Towards the French Emancipatory Game History (Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France 1960–1991: Des labos aux chambres d’ados by Alexis Blanchet and Guillaume Montagnon)
Towards the French Emancipatory Game History (Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France 1960–1991: Des labos aux chambres d’ados by Alexis Blanchet and Guillaume Montagnon)

Summary/Abstract: This article is a critical reading of the book Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France by Alexis Blanchet and Guillaume Montagnon. The book – divided into five chapters – explains the first three decades (1960–1991) of digital game development in France, stretching from scientific experimentation, through the rise and fall of console and arcade gaming industry, to the rapid increase in microcomputing and the emergence of a French gaming identity. Close to the increasingly popular emancipatory paradigm in historical gaming research, the publication relies on comprehensive and exhaustive material, stretching from the gaming magazines to interviews with French game developers. Even though the book does not delve into the cultural contexts around the popularity of specific games, it remains an essential work for readers willing to understand the processes contributing to the French digital game field’s state.

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