The Games of a Lifetime 🌎

I’m Julian “Jaz” Rignall. I’m a lifelong super-hardcore gamer. I’ve worked in the games industry for decades, a time during which I’ve launched and run some of the most beloved and successful video game magazines and websites, worked in video game development and marketing, and most recently become a video game analyst. Point being, I’ve witnessed many of the most important video game events and history first-hand, from a kid discovering Pong, gaming my way through the Golden Age of arcades as a national champion, and then entering the video game industry as a teenager and spending decades attending events and visiting developers as both journalist and influencer. This book is about that journey. But it’s not an autobiography, and neither is it an encyclopaedia of the best games. It’s basically a nigh-on five-decade-long journey through what were to me the most important gaming events and experiences during that period, starting from the previously mentioned Pong through the 8- and 16-bit computer revolutions and the European console renaissance, across the millennium, and all the way to the modern age. Think of this tome as video game time travel. I’m going to take you back to specific times and places and explain what it felt like to be there. A personal take on history through the eyes of one person who watched it all play out.