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Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2e
Computer role-playing games (CRPGs) are a special genre of computer games that bring the tabletop role-playing experience of games such as Dungeons & Dragons to the computer screen. Thisnew edition inlcudes two new chapters: The Modern Age, and a chapter on Indies and Mobile CRPGs. The new modern age chapter will cover, among other topics, Kickstarter/FIG crowdfunded projects such as Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity. It'll also bring the book up to date with major games such as Dragon Age, Witcher, Skyrim. Expanded info in first chapter about educational potential of CRPGs. Color figures will be introduced for the first time.
Key Features
gives reviews of hundreds of games across many platforms. comprehensive book covering the history of computer RPGs. comprehensive index at the back, letting you quickly look up your favourite titles
Key Features
gives reviews of hundreds of games across many platforms. comprehensive book covering the history of computer RPGs. comprehensive index at the back, letting you quickly look up your favourite titles
618 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 17, 2011
I bought Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games Kindle Edition by mistake. I wanted to read Dungeons and Dreamers and did not check the title while clicking ok on my Kindle. I was in for a good treat!
Matt Barton's monumental survey of Computer Role-Playing Games (CRPGs) is a significant improvement over the printed edition, covering almost twice as much material (and, thus, games). CRPGs are perhaps less known to the gamer audience, partly because they have been eclipsed by the hack-and-slash sub-genre (World of Warcraft, anyone?), partly because a new generation of gamers have been attracted by casual games (FarmVille or Mafia Wars ring a bell?) The story covers all of the games I've played, most of what you would expect, and more, much more. Barton covers many series, fashions a chrono-impact ordering, explains the technologies behind the games. His analysis is interesting, albeit a bit off (see the negatives paragraph); among the nice (yet well-known) findings is that CRPG players are more interested in the long run in the social rather than the leveling/skilling aspects of the game (Richard Bartle made one of the first studies in this direction, almost a decade ago).
Unfortunately, not all is ball with this book. From the beginning, Barton warns the reader that this is going to be a biased book. And biased it is, from his attempt to "say some positive things about [CRPGs]" to the analysis of the demise of CRPGs in recent years. There's a feeling of repetition as you turn the 200th consecutive page with similar material (the 1990s fill this much with pretty similar games). Most importantly, Barton's understanding of technology is not always accurate; his discussion of the distributed systems that form the infrastructure of modern Massively Multiplayer Online Games is rudimentary at best and plain wrong in parts. Thus, his analysis of the market and his predictions based on it seem at least a bit off.
Overall, I liked this survey/history of CRPGs, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in CRPGs.
Matt Barton's monumental survey of Computer Role-Playing Games (CRPGs) is a significant improvement over the printed edition, covering almost twice as much material (and, thus, games). CRPGs are perhaps less known to the gamer audience, partly because they have been eclipsed by the hack-and-slash sub-genre (World of Warcraft, anyone?), partly because a new generation of gamers have been attracted by casual games (FarmVille or Mafia Wars ring a bell?) The story covers all of the games I've played, most of what you would expect, and more, much more. Barton covers many series, fashions a chrono-impact ordering, explains the technologies behind the games. His analysis is interesting, albeit a bit off (see the negatives paragraph); among the nice (yet well-known) findings is that CRPG players are more interested in the long run in the social rather than the leveling/skilling aspects of the game (Richard Bartle made one of the first studies in this direction, almost a decade ago).
Unfortunately, not all is ball with this book. From the beginning, Barton warns the reader that this is going to be a biased book. And biased it is, from his attempt to "say some positive things about [CRPGs]" to the analysis of the demise of CRPGs in recent years. There's a feeling of repetition as you turn the 200th consecutive page with similar material (the 1990s fill this much with pretty similar games). Most importantly, Barton's understanding of technology is not always accurate; his discussion of the distributed systems that form the infrastructure of modern Massively Multiplayer Online Games is rudimentary at best and plain wrong in parts. Thus, his analysis of the market and his predictions based on it seem at least a bit off.
Overall, I liked this survey/history of CRPGs, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in CRPGs.
November 27, 2010
A good survey of computer RPGs, though a few were missed, including my favorite, Demise. Screen shots are nearly pointless, small and greyscale. Actually 443 pages.
