
Press Reset
Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
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Narrated by:
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Ray Chase
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By:
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Jason Schreier
About this listen
From the best-selling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart - and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.
Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.
The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games - Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more - on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.
Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games - and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.
©2021 Jason Schreier (P)2021 Grand Central PublishingCritic reviews
“Schreier covers the notoriously secretive gaming industry [and] knows it well.” (GQ)
“Jason Schreier is a huge fan of video games, and his enthusiasm is contagious.” (Booklist)
“My only complaint about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is that there wasn't more to read.” (Forbes)
a must read for all gamers and aspiring game devs
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Very insightful
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Great audiobook bad sound quality
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Finished the 21st book for 2021 reading challenge, and it was a doozy. After reading Blood, Sweat and Pixels earlier this year I was initially excited to read the follow up. In reading some of the samples available it felt like more of the same so I decided to skip it for the time being - that was a mistake!
Press Reset is more an industrial work, following the people who worked at studios and how they’ve dealt with the challenges of working in the industry, with the highest highs and lowest lows, as opposed to focusing on the games themselves as Blood Sweat and Pixels did.
There are triumphant stories of success in this book, and some very sad stories of people leaving the industry - there is for the most part - a chronological thread leading from the first story to the final. Without giving much away - there was plenty of fallout in the aftermath of Bioshock Infinite’s release and Irrational’s subsequent shut down, as about 70% of the books stories relate to it.
I found the narration vibrant and told the story well - sometimes the voices for different people in the stories blended together somewhat, but overall I really liked the audio production and got through the book very quickly.
I do have some minor gripes, the final chapters deal with how the problems endemic to the industry could be solved including decentralisation of companies, streamlined creative teams, outsourcing devs, unionisation etc which I found especially fascinating.
However, this was only one chapter out of 10 - and I feel like it was a bit rushed - Schreier is on record in the book and online as being a strong proponent of game dev unions which is absolutely fine, but I felt as a result the book didn’t engage with that topic on both sides as deeply as I’d have liked. I’d love to see potential studies into this, or surveys etc etc - there is an element of this in the book - but it felt a bit one sided and shallow for my liking.
Another fanboy complaint which doesn’t impact anything, but Schreier has now twice used Super Plumber Adventure as an example in his books, where is the love for Mr Blue Needlemouse, my boy Sonic? Come on Jason, represent!
Essential reading for anyone looking at working in games
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great book
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how hard it can be to be a game developer and what happens when it's game over
Interesting look at how the game industry is run
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The voice actor, again, is fantastic, though there are some lines which sound like they were recorded incorrectly and sounds a little off. Nothing too bad, but did notice it a few times. Otherwise a fantastic book highly recommended
Fantastic book about game development hell
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Eye opening for a newbie
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This book focuses mostly on the negative aspects only, with less personality, in contrast to the first books fantastic dramatization and personal deep dives in stories. Which makes it a bit less enjoyable as just a good read for anyone.
Great narration as usual.
Another solid book about the troubles of game development by Jason
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Storyline and reality
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