Sid Meier's Memoir!
A Life in Computer Games
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Narrated by:
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Charles Constant
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Written by:
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Sid Meier
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Jennifer Lee Noonan - contributor
About this listen
The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the "godfather of computer gaming" and creator of Civilization.
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond.
Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be "a series of interesting decisions", Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design.
©2020 Sid Meier and Jennifer Lee Noonan (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksYou may also enjoy...
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What listeners say about Sid Meier's Memoir!
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gerry Corcoran
- 2024-09-17
A Humble Legend
Favourite Sid Meier Game: Pirates! Gold
Favourite Sid Meier-Branded Game: Alpha Centauri
I've been playing video games since the early 80s and grew up playing and loving Sid Meier's various works so I was excited to hear his memoir. Unlike some other memoirs, this focuses almost exclusively on his career and talks only in light terms about his life outside games, with a bit more focused paid to his upbringing, but only how it influenced his work.
Despite his massive success and building up and selling multiple studios, Sid is still a very humble guy who knows how big a role he played, but has never let it form a chip on his shoulder. He's an immense design and programming talent, but never fails to give credit to those who helped and inspired him along the way and despite all the horrors that come with a career in the video games industry, has clearly never lost his passion for the artform.
I was engaged in the story throughout, especially as he talked about the games like Pirates! that I grew up loving so much. Charles Constant also does a great job narrating it, with a pleasant tone that also carries the passion in Sid's writing through.
I've been on a kick of game industry bios lately and this, along with DOOM Guy are two I can't recommend highly enough. Sid's contribution to the medium is undeniable and I hope he can contribute much more in the future.
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-04-09
Sid Meier's writes as well as he creates games
It is a wonderful dive into the inspirations and mind of the most wonderful and kind man in the gaming industry.
Fantastic stories of what we all spent hours enjoying
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- andrew simpson
- 2025-01-27
grew up on his games!
wish he talked more about the games then glancing over them too quickly. some he mentioned only once. lots of philosophical talk not alot of beef.
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