In an effort to highlight some of the best books and documentaries covering the world of video games, were running a series of interviews with the writers, directors, and curators behind them. Read on to see how the people who chronicle games and game history do their jobs, get inspired, and face challenges. Its the making of the making of the games industry.
- ByMatt LeoneApr 29, 2025 See how Tony Hawk took over the game industry 25 years ago Tony Hawk during 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards - Show at Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California, United States. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage for Nickelodeon Magazine)
Ralph DAmato joined Neversoft in 1998 and worked as a producer on the first eight Tony Hawk games. Then, 20 years later, he made a documentary about it.
Pretending Im a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story is the story of how Neversoft, Activision, and Tony Hawk built a juggernaut in the late 90s and early 2000s, and between DAmatos access and Ludvig Gürs direction, the film gives one of the best looks to date at how the series came about — and you can watch it for free on Tubi.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneApr 26, 2025 Documenting Japans classic arcades before its too late
Depending who you ask, arcades have been dead or dying or on their last legs for… almost 40 years now. The reality is more complex, with new business models, barcades, bigger complexes like Dave & Busters, and VR/immersive/experimental options taking their place.
But the classic arcade, where you could drop a couple quarters to play the latest game from one of the industrys best studios, has certainly seen better days. And while a number of local arcades in Japan have held on longer than most, their numbers have been dwindling in recent years as well.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneApr 19, 2025 Remembering the good old days, when game box art lied to us Photo: Bitmap Books
Go back 30 or 40 years, and video game cover art had some clear issues. It didnt always follow precise style guides. It was frequently made in a vacuum by someone who had no idea what the game looked like. It relied on limited concept art, data, and technology. And it often sold a fantasy that didnt accurately represent the game inside the box.
Yet the lack of those things led to thousands of amazing illustrations that wed never have gotten otherwise, with many sticking in players heads as strongly as the games themselves. And last year, Bitmap Books released The Art of the Box, collecting more than 350 of them. The 564-page book spotlights 26 illustrators, many of whom made their names on early game box art.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneApr 5, 2025 Untitled Goose Game is a good excuse to talk about Australia Image: House House/Panic
At a glance, House Houses 2019 honking sensation Untitled Goose Game may not seem like the most obvious choice to write a book about. The game — essentially a stealth game where your job is to cause trouble — was a viral hit, but isnt filled with extensive lore or complex mechanics that beg to be broken down over the course of hundreds of pages. So when Boss Fight Books announced a Goose Game book, I was curious to see what approach it would take.
As it turned out, not only there was a fascinating behind-the-scenes story, but the game ended up being a perfect entry point to talk about developer House House and the broader Australian game development community — which has struggled to make a name for itself over the years.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneMar 29, 2025 The Journey and Sky art books each hold a secret Image: Thatgamecompany
Most video game art books follow a certain template: Load up on concept art, show how the game evolved during production, add some commentary to connect the dots. Some lean more heavily on a studios history and others focus on technique, but its a proven formula that, in the best cases, has produced books that are themselves works of art.
Ive been especially impressed by Thatgamecompanys books over the years, though, because of what theyve added to that template. Starting with The Art of Journey in 2012 and following with The Art of Sky in 2024, the studio has checked all the boxes youd expect from an art book, then layered on custom interactive extras.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneMar 22, 2025 How a Mega Man fan project got an official Capcom license Image: Philip Summers/Hand-Drawn Game Guides
He ended up changing plans due to legal concerns, going on to work on other projects and releasing the planned guides from the campaign as free downloads. From the outside, that seemed like the new path for Hand-Drawn Game Guides.
But then, in January 2025, Summers returned to Kickstarter with a surprise announcement — hed struck a deal with Capcom to make an officially licensed entry in the series: Hand-Drawn Game Guides: Mega Man. That campaign was also a success, and Summers is now working on the book and intending to release it later this year.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneMar 15, 2025 A documentary analyzes Street Fighter 2s cultural impact, 30-plus years later Image: Harper Film Productions, Retro 84 Films, and Final Film
Now available for free on Tubi, the movie takes a broad look at the game and its impact, featuring former Capcom staff such as Yoshiki Okamoto and Yoko Shimomura as well as those who were involved in the games broader cultural footprint, like Steven E. de Souza (who directed the 1994 live-action movie), Paul Davies (who wrote about the game in the media), and Mick McGinty (who drew the games Western box art).
In an effort to spotlight game-related books and documentaries, Polygon is running an email interview series with the people behind them. We previously connected with Julian Rignall about his not-quite-an-autobiography The Games of a Lifetime, Paul Vogel about his Housemarque documentary The Name of the Game, and Lewis Packwood about his obscure game hardware book Curious Video Game Machines. Below, we have Here Comes a New Challenger director Oliver Harper discussing how the film came about, what he had to cut, and the challenges involved with putting game history on camera.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneMar 8, 2025 Discover more than a dozen game consoles you never knew about Image: MSX Resource Center
Lewis Packwoods book Curious Video Game Machines was written to fill in some of those gaps. Structured around game consoles and hardware that never got much attention in the West the first time around, the book is an exhaustively researched look at a world that has largely been unexplored — either in English, or at all.
In an effort to spotlight many game-related books and documentaries, Polygon is running an email interview series with the people behind them. We previously connected with Julian Rignall about his not-quite-an-autobiography The Games of a Lifetime and Paul Vogel about his Housemarque documentary The Name of the Game, and below we have Packwood discussing how and why he went digging into the most curious of game machines.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneMar 3, 2025 Before making Returnal and Saros, Housemarque starred in a great documentary Image: Housemarque
Years before any of that kicked off, though, Housemarque was a small, independent team working on arcade-style shooters like Resogun, Dead Nation, and Matterfall. During the production of one of those, 2017s Nex Machina, the studio let a documentary team in to film the process.
The game — a collaboration with Defender and Robotron designer Eugene Jarvis — reviewed well but underperformed and marked a turning point for the studio. And the documentary, The Name of the Game, ended up being one of the best looks at game development on film, capturing a team living through uncertainty just before that turning point.
Read Article > - ByMatt LeoneFeb 21, 2025 50 years of game history, as told through 60 games Image: Gary J Lucken/Bitmap Books
The Games of a Lifetime is part memoir, part archive, and a generally fascinating look at gaming history through the eyes of someone who was there for most of it, cherry-picking some of his favorite memories and telling stories about his experiences that are broadly relatable to anyone who played these games.
In an effort to spotlight many of the game-related books and documentaries available, Polygon is kicking off an email interview series with the people behind them. First up, we asked Rignall about how to define his book, the best magazine he ever produced, and how hed add a bonus final chapter if given a bit more time.
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