105
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ranked #249,698 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Expected more, and for it to be less negative
As a long time console gamer and big time fan of the industry, I was really looking forward to this. And I definitely saw some excellent pictures and learned a thing or two about some obscure consoles.
But by and large, this is a fairly vapid compilation that has little to say, but what little it does have to say is typically negative about every game system apart from the Playstation models, NES and SNES. The writer's viewpoint is sales totals heavy, and that is fine and not a point of contention. But due to this and what little is said of many other beloved consoles, it makes it hard to enjoy. I don't even mind occasionally pointing out that some things are notably bad (such as the Atari 5200 controllers, universally detested). But to clamor on and on about how quickly some of the weird older consoles were abandoned and their flaws really takes the joy out of looking at them and getting interested in them.
In addition to this issue, the format changes on every page. Instead of each game system listing sales totals, # of games released for it, etc it changes with each item. I can only surmise that the writer either didn't research the information on sales totals or whatnot, or had the information and simply withheld it as they weren't personally interested and assumed the reader wouldn't be either.
In all, this just felt like a poorly composed, half-researched photo book made by a subjective pseudo-fan, that is devoid of passion, juicy details, intrigue, or valuable stats. I'm going to have to go to a Retro Game Con of some sort to cleanse my palette from this bland take on my favorite hobby.