March 15, 2019
The book wants to be the history of computer role playing games (CRPGs), but it's only half-way there. Overall, the book is stuck somewhere between the possible ways how such a study could be performed:
- the book is not a academic/historical study and review of the genre: it contains a lot of personal opinions, judgments and biases of the author. Some of them are introduced as such (which is OK), others are not (and it's not OK for such a study). The descriptions of most of the games are quite shallow, and they speak mainly to people who already played the game. The book is also lacking a classification/framework within which the games would be studied, and the descriptions of different games often focus on different aspects of the game.
- it's also not a personal (subjective) testimony about the era and the games. For that, the book is actually not personal enough and it is not clear whether the author played the games he writes about, or bases his descriptions only on third-party information.
- it's also not a collection of such testimonies e.g. from the designers of the games. Apparently, the author based the book only on information available online, but did not make any attempts at contacting and interviewing the authors to fill any gaps and add the actual historical context.
- and finally, it's not even a good catalog of the games, because of the chaotic organization of the book (the book is divided by "ages" or epochs of CRPG development, but these are fuzzy and overlap, so the book appears chronologically organized from a distance, but it really is not). Moreover, some important games on the fringes of the genre are missing (e.g. Deus Ex should, in my opinion, be included in the book), while others (Legend of Zelda, Dungeon Keeper) is not. This only adds to the feeling that the author wrote the book to justify his opinions of the genre, but not to catalogue and/or study it in its full breadth.
Overall - this books has some nostalgic value. If you used to play the games, the descriptions might remind you of the games, and make you dream a bit. For everyone else, the CRPG book from https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/ might be a better choice (I still need to read that one in more detail).
- the book is not a academic/historical study and review of the genre: it contains a lot of personal opinions, judgments and biases of the author. Some of them are introduced as such (which is OK), others are not (and it's not OK for such a study). The descriptions of most of the games are quite shallow, and they speak mainly to people who already played the game. The book is also lacking a classification/framework within which the games would be studied, and the descriptions of different games often focus on different aspects of the game.
- it's also not a personal (subjective) testimony about the era and the games. For that, the book is actually not personal enough and it is not clear whether the author played the games he writes about, or bases his descriptions only on third-party information.
- it's also not a collection of such testimonies e.g. from the designers of the games. Apparently, the author based the book only on information available online, but did not make any attempts at contacting and interviewing the authors to fill any gaps and add the actual historical context.
- and finally, it's not even a good catalog of the games, because of the chaotic organization of the book (the book is divided by "ages" or epochs of CRPG development, but these are fuzzy and overlap, so the book appears chronologically organized from a distance, but it really is not). Moreover, some important games on the fringes of the genre are missing (e.g. Deus Ex should, in my opinion, be included in the book), while others (Legend of Zelda, Dungeon Keeper) is not. This only adds to the feeling that the author wrote the book to justify his opinions of the genre, but not to catalogue and/or study it in its full breadth.
Overall - this books has some nostalgic value. If you used to play the games, the descriptions might remind you of the games, and make you dream a bit. For everyone else, the CRPG book from https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/ might be a better choice (I still need to read that one in more detail).
May 7, 2013
This book is great when it discusses trends, contrasts games, and looks beyond the superficial. Unfortunately, that only consists of about a third of this book. The rest is largely a listing of games with brief summaries of somewhat dubious value (although it did remind me of some great games I haven’t thought of for years, like The Summoning and Star Trail). These sorts of lists are a dime a dozen on the internet and Barton doesn’t bring any particular insight or wit to push this one above the rest. The tone of the writing is often very arrogant and smug, and there were more than a few obvious copyediting problems in my copy.
Verdict: Interesting in parts but not essential.
Verdict: Interesting in parts but not essential.
May 2, 2015
Dungeons and Desktops is a great overview of computer role-playing games from the beginning of the era all the way to when the book was published in 2008. The research required for these summaries must have been staggering, although I'd guess it was fun "research" since the author actually played at least most of the games.
