false 38627 2 6 The Ultimate History of Video Games.

Born in California and raised in Hawaii, Kent served as a missionary for the LDS Church between the years of 1979 and 1981. During that time, he worked as a Spanish-speaking missionary serving migrant farm workers in southern Idaho.

While Kent has a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and a Master’s degree in communications from Brigham Young University, he claims that his most important education came from life.

He learned important lessons from working with farm laborers in Idaho. Later, from 1986 through 1988, Kent worked as a telemarketer selling TV Guide and Inc. Magazine. His years on the phone helped him develop an ear for dialog.

As a boy growing up in Honolulu in the 1960s, Kent developed a unique perspective. He spent hours torch fishing and skin diving. He tried his hand at surfing and boxing. All of these interests have worked their way into his writing.

In 1987, Kent reviewed the Stephen King novels Misery and The Eyes of the Dragon for the Seattle Times. A diehard Stephen King fan, Kent later admitted that he pitched the reviews to the Times so that he could afford to buy the books.

In 1993, upon returning to Seattle after a five-year absence, Kent pitched a review of “virtual haunted houses” for the Halloween issue of the Seattle Times. He reviewed the games The Seventh Guest, Alone in the Dark, and Legacy. Not only did this review land Kent three free PC games, it started him on a new career path.

By the middle of 1994, when Kent found himself laid off from his job at a PR agency, he became a full-time freelance journalist. He wrote monthly pieces for the Seattle Times along with regular features and reviews for Electronic Games, CDRom Today, ComputerLife, and NautilusCD. In later years, he would write for American Heritage, Parade, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and many other publications. He wrote regular columns for MSNBC, Next Generation, the Japan Times, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

In 2000, Kent self-published The First Quarter: A 25-year History of Video Games. That book was later purchased and re-published as The Ultimate History of Video Games by the Prima, Three River Press, and Crown divisions of Random House.

During his career as a games journalist, Kent wrote the entries on video games for Encarta and the Encyclopedia Americana. At the invitation of Senator Joseph Lieberman, Kent has spoken at the annual Report Card on Video Game Violence in Washington D.C.

In 2005, Kent announced his semi-retirement from video games so that he could concentrate on writing novels. Though he still writes a monthly column for Boy’s Life, he has mostly concentrated his efforts on writing novels since that time. His first efforts in science fiction, The Clone Republic and Rogue Clone were published by Ace Book in 2006. In 2007, Ace published The Clone Alliance, the third book in his Wayson Harris series; and in 2008, Ace published The Clone Elite.

Kent has signed with Ace to write three more Harris novels, the first of which, The Clone Betrayal, is due out in November, 2009.]]> male 1903/08/28 2044516 68571 0761536434 9780761536437 17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693304m/68571.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693304s/68571.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68571.The_Ultimate_History_of_Video_Games_From_Pong_to_Pokemon_The_Story_Behind_the_Craze_That_Touched_Our_Lives_and_Changed_the_World 4.19 86 Inside the Games You Grew Up with but Never Forgot
With all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade. The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. From the arcade to television and from the PC to the handheld device, video games have entraced kids at heart for nearly 30 years. And author and gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning.
This engrossing book tells the incredible tale of how this backroom novelty transformed into a cultural phenomenon. Through meticulous research and personal interviews with hundreds of industry luminaries, you'll read firsthand accounts of how yesterday's games like Space Invaders, Centipede, and Pac-Man helped create an arcade culture that defined a generation, and how today's empires like Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have galvanized a multibillion-dollar industry and a new generation of games. Inside, you'll discover:
·The video game that saved Nintendo from bankruptcy
·The serendipitous story of Pac-Man's design
·The misstep that helped topple Atari's $2 billion-a-year empire
·The coin shortage caused by Space Invaders
·The fascinating reasons behind the rise, fall, and rebirth of Sega
·And much more!
Entertaining, addictive, and as mesmerizing as the games it chronicles, this book is a must-have for anyone who's ever touched a joystick.]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2001 68575 0441013937 9780441013937 4 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693305m/68575.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693305s/68575.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68575.The_Clone_Republic 3.57 51 38627 3.85 289 41 2006 68567 044101450X 9780441014507 5 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693302m/68567.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693302s/68567.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68567.Rogue_Clone 3.66 44 Earth, 2512 A.D. Humans have spread across the six arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Unified Authority controls Earth's colonies with an iron fist and a powerful military-a military made up almost entirely of clones. But four centuries of relative peace are about to be shattered...

Lt. Wayson Harris is one of thousands of clones born and bred to be the ultimate soldiers. But unlike the others, Harris is an outlawed model-one with independent thoughts and an addiction to violence.

Presumed dead after his troops were massacred, Harris-who blames the U.A. for the slaughter-has gone AWOL as a bounty hunter. Still, it's hard for a clone to overcome his conditioning, and Harris finds himself drawn back into the U.A.'s service by his mentor and creator, Fleet Admiral Bryce Klyber.

Now, with separatists rebelling throughout the galaxy, the fate of the U.A. depends on Admiral Klyber's plans for the Doctrinaire-the largest, most powerful battleship ever constructed. But there are those who would do anything to stop Klyber, and Harris must decide whether he should fight against them...or work for them.]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2006 1288583 0441015425 9780441015429 4 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1288583.The_Clone_Alliance 3.61 41
Rogue clone Wayson Harris is stranded on a frontier planet-until a rebel offensive puts him back in the uniform of a U.A. Marine, once again leading a strike against the enemy. But the rebels have a powerful ally no one could have imagined.]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2007 5223592 0441016081 9780441016082 5 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5223592.The_Clone_Elite 3.74 35 38627 3.85 289 41 2008 159576 0970475500 9780970475503 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172279702m/159576.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172279702s/159576.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159576.The_First_Quarter_A_25_year_History_of_Video_Games 4.24 17 Above all, this book provides an intimate look into the lives of a group of brilliant and quirky people, and the sometimes serious and sometimes wacky way they ran their business.

]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2001 6438163 0441017878 9780441017874 3 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6438163-the-clone-betrayal 4.33 9
]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2009 68573 0072230525 9780072230529 0 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693304m/68573.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170693304s/68573.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68573.The_Making_of_Doom_r_III_The_Official_Guide 3.00 2 Meet the Creators of DOOM 3! Walk through the doors of id Software and meet the close-knit group of extraordinary designers behind the computer game that is being hailed as possibly the greatest ever made. Through exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes photos, and never-before-seen game art, you will discover what it takes to pull off an achievement of this magnitude. From initial conception to completed game comprised a four-year journey filled with hard work, setbacks, breakthroughs, and ultimate success. The team at id describe in their own words the inspirations and ideas behind the making of DOOM 3.

]]> 38627 3.85 289 41 2004 171632 1559586079 9781559586078 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223643069m/171632.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223643069s/171632.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171632.Wing_Commander_III_The_Ultimate_Strategy_Guide 5.00 1 38627 3.85 289 41 1995 68569 1559587784 9781559587785 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68569.Star_Crusader_The_Official_Strategy_Guide 5.00 1 38627 3.85 289 41 1995