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Also by Heather Chaplin:

Smartbomb, October 2006
Trade Size
Smartbomb, November 2005
Hardcover

Also by Aaron Ruby:

Smartbomb, October 2006
Trade Size
Smartbomb, November 2005
Hardcover

SMARTBOMB
By: Heather Chaplin, Aaron Ruby

The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution

Algonquin Books
November 2005
288 pages
ISBN: 1565123468
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction

The movie business celebrates its creators: Spielberg, DeMille, Scorsese, Hitchcock. But what about the “ names” behind Doom, The Sims, Donkey Kong, Grand Theft Auto—the games that spawned a ten-billion-dollar industry whose revenues surpassed the domestic movie box office take five years ago? Videogames are no longer a quirky, boom-or-bust subculture, but a bona fide mainstream industry revolutionizing the way we teach, the way we learn, the way we communicate.

Smartbomb goes into the epicenter of the videogame explosion, where computer technology is fused with artistic creativity. From the hackers at MIT in the 1960s to the Ferrari-driving developers of the modern-day industry to professional “cyberathletes,” we meet the celebrities of the gaming world. It’s a dizzying trip through the trade conventions, gaming competitions, and design labs of the men who are the Spielbergs of their field. Startling and revelatory, this is an up-close and personal look at the egos, the battles, the one-upmanship, and the love of the chase fueling these innovators who are creating the worlds in which we’re going to live and play for the next century.

Media Buzz

CBS Sunday Morning - December 11, 2005