Books are like video games in that you need to do a little work to enjoy them, but the pay-off is totally worth it. If you're looking for books this holiday that will excite the gamer in your life, we've assembled this list of greats for your consideration.

Console Wars


You don't need to be a true 90s kid to remember the knock-down, drag-out days of SEGA versus Nintendo. Console Wars by Blake J. Harris looks at the inside story of how SEGA positioned itself to take on what was the most powerful gaming company in the world at the time.

Buy Console Wars now in the UK

Ready Player One

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is so filled with pop-culture nods, references, and straight-up homages to the 1980s that its practically bursting at the seams. A fun read that combines wistful nostalgia and futuristic sci-fi. Give this to someone so they can read it before it becomes a Steven Spielberg movie.

Buy Ready Player One now in the UK

Neuromancer


Neuromancer by William Gibson is a landmark, ground-breaking novel that basically invented the modern cyberpunk genre. This classic of science-fiction is a must-read and would make a welcome gift for anyone interested in solid sci-fi storytelling.

Buy Neuromancer now in the UK

Snow Crash

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is another classic of the cyberpunk genre and is easily as well-regarded and as influential as Neuromancer. Set in 21st century Los Angeles, the landscape is familiar while at the same time evocative of a tech-riddled future.

Buy Snow Crash now in the UK

I Am Error

More than just a meme, "I Am Error" is the dialogue given by a town citizen in the Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I Am Error by Nathan Altice dives into what that mistranslated bit of text meant, but the book is really a look at the complex engineering and programming involved in creating games for the NES and Famicom systems.

Buy I am Error now in the UK

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition by Steven Levy is a history of the early pioneers of computer hacking. While the term has now come to have largely negative connotations, the original hackers were simply tinkerers who would push machines and systems to their limits out of a sense of curiosity and perhaps a touch of mischievousness.

Buy Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution now in the UK

The Making of Prince of Persia

The Prince of Persia is an instantly recognizable gaming franchise now, but it all began with a simple Apple II game created by a single programmer. The Making of Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner is a recording of the journal entries and process that went into creating one of the most iconic games of all time.

Buy The Making of Prince of Persia now in the UK

Power-Up

After the video game industry crash of the early 1980s, no American company would go near a video game with a 10-foot pole. Power-Up by Chris Kohler explores how Japanese companies were able to help revive an industry that was all but considered dead and, in the case of so many Atari games, quite literally buried.

Buy Power-Up now in the UK

A Brief History of Time


A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking isn't a science fiction book, or an historic look at a game or collection of game companies. Instead its a look at time itself, the science and physics of our very existence, written by one of the most recognizable names in science, Dr. Stephen Hawking.

Buy A Brief History of Time now in the UK

Even More Awesome Books:

Game Boy World 1989 by Jeremy Parish
You by Austin Grossman
Racing the Beam by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
The Making of Karateka by Jordan Mechner
Dungeons and Dreamers by Brad King and John Borland
The Media Equation by Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass
Game Over by David Sheff
Masters of Doom by David Kushner
Broca's Brain: Reflections of the Romance of Science by Carl Sagan
8-Bit Christmas by Kevin Jakubowski