One thing the author does repeatedly that sometimes confused me is referring to games by their subtitles. For instance, he'll make a reference to "The Black Gate" instead of using the full title, "Ultima VII: The Black Gate." When he does this for games I know and have played (like The Black Gate), that's fine. But when he does it for games and series with which I'm not familiar, it's disorienting. I have to either shrug and keep reading, or flip back a few dozen pages and try to figure out what game he's talking about. Beyond that, there were only two things he mentioned that I believe are incorrect. First, when he reviews the Spelljammer game, he refers to it as Steampunk (ugh, no, it's AD&D in space, not some techno-magic mashup... although it is possible the game just presented the universe wrong). Second, when talking about Ultima Underworld, he compares it to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D. Actually, a better comparison would be id's Catacomb Abyss 3D, which featured the same type of realtime graphics, but was released a full year before Wolf (not to mention Hovertank, Interphase, or MechWarrior--all of which preceded even Catacomb 3D). Wolf 3D was a landmark, sure, but it was not the first game with realtime 3D graphics.
The book never mentions GOG.com (granted, I think GOG started in the same year the book was released), but I wanted to mention it in this review. Many of the games mentioned in the book can be purchased, legally, from GOG.com, and every game on there has been updated with emulation so that it will run on your modern computer. Many of the classic series like Ultima, Neverwinter Nights, and Might and Magic can be purchased, some are even available in multi-game packages and a few are totally free. Obtaining and playing most of these games on modern machines should be trivial. If you want the Apple IIe, C64, NES, or Amiga versions of the games, you're on your own. But you can definitely find a lot of the DOS games on GOG.
Overall, this book was an enjoyable read, one that had me making many notes to search for older classics I never played (but should). Not only that, but reading this book has gotten me thinking and excited about making my own RPG. My obscure 1994 CRPG that four people on the planet have played is just begging for a sequel. I might even make the sequel using more than four colors, wheee!
One thing the author does repeatedly that sometimes confused me is referring to games by their subtitles. For instance, he'll make a reference to "The Black Gate" instead of using the full title, "Ultima VII: The Black Gate." When he does this for games I know and have played (like The Black Gate), that's fine. But when he does it for games and series with which I'm not familiar, it's disorienting. I have to either shrug and keep reading, or flip back a few dozen pages and try to figure out what game he's talking about. Beyond that, there were only two things he mentioned that I believe are incorrect. First, when he reviews the Spelljammer game, he refers to it as Steampunk (ugh, no, it's AD&D in space, not some techno-magic mashup... although it is possible the game just presented the universe wrong). Second, when talking about Ultima Underworld, he compares it to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D. Actually, a better comparison would be id's Catacomb Abyss 3D, which featured the same type of realtime graphics, but was released a full year before Wolf (not to mention Hovertank, Interphase, or MechWarrior--all of which preceded even Catacomb 3D). Wolf 3D was a landmark, sure, but it was not the first game with realtime 3D graphics.
The book never mentions GOG.com (granted, I think GOG started in the same year the book was released), but I wanted to mention it in this review. Many of the games mentioned in the book can be purchased, legally, from GOG.com, and every game on there has been updated with emulation so that it will run on your modern computer. Many of the classic series like Ultima, Neverwinter Nights, and Might and Magic can be purchased, some are even available in multi-game packages and a few are totally free. Obtaining and playing most of these games on modern machines should be trivial. If you want the Apple IIe, C64, NES, or Amiga versions of the games, you're on your own. But you can definitely find a lot of the DOS games on GOG.
Overall, this book was an enjoyable read, one that had me making many notes to search for older classics I never played (but should). Not only that, but reading this book has gotten me thinking and excited about making my own RPG. My obscure 1994 CRPG that four people on the planet have played is just begging for a sequel. I might even make the sequel using more than four colors, wheee!
August 11, 2012
What this book comes down to is a list of games. I think the first part of the book is the most useful, as the mainframe games of the 70s and the like are not well known, and it's good of the author to make a record of them before they get completely forgotten.
However, I didn't find the book particularly well written. It has an arrogant tone at times, defining the reader as someone who has most certainly read Lord of the Rings (nope, didn't get through the slow open of that), must be well aware of Star Wars (eh, seen the original trilology and Episode I, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan) amoung other things. This dates the book, for one thing, and alienates readers who don't match the author's mental image.
