not implausible that they've had some impact on the way we view the world. Like in Aliens when the guy freaks out and keeps stammering "GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!". Not the most subtle example but you know what I mean. :) In addition to reading about the cultural and social effects of video game saturation, I also was looking forward to hearing some crazy stories and learning more about the people who made all the classics (Defender, Myst, etc.) Unfortunately, "Joystick Nation" book just doesn't go into enough detail to be interesting. Herz is prone to glibly tossing off dubious assertions about our generational consciousness, cultural mores, etc. etc., without arguing for these assertions in a coherent or convincing manner. She makes all sorts of claims about how video games have changed us, but rarely backs them up with any detail. After reading the book (it goes by fast but not because it's so fascinating; rather, it's just so flimsy that you can't help finishing it quickly), I felt like I'd just read the first draft of a sort-of-well-written but lazy college paper. The breezy, conversational style would be ok if Herz had deep or funny things to say, but she doesn't. It's frustrating because Herz superficially acts like she thinks video games are important and interesting enough to really explore in depth, yet her writing and analysis are so flimsy that you're left thinking that the subject isn't truly worthy of consideration. Herz's breathless yammering about her brother's use of the word 'kablooie' is typical of the book's style-- it's kind of cute but I just didn't relate or care. She meets the guy who wrote Defender, but instead of asking him insightful or amusing questions, she just goes on and on about how, like, TOTALLY COOL it was to meet the dude. (It's like Ray Romano's dad says on "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- "I could've eaten a bowl of alpha-bits and crapped a better interview.") "Joystick Nation" isn't all bad-- Herz is at least readable, and she occasionally has an interesting idea or two-- but it's not worth the cover price. My advice is to save your money and wait for someone to give the subject the level of attention it deserves-- or at least tell a better story.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and sloppy
Review: I was intrigued by this book's premise & picked it up eagerly a while back. Given how ubiquitious video games have become, I think it's not implausible that they've had some impact on the way we view the world. Like in Aliens when the guy freaks out and keeps stammering "GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!". Not the most subtle example but you know what I mean. :) In addition to reading about the cultural and social effects of video game saturation, I also was looking forward to hearing some crazy stories and learning more about the people who made all the classics (Defender, Myst, etc.) Unfortunately, "Joystick Nation" book just doesn't go into enough detail to be interesting. Herz is prone to glibly tossing off dubious assertions about our generational consciousness, cultural mores, etc. etc., without arguing for these assertions in a coherent or convincing manner. She makes all sorts of claims about how video games have changed us, but rarely backs them up with any detail. After reading the book (it goes by fast but not because it's so fascinating; rather, it's just so flimsy that you can't help finishing it quickly), I felt like I'd just read the first draft of a sort-of-well-written but lazy college paper. The breezy, conversational style would be ok if Herz had deep or funny things to say, but she doesn't. It's frustrating because Herz superficially acts like she thinks video games are important and interesting enough to really explore in depth, yet her writing and analysis are so flimsy that you're left thinking that the subject isn't truly worthy of consideration. Herz's breathless yammering about her brother's use of the word 'kablooie' is typical of the book's style-- it's kind of cute but I just didn't relate or care. She meets the guy who wrote Defender, but instead of asking him insightful or amusing questions, she just goes on and on about how, like, TOTALLY COOL it was to meet the dude. (It's like Ray Romano's dad says on "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- "I could've eaten a bowl of alpha-bits and crapped a better interview.") "Joystick Nation" isn't all bad-- Herz is at least readable, and she occasionally has an interesting idea or two-- but it's not worth the cover price. My advice is to save your money and wait for someone to give the subject the level of attention it deserves-- or at least tell a better story.
Rating: 
Summary: vacuous techno boosterism
Review: If this is hi-tech, then call me a Luddite. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people jettison their critical faculties when talking about hi-tech. The author thinks everything to do with hi-tech is mind blowingly awesome. I too thought video games were great and encouraged my son to play them. He now resents me deeply for over emphasizing them. The thing that really irritates me about this book is how fluffy it is. How little hard fact is actually contained in it. All the rest of the this meagre 200 page book is padded out with tons and tons of the most outlandish, often sickeningly so, hyperbole. As a sometime software engineer I was hoping for a few nitty gritty details of the real design and coding work that went into producing these games. Or some war stories about young companies on the make and jockeying for position in the market. Nada. If you like "Wired" magazine, you'll probably enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: hyperbolic and factually incorrect
Review: Initially, Herz's enthusiasm is infectious, but her hyperbole soon becomes tiresome. As does David Sheff in *Game Over*, Herz finds practically every game and piece of software she writes about to be brilliant and exciting, even decidedly B-grade titles like *FX Fighter*. In addition, the book is full of factual errors. These are not restricted to statements about videogames: while her most egregious error is to claim that George Lucas was involved with the *Wing Commander* series, which Herz also suggests is related to *Star Wars*, she also writes that the 1980s pop group A-Ha are Swedish, when they are in fact Norwegian. While Herz manages to make some interesting comments about videogames, she arrives at them by accident, and later chapters degenerate into undirected rambles. The book's lack of a conclusion demonstrates its equal lack of an effective structure and overarching argument.
Rating:
Summary: Pure fluff
Review: J.C. Herz may be able to articulate herself well, but the subject matter warrants more than what she offers. The content of the book is already well known my any video game scholar or enthusiast; she has no real new ideas or revelations. And there are other books, such as Kent's Ultimate History of Video Games, that are more suited for a person new to games. She is a gifted writer, however, and her use of metaphor is well done. I would not recommend this book to anyone except those that must read every video game book known to humanity.
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