This book is a collection of 17 interviews with a variety of successful game company founders, from ’80s figures such as Nolan Bushnell of Atari and “Wild Bill” Stealey of MicroProse to current creators whose names will mean nothing to you unless you are in the industry. However, most of the companies and their hit products will probably be familiar.

The first problem I had with the book is the claim on the back cover: “You will see why games have--for decades--led technical innovation.” This is not what the interviews are actually about. They are really about how the interviewees started their companies and how they overcame problems. Details about programming or technology are mostly only mentioned in passing. Typically, it’s about how they got their games into distribution and made deals with Microsoft or some media conglomerate to buy their companies.

I found most of the interviews dull and repetitious. The questions didn’t reveal the drive or passion these people had to make their companies successful, nor were they probing questions, such as “Was it for love or money?” or “Do you think it was a mistake to sell your company?” Most of them saw it as just another job. They could have been starting up any type of company. Often, as I read an interview, I would hear the voice of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off speaking the words of the interviewee. The dullness of this book is occasionally relieved by a few anecdotes, such as fooling game stores with fake customer demands for a game or trying to impress a potential partner.

I think this book would appeal more to those wanting to know how game companies are created. It shows what others have done, what worked or didn’t work, and how the industry has changed over the past 30 years. Those looking for stories of “technical innovation” should look elsewhere.