The other problem is that as a list it doesn't have much of a narrative arc; it might have worked better, after the first chapter with the earliest games, to follow companies from creation to dissolution, perhaps.
Still, an interesting book, sure to point out a few RPGs you've missed, and worthwhile for studying games that simply aren't available any more, but I wouldn't recommend it as a whole.
However, I didn't find the book particularly well written. It has an arrogant tone at times, defining the reader as someone who has most certainly read Lord of the Rings (nope, didn't get through the slow open of that), must be well aware of Star Wars (eh, seen the original trilology and Episode I, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan) amoung other things. This dates the book, for one thing, and alienates readers who don't match the author's mental image.
The other problem is that as a list it doesn't have much of a narrative arc; it might have worked better, after the first chapter with the earliest games, to follow companies from creation to dissolution, perhaps.
Still, an interesting book, sure to point out a few RPGs you've missed, and worthwhile for studying games that simply aren't available any more, but I wouldn't recommend it as a whole.
September 23, 2013
I enjoyed this history of the CRPG genre, especially the coverage of older games. Despite their rudimentary graphics and interfaces, some of the old games featured surprisingly sophisticated mechanics!
Also mentioned are quite a few games which, despite being good and innovative, didn't manage to achieve success in their time. They are waiting to be rediscovered, or at least mined for inspiration.
Here's a quote from the book describing a complex and deliberate game: "This game [...] takes players about as far from instant gratification as they can get without joining a monastery."
The author concludes with an apologia for the single-player CRPG in this time of apparent decline of the genre.
Also mentioned are quite a few games which, despite being good and innovative, didn't manage to achieve success in their time. They are waiting to be rediscovered, or at least mined for inspiration.
Here's a quote from the book describing a complex and deliberate game: "This game [...] takes players about as far from instant gratification as they can get without joining a monastery."
The author concludes with an apologia for the single-player CRPG in this time of apparent decline of the genre.
October 12, 2021
About as comprehensive a treatise on how CRPGs developed as you're ever likely to find (aside perhaps from 2019's 'The CRPG Book'). Barton is clearly the heavy-hitter here when it comes to insider knowledge of game mechanics and developer backgrounds as a result of his truly excellent 'Matt Chat' Youtube channel, but Stacks brings plenty of flavour text to the mix in this updated edition. In fact, the two of them have a sort of 'Elminster and Volo' dynamic going with their back-and-forth banter interspersing the entries throughout the book that you'd be familiar with if you've read the old Baldur's Gate guides. Overall, a must-read for CRPG fans.
February 23, 2025
I’m a fan of role-playing games, both in tabletop and video game form. I figured this book would be a nice insight into the history behind some of my favorite games. Unfortunately this is just an unfocused, messy recount of popular RPGs of the 80s and 90s that is a mile wide, but an inch deep.
For a book whose subtitle is “The History of Computer Role-Playing Games”, there isn’t a whole lot of historical analysis going on. I’d say only about 20% of this book is interested in exploring the individuals, studios, publishers, and technology behind the gamesdiscussed advertised, and even then it’s hardly any more informative than a Wikipedia article. But the way it goes about exploring the history is hard to follow, and I say that as someone who’s already familiar with the subject matter. The chapters are split up into different eras, from early games developed on university mainframes to popular commercial releases and the rise and fall of the big names of the 80s and 90s, but the lines between the eras are incredibly vague and cross over each other constantly. Perhaps if the other 80% of this book wasn’t a list of poorly summarized games with little to no connection to a broader trend or design philosophy, the lines would be more clear.
The author of the book, Matt Barton, is also incredibly opinionated and doesn’t even attempt to keep his bias in check, going so far to call people who disagree with his opinion on certain games apologists (relax dude, they’re not Nazi sympathizers, they’re gamers… hang on, I repeated myself). His style of writing oozes smug asshole energy and reeks of dated humor such as joking about how early developers fueled themselves with Mountain Dew while coming up with their games. And I don’t know why he even bothered to include images and footnotes when all of the images are screenshots that are occasionally relevant and the footnotes are listed at the end of each chapter and aren’t formatted in any academic fashion (surprising, considering this guy is supposed to be an English professor).
