bhrigu: So I was thinking of starting to read books on the history of Video games, and also books that might deal with the importance of video games as a medium of artistic expression and their social significance.
Ok, I know this thread is three months old, but since it got dug up again...
These series are pretty interesting:
The Scroll - Magazines:
http://www.scroll.vg/shop The Killscreen books:
https://killscreen.com/
The Bossfight books:
https://bossfightbooks.com/
The HG101 Series:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/category/books/
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Apart from these, there are quite a lot good books around.
From time to time "StoryBundle" offers some of them in "Games-Bundles", though you can of course simply buy these books at your favourite bookseller:
- The Making of Karateka - by Jordan Mechner (Topic - Karateka)
- The Making of Prince of Persia - by Jordan Mechner (Topic - PoP)
- Confessions of the Game Doctor - by Bill Kunkel (Topic - Games' Magazines and Games in general)
- Killing is Harmless - by Brendan Keogh (Topic - Spec OPs: The Line)
- Generation Xbox: How Videogames Invaded Hollywood - by Jamie Russell (Topic - the love/hate relationship between Games and Hollywood)
- Videogames: In the Beginning - by Ralph H. Baer (Topic - Papa Baer takes us back to how and where it all started)
- Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames - by Leonard Herman (Topic - Games from Spacewar on Mainframe computers to the year 2001)
- The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures - by Kurt Kalata (Topic - (graphic) adventures from "Adventure" on the mainframe to the Telltale Games)
- Once Upon a Point & Click - by David L. Craddock (Topic - the story of Roberta Williams (Sierra) and Jane Jensen (e.g. Gabriel Knight))
- Replay: The History of Video Games - by Tristan Donovan (Topic - wanna guess?)
- Atari Inc.: Business Is Fun - by Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel (Topic - the (in-)famous sprinkler-lobotomy...among some other stuff)
- Service Games: The Rise and Fall of Sega - by Sam Pettus (Topic - all about SEGA)
- Minecraft - by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson (Topic - Notch's story)
- The Final Hours of Portal 2 - by Geoff Keighley (Topic - Valve and Portal 2 especially)
- Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play - by Morgan Ramsay (Topic - look at 18 Gaming-industry leaders from Bushnell (Atari) to Christopher Weaver (Bethesda)
- The Anatomy of Super Mario Vol. 1 - by Jeremy Parish (Topic - what made Mario become a classic)
- The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Vol. 1+2- by John Szczepaniak (Topic - tile says it all)
- Shooter - by Patrick Lindsey and Reid McCarter (Topic - essays about 15 FPSs)
- Game Boy World 1989 - by Jeremy Parish (Topic - all about the GB)
- Stay A while and Listen: Book 1 - by David L. Craddock (Topic - Blizzard/Diabolo)
- How to Talk About Videogames - by Ian Bogost Topic - Games' critique in comparison to other media)
- Playing at the World - by Jon Peterson (Topic - D&D and other (war-)simulation games)
- A Microsoft Life - by Stephen Toulouse (Topic - an insider's look at MicroSoft)
- Priming the Pump - by David Welsh and Theresa Welsh (Topic - the TRS-80 and its role in PC history)
- Fire in the Valley - by Michael Swaine and Paul Freiberger (Topic - the history of the PC)
- Gates - by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews (Topic - Bill Gates' way from nerdy kid in a garage to nerdy adult in the boss office of MS)
- Heroines of Gaming - by Christian Cardenas, Dylan Altman and Trista Payte (Topic - female video game protagonists and their impact on players)
- Stairway to Badass - by David L. Craddock (Topic - The Making and Remaking of Doom (2016))
- Dungeon Hacks: Expanded Edition - by David L. Craddock (Topic - Roguelikes)
- GameDev Stories: Volumes 1+2 - by David L. Craddock (Topic - stories from Game Devs)
- Memories of Arcadia - by John Harris (Topic - game design of Arcade games, and why it never gets old)
