Recommend some gaming books (that aren’t strategy guides)

I don’t read. Why? I’m a toolbag, and the idea of doing something intellectual scares the absolute crap out of me. When I do read, I tend to pick up stuff that I know is junk, like books about TV shows that have pointless trivia regarding the amount of hair gel on David Boreanaz’s head, or volumes stating that the reason Alias seasons 3-5 were rubbish is because JJ Abrams made Lost instead. Sometimes, however, I read books about videogames. Do you?

Some of them are great, but I get the feeling that I’m missing out on the better ones. I want you to suggest the best reads you’ve come across that touch on the subject of games in an extensive way.

Here are three of my choices (WARNING: one is an art book and doesn’t count as actual reading material):

Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy by Yoshitaka Amano

This collects art from the first four Final Fantasy games, scrawled (lovingly) by the incredibly talented Amano, character designer on all the pre-PlayStation games in the series. It’s a nice, fan-only affair.

Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Berlin Johnson

This brief theory on pop culture is made notable for the fact that it stands behind video games, as a worthy medium. It’s interesting, though I get the impression that it’s targeted at all the poor souls that don’t already know that.

Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts by Rob Smith

This officially-sanctioned book has a few omissions from the story of LucasArts (the page on Full Metal 2 actually led to a faux-pas in my interview with Tim Schafer, but that’s not for here), but the level of access is impressive and it remains a coffee table favourite of mine.

Now, share yours! Don’t bother recommending the Final Fantasy X strategy guide, though; we all know the section on Blitzball is shit.