The most disappointing thing about this book (well, besides the fact that it’s mostly a big list) is that it’s almost entirely focused on American and Western games and their history. Sure, there’s a couple chapters dedicated to Japanese RPGs and a couple Eastern and Central European studios are mentioned in passing, but it’s always in the context of what was made available to the west and doesn’t even attempt to examine any developments between iterations or influence they may have had on the industry as a whole.
Once I realized the structure of this book, I started skimming the book until I ended up dropping it completely about halfway through. It’s simply not worth anyone’s time. If you’re already familiar with the basic history of computer RPGs, you’re not going to learn anything new and if you’re a complete outsider to the subject, I can’t imagine there’s anything that’s going to be of interest. If you want some truly insightful looks at the history of video games, there’s probably an 8 hour retrospective on Youtube somewhere that does a better job than this book.
For a book whose subtitle is “The History of Computer Role-Playing Games”, there isn’t a whole lot of historical analysis going on. I’d say only about 20% of this book is interested in exploring the individuals, studios, publishers, and technology behind the games
The author of the book, Matt Barton, is also incredibly opinionated and doesn’t even attempt to keep his bias in check, going so far to call people who disagree with his opinion on certain games apologists (relax dude, they’re not Nazi sympathizers, they’re gamers… hang on, I repeated myself). His style of writing oozes smug asshole energy and reeks of dated humor such as joking about how early developers fueled themselves with Mountain Dew while coming up with their games. And I don’t know why he even bothered to include images and footnotes when all of the images are screenshots that are occasionally relevant and the footnotes are listed at the end of each chapter and aren’t formatted in any academic fashion (surprising, considering this guy is supposed to be an English professor).
The most disappointing thing about this book (well, besides the fact that it’s mostly a big list) is that it’s almost entirely focused on American and Western games and their history. Sure, there’s a couple chapters dedicated to Japanese RPGs and a couple Eastern and Central European studios are mentioned in passing, but it’s always in the context of what was made available to the west and doesn’t even attempt to examine any developments between iterations or influence they may have had on the industry as a whole.
Once I realized the structure of this book, I started skimming the book until I ended up dropping it completely about halfway through. It’s simply not worth anyone’s time. If you’re already familiar with the basic history of computer RPGs, you’re not going to learn anything new and if you’re a complete outsider to the subject, I can’t imagine there’s anything that’s going to be of interest. If you want some truly insightful looks at the history of video games, there’s probably an 8 hour retrospective on Youtube somewhere that does a better job than this book.
April 9, 2025
This is a really interesting history of the CRPG, which covers the most important and well known milestones in the genre while also including plenty of lesser-known and rare titles that even longtime gamers might not have heard of. There's a lot of insight here into what makes a CRPG, and how the industry developed over time, as well as some great bits of behind-the-scenes info. It is possibly a bit repetitive to keep reading descriptions of games and their mechanics over 600 pages, but nonetheless it's a surprisingly good read.
The main criticism I would make is just that the tone is a little odd, with some 'humourous' interjections that are just quite cringe and seem out of place in a book like this. Also, there are numerous typos - usually a word missing from a sentence or the wrong word used - which seem to become more numerous as the book goes on. Hopefully the latter issue can be fixed if they do a Third Edition, which they well might given how much has already happened in the CRPG world in the few years since this one was published.
The main criticism I would make is just that the tone is a little odd, with some 'humourous' interjections that are just quite cringe and seem out of place in a book like this. Also, there are numerous typos - usually a word missing from a sentence or the wrong word used - which seem to become more numerous as the book goes on. Hopefully the latter issue can be fixed if they do a Third Edition, which they well might given how much has already happened in the CRPG world in the few years since this one was published.
December 19, 2022
My biggest criticism of this book is the lack of accurate citations, and the footnotes are not in any standard format, but merely show links to websites, or book titles with ISBN numbers, which is not proper formatting for an academic work at all. The author comes from an academic environment, so I don’t understand this, but not properly attributing his sources severely undermines any of his arguments. There is no bibliography either.
