There have been plenty of “history of” video game books over the years, going back to the industry’s roots in Tennis for Two and all the way to the latest AAA and indie games. But if you’re looking for something a little more accessible — and stylish — the “History of Game” poster will be right up your alley.
Created by Russian developer Vadim Palonin, the “History of Game” poster chronicles 50 years of video game history, categorizes games by genre, and has a timeline of 50 consoles stretching across the right side.
Highlighting the “greatness comes from small beginnings” motto of Uncharted, the poster looks like a large tree, beginning with just Tennis for Two and Spacewar before expanding to include more than 1,200 different titles. The games appear in chronological order as your eyes move up the poster, but a circuit board-like design style keeps games contained within their respective genres.
Palonin also incorporated IGN’s top 100 games of all time into his design, highlighting them in a bolder font so they stand out from the pack. While obviously subjective, it’s something to point to when arguing with your friends over whether Battlefield 1942 or Counter-Strike is the better game.
He is hoping to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to get his idea off the ground, but Palonin promises that a digital version will be released online even if the campaign fails. If his $50,000 stretch goal is reached, he will create the “Ultimate Poster.” This will feature two layers, allowing you to remove titles you already know to show off artwork underneath — just how he plans to acquire the rights to the artwork is up in the air. He says that the second layer of the poster will “be a game itself,” with only the most hardcore gaming history buffs capable of solving it.
As an owner of an embarrassing number of posters, this sounds like something I’d display above my fireplace.
