Playing at the Next Level - by Ken Horowitz (Paperback)

About the Book

-Drawing on interviews with nearly 100 Sega alumni, this book traces the company's development, revealing previously undocumented areas of game-making history, including Sega's relationship with Tonka, the creation of its internal studios, and major breakthroughs like the Sega Channel and HEAT Network. More than 40 of the company's most influential games are explored in detail---

Book Synopsis

Today a multinational video game developer, Sega was the first to break Nintendo's grip on the gaming industry, expanding from primarily an arcade game company to become the dominant game console manufacturer in North America. A major part of that success came from the hard work and innovation of its subsidiary, Sega of America, who in a little more than a decade wrested the majority market share from Nintendo and revolutionized how games were made.

Drawing on interviews with nearly 100 Sega alumni, this book traces the development of the company, revealing previously undocumented areas of game-making history, including Sega's relationship with Tonka, the creation of its internal studios, and major breakthroughs like the Sega Channel and HEAT Network. More than 40 of the company's most influential games are explored in detail.

Review Quotes

"I recommend...this is a must read"-SEGAbits; "For more than a decade, the author has interviewed many of the programmers, developers, designers and others who worked for Sega of America during its heyday. It is their stories and details of other behind the scenes events that contributed to Sega of America's success that are the focus of this text."-Reference Reviews; "Definitely worth a read...a great inside look at the video game industry in the '90s...a concise, highly-readable documentary of Sega's story...an eye-opening narrative that testifies to the challenges of making it in the video game industry...much to enjoy...hard-pressed to find a more appropriate and approachable volume"-M. Brandon Robbins, level250geek.

About the Author

Ken Horowitz is a professor of English and has written about Sega and video games for over a decade for his website, Sega-16, as well as for numerous other websites and magazines. He lives in Puerto Rico.