An example: early on the author speaks about the influence of early sports simulation games on the development of the roleplaying game. I was not aware of any connection like this at all, but he offers no support for this connection, nor offers any sources so I could read further on it. The demographic for these type of games was not the same at all as those in wargaming circles which directly led to the development of the roleplaying game, and I wonder how much, if any, these types of games actually had on the development of the roleplaying game.
An example: early on the author speaks about the influence of early sports simulation games on the development of the roleplaying game. I was not aware of any connection like this at all, but he offers no support for this connection, nor offers any sources so I could read further on it. The demographic for these type of games was not the same at all as those in wargaming circles which directly led to the development of the roleplaying game, and I wonder how much, if any, these types of games actually had on the development of the roleplaying game.
July 20, 2020
Can't remember where I got recommended this book from, probably a podcast, but it has sat on my shelf for a long time before I read it. Learnt quite a bit and picked up some good recommendations for games which I will likely end up playing. The author clearly knows his stuff, but reading through the plots of some early CRPGs melted my brain after a while... wizards, orbs, dragons... I think I would have enjoyed a history of CRPG design, instead of the history of the games themselves. A bit too repetitive, but still interesting overall.
November 17, 2022
First parts on the very earliest CRPGs were actually fun to read, but then the book devolved into a giant listicle of sorts, kind of like "1001 RPG game to play before you die". I was also irked that it mentioned Faery Tale Adventure exactly once and promised to discuss it later only to forget about it completely.
The edition I read was from 2008 and it shows. Doom and gloom prophecies on how WoW and MMORPGs will dominate the market and there will be no more single-player RPGs are abound and were quite funny to read.
The edition I read was from 2008 and it shows. Doom and gloom prophecies on how WoW and MMORPGs will dominate the market and there will be no more single-player RPGs are abound and were quite funny to read.
December 6, 2017
Obwohl man teilweise das Amateurhafte merkt, das Lektorat ist häufig mangelhaft, die Screenshots qualitativ ernüchternd, wollen wir hier nicht untertreiben: Dies war eine der schönsten Lektüre Erlebnisse meines Lebens. Eigentlich unfassbar, dass dies ein einziger Mann gestemmt hat. Ich ziehe meinen Hut, Matt Barton.
December 31, 2019
Interesting survey of computer RPGs from the early days of mainframes to the then-current day of 2008. A little too US-centric and prone to getting lost in the weeds of minor titles, but a nice summary of industry trends and full of ideas that could potentially be revived for future games.
December 10, 2018
It was wonderful to revisit a bunch of games I played when I was younger. I can tell that Mr. Barton really loves computer role-playing games and this book is a wonderful testament to this genre.
June 22, 2024
It's more of a fun reference book than some sort of "historical treatise on computer role playing games" .
September 18, 2015
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I grew up in the early 80's. I was born in 82. And I grew up gaming on the PC.
One thing I love now, and I have loved since the day I played Betrayal at Krondor, are Computer RPGs. I cut my teeth on the likes of Baldurs Gate, Lands of Lore, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights. Curious about the games I might have missed growing up, I found this book and picked it up.
The early parts pre 2000 were very well done but after that the book shows its age very obviously. It goes over in great detail the Ultima series, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and the other Pre 2000 RPGs. However, he makes mention at one point of PC Gaming dying (Which has been proven wrong) as well as having very little real info on anything in the last 6 years or so. The book is great for the history of the old pre 2000 games, but anything more recent is rather sparse. But I can understand that.
I would pick this up and read it ONLY for the early information. He also frequently dives into Adventure games rather then sticking to RPGs, as he feels that is necessary to understand. I disagree, but I understand the usage of it.
I would have also liked to see more interviews with the game developers.
I grew up in the early 80's. I was born in 82. And I grew up gaming on the PC.
One thing I love now, and I have loved since the day I played Betrayal at Krondor, are Computer RPGs. I cut my teeth on the likes of Baldurs Gate, Lands of Lore, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights. Curious about the games I might have missed growing up, I found this book and picked it up.
