PC Magazine’s Jordan Minor will publish his first book in 2023, and for the subject of this tome, the journalist has zeroed in one that’s very near and dear to my heart.
In Video Game of the Year, Minor will sort through thousands of titles in his quest to compile… and here comes the subtitle… A Year-By-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977.
Minor, along with a small army of contributors (including Jason Schreier, Rebekah Valentine, and others), will choose the defining game from each year and explore how they “captured the zeitgeist and left a legacy for all games that followed” through a series of essays:
Pong. The Legend of Zelda. Final Fantasy VII. Rock Band. Fortnite. Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For each of the 40 years of video game history, there is a defining game, a game that captured the zeitgeist and left a legacy for all games that followed. Through a series of entertaining, informative, and opinionated critical essays, author and tech journalist Jordan Minor investigates, in chronological order, the innovative, genre-bending, and earth-shattering games from 1977 through 2022. Minor explores development stories, critical reception, and legacy, and also looks at how gaming intersects with and eventually influences society at large while reveling in how uniquely and delightfully bizarre even the most famous games tend to be.
From portly plumbers to armor-clad space marines and the speedy rodents in between, Video Game of the Year paints individual portraits that, as a whole, give readers a stronger appreciation for the vibrant variety and long-lasting impact of this fresh, exciting, and massively popular art form. Illustrated throughout with retro-inspired imagery and featuring contributions from dozens of leading industry voices, including New York Times bestselling author Jason Schreier (Blood, Sweat, and Pixels; Kotaku), Max Scoville (IGN), Rebekah Valentine (IGN), Blessing Adeoye Jr. (Kinda Funny), and Devindra Hardawar (Engadget), this year-by-year anthology is a loving reflection on the world’s most popular art form.
Video Game of the Year will be published by Abrams in paperback and all ebook formats on July 11, 2023.
UPDATE (5/31/23): An excerpt from Video Game of the Year for Vulture focuses on 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and delves into the idea that “In Video Games, There’s a Fine Line Between Difficulty and Disrespect.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE CONTINUES: Though Video Game of the Year is still seven months away from bookstores, the publisher recently shared the list of games that’ll be included. It’s an interesting selection of titles, and it’s fun to see where Minor cheats just a little to include multiple games released in the same year (Tetris is obviously excellent, but only a handful of Soviet programmers had played it in 1984).
You can find the complete list from the book right here:
Jordan Minor – Video Game of the Year
- 1977 – Pong
- 1978 – Space Invaders
- 1979 – Speed Freak
- 1980 – Pac-Man
- 1981 – Donkey Kong
- 1982 – Pitfall!
- 1983 – Dragon’s Lair
- 1984 – Tetris
- 1985 – Super Mario Bros.
- 1986 – Dragon Quest (AKA Dragon Warrior)
- 1987 – The Legend of Zelda
- 1988 – Mega Man 2
- 1989 – SimCity
- 1990 – The Secret of Monkey Island
- 1991 – Sonic the Hedgehog
- 1992 – Wolfenstein 3D
- 1993 – NBA Jam
- 1994 – Super Street Fighter II Turbo
- 1995 – Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest
- 1996 – Super Mario 64
- 1997 – Final Fantasy VII
- 1998 – Metal Gear Solid
- 1999 – System Shock 2
- 2000 – Counter-Strike
- 2001 – Halo: Combat Evolved
- 2002 – Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- 2003 – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- 2004 – World of Warcraft
- 2005 – Resident Evil 4
- 2006 – Wii Sports
- 2007 – Rock Band
- 2008 – Spore
- 2009 – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2010 – Super Meat Boy
- 2011 – Minecraft
- 2012 – The Walking Dead
- 2013 – Depression Quest
- 2014 – Destiny
- 2015 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- 2016 – Pokemon Go
- 2017 – Fortnite
- 2018 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- 2019 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- 2020 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- 2022 – The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe