“My main complaint here is the layout. There are chapters, and within each chapters are multiple pages that deviate from the main story. Which is fine, but I wish these other pages and subsections came at more opportune moments, when there’s a break in the main story where I can move to the box, then jump back into the story.
I have this almost compulsive problem with things like footnotes. Which is what stopped me reading David Foster Wallace, honestly. When I see a long-ass footnote, I HAVE to read it, but by the time I get back into the book I have no goddamn idea what I was reading about before. It makes me crazy. And I wish I could just ignore them, but I can’t. Call it a disease, call it whatever you want just so long as you help me seek the medical attention I clearly need here.
Probably the most interesting thing I learned about Japanese arcades, in some cases they have games like Street Fighter II back-to-back. So if I’m fighting a stranger, I can’t actually see who it is. And in fact, it’s considered poor etiquette to look. It’s a really interesting way to set it up, and I wonder if it isn’t better, especially when you’re talking about playing against a stranger. The side-by-side American version makes a person get a lot cozier than I’m comfortable with.
Oh, and also, I have to make a slight slam on the book for perpetuating the mostly-debunked myth that Space Invaders caused a Yen shortage in Japan upon its release. Although it’s kind of hard to prove that something never happened, there have been some darn thorough reviews seeking times when it definitely did (http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/11/video-game-myth-busters-space-invaders.html) and the most compelling evidence is the question brought up in this article (http://www.academia.edu/3672374/Insert_Coin_to_Play_Space_Invaders_and_the_100_Yen_Myth) which is: Why would an arcade owner allow a goldmine to sit in a machine as opposed to emptying it out and cashing it in?
Anyway, it makes sense that the story has legs. It’s a great story. It’s very demonstrative of the sudden power and draw of video games. But, to be honest, the greatness of the story, our desire to think it’s true, seems to be the main proof.
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