The early parts pre 2000 were very well done but after that the book shows its age very obviously. It goes over in great detail the Ultima series, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and the other Pre 2000 RPGs. However, he makes mention at one point of PC Gaming dying (Which has been proven wrong) as well as having very little real info on anything in the last 6 years or so. The book is great for the history of the old pre 2000 games, but anything more recent is rather sparse. But I can understand that.
I would pick this up and read it ONLY for the early information. He also frequently dives into Adventure games rather then sticking to RPGs, as he feels that is necessary to understand. I disagree, but I understand the usage of it.
I would have also liked to see more interviews with the game developers.
July 5, 2015
Well, it took me over 3 years to finish it - calling that up to a few complications in my life in the last few years, and that it's a physical copy, not digital that I could take with me wherever I went. That makes a difference.
On the book itself:
The author has a writing style which is easy, it at times somewhat dry, he's primarily providing compare and contrasts of every game, and his bias for (and against) some of the titles he is reviewing is quite apparent, though not necessarily a negative. It becomes more apparent as we get closer to the "modern area" - keeping in mind, this edition was written as the Xbox 360/PS3 generation was just getting started; Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, while mentioned, are not fully understood, and it's likely die to the just not having been out long enough.
All in all, it's a decent read for anyone who's interested in the history of the genre, and it's good background for that part of the industry, which is why I snagged it from the shelf. Always fun to learn who developed/published what in the decade before I started gaming myself! Just take it for what it is, and forgive the slight edge of the "PC master race" that the author gives off - after all, it is a book on the history of the Computer RPG, that's somewhat to be expected!
On the book itself:
The author has a writing style which is easy, it at times somewhat dry, he's primarily providing compare and contrasts of every game, and his bias for (and against) some of the titles he is reviewing is quite apparent, though not necessarily a negative. It becomes more apparent as we get closer to the "modern area" - keeping in mind, this edition was written as the Xbox 360/PS3 generation was just getting started; Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, while mentioned, are not fully understood, and it's likely die to the just not having been out long enough.
All in all, it's a decent read for anyone who's interested in the history of the genre, and it's good background for that part of the industry, which is why I snagged it from the shelf. Always fun to learn who developed/published what in the decade before I started gaming myself! Just take it for what it is, and forgive the slight edge of the "PC master race" that the author gives off - after all, it is a book on the history of the Computer RPG, that's somewhat to be expected!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2015
Drop this down to 3 *'s if you're not a complete computer/D & D fanatic. What info is here is good but there's nothing BUT information here; the entire book is basically nothing but one long chronological list of computer role playing games listed by release date. For someone like myself who grew up playing each and every one of these games, this book was like a sentimental trip through my childhood and beyond. As Barton ticked off title by title, I could remember exactly where I was in my life with every release.
For every game, light details are given. Why something was or wasn't important, what breakthrough a title may have made and when different features and options and techniques first appeared are sometimes noted but this isn't really the book for someone who's looking for complete histories on either these games or companies. This is mostly a light overview on the entire genre, from it's start to today's modern incarnations.
What's here is a great, easy read but for a dork like myself, the book could easily have been four times as long and I would have been ten times as happy.
For every game, light details are given. Why something was or wasn't important, what breakthrough a title may have made and when different features and options and techniques first appeared are sometimes noted but this isn't really the book for someone who's looking for complete histories on either these games or companies. This is mostly a light overview on the entire genre, from it's start to today's modern incarnations.
What's here is a great, easy read but for a dork like myself, the book could easily have been four times as long and I would have been ten times as happy.
November 6, 2008
An overview of the origins and development of computer RPGs (with a few sidesteps into the world of Japanese console RPGs), this book was a pretty fun read.
Part of that is due to my interest in and fondness of old computer games in general - I think someone who's never experienced any of the earlier games might wish Barton had been more systematic, since he basically does a capsule review of each game as he moves from past to present, which makes the coverage somewhat rambling (though he does amusingly divide the history into five ages 'Dark, Bronze..etc'). He also provides some interesting analysis of the possible fate of modern CRPGs given the ascendancy of MMORPGs and console gaming.
Recommended if you have an interest in these kind of games, and strongly recommended if you're into retrogaming.
