Product Code Database
Like many otherwise functional adults, Tom Bissell is addicted to video games, spending hours a day neglecting work and social engagements in favor of Oblivion, Left 4 Dead, and Grand Theft Auto IV. In Extra Lives, Bissell examines the question that haunts him every time he turns off his consoles: Why on earth does he keep playing? Extra Lives is a shrewd, cutting, spirited, highly personal, and very funny inquiry into what makes video games so habit-forming and compelling--and how, as creative artifacts, they fall short. He describes the pure plotless joy of Left 4 Dead, the mind-bendingly awful dialogue of Resident Evil, the beautiful but heartless chaos of Far Cry 2, and the peerless cinematic characterization of Grand Theft Auto IV--a game whose charms escort Bissell to the point of near ruin. Alongside the book's critical project, Bissell candidly examines his own emotional connection to...
|