Part of that is due to my interest in and fondness of old computer games in general - I think someone who's never experienced any of the earlier games might wish Barton had been more systematic, since he basically does a capsule review of each game as he moves from past to present, which makes the coverage somewhat rambling (though he does amusingly divide the history into five ages 'Dark, Bronze..etc'). He also provides some interesting analysis of the possible fate of modern CRPGs given the ascendancy of MMORPGs and console gaming.
Recommended if you have an interest in these kind of games, and strongly recommended if you're into retrogaming.
September 29, 2010
Barton provides an incredibly detailed list of the many games fitting in the CRPG genre. It's an impressively exhaustive list, though a little tedious at times if you're not coming into the book with a reasonable acquaintance with the games at hand. The history he crafts is interesting enough, beginning with the proto-adventure games, leading into the mainframe Rogue-era, and the early pangs of the genre before seguing into long-lasting series such as Ultima and Wizardry, and finally concluding with current giants like Bioware and the MMOs. I often preferred Barton's comments on the genre at large rather than the individual games; his theories on the influence of JRPGs, the drive of new technology, and the importance of 3D gaming are all interesting parts of the book. Ultimately, it's an essential resource for someone looking at the genre as a whole.
September 25, 2013
Dungeons and Desktops is more of a survey of dozens of early CRPGs than a history. It is interesting to follow the development of CRPG game mechanics over the decades, and to read about games that I knew little or nothing about, but it would have been nice to see a little more 'behind the curtains' stuff. Overall, I enjoyed reading Barton's book, despite the occasional editing issue. If you're new to the genre, Dungeons and Desktops serves as an excellent primer, though it only covers up to the start of 2007, and the focus is on Western CRPGS (he only discusses a couple of JRPGs).
October 30, 2013
This book reads like a wikipedia entry. Just the facts, a little bit of opinion, and not much else. if you're not interested in the history of CRPGs, pass.
On the other hand, if you're like me and grew up playing these games from the 80s and 90s, its a very nice stroll down memory lane. I have played way more of these games than I'd like to admit, and can now remember lots of fond moments from many of these games (a good number I had forgotten about). If you're a fan, this is definitely a decent read.
On the other hand, if you're like me and grew up playing these games from the 80s and 90s, its a very nice stroll down memory lane. I have played way more of these games than I'd like to admit, and can now remember lots of fond moments from many of these games (a good number I had forgotten about). If you're a fan, this is definitely a decent read.
July 5, 2013
The book does a very good job of extensively crawling through every major computer roleplaying game ever, with brief stops with MUDs and MMORPGs. It does a little less of a good job of actually being interesting. The dig-through-every-game bit tends to occasionally result in page after page of dross, which might have been useful in an encyclopedia, but not a historical book. The methodology also sometimes manages to obscure the first-movers by talking so much about everything else.
September 1, 2015
This book, published in 20008 which is little older, a lot of happening since 7-8 years later. Very details on many older games, many of them, I did not have an opportunity to play when I was teenage. I got married and started family when I was 18 years old. I did play a few more CRPG over years and catch up a few games by now, but plenty games I may never get to play forever. Who knows.
Updated edition would be nice :)
Updated edition would be nice :)
September 15, 2011
Don't buy this book. It's not much of a history, but rather a tedious, exhaustive catalog written in a deeply annoying, self-absorbed fanboyish style. Literally every game ever gets a page, with perhaps a page or so of analysis of trends per chapter.
If you really want a review of some obscure hack&slasher from 1987, look up the original reviews. Don't bother with this dead-tree doorstop.
If you really want a review of some obscure hack&slasher from 1987, look up the original reviews. Don't bother with this dead-tree doorstop.
August 30, 2012
While not always the greatest-written book, it's hard to argue with as thorough a review of CRPGs as this is. If you just want to hear about almost every CRPG since the dawn of time in some depth, this is the book for you. Just be aware that your enjoyment of the topic will be what carries you through some rougher patches.
June 29, 2009
The content worked, but many of the screenshots were practically blobs of black (understandable in b/w since the games are often dark to start with), and, less acceptably, the copy editing was atrocious.
November 25, 2013
Interesting, engaging and very informative, "Dungeons And Desktops" is one the richest books ever written about the history of videogames. Anyone who has a passion for old-school RPGs will really cherish this book.
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