Reddit mentions of Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life

I am reading through this book and enjoying it so far: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Up-Japanese-Video-Games-World/dp/0486801497

Sure, happy to!
Here you go - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Up-Japanese-Video-Games/dp/0486801497/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Chris+kohler&qid=1570485298&sr=8-1

Its got a whole chapter devoted to shopping in akihabara, which while pretty accurate as of 2008 (when i last went), it might be a little out of date. I do know that super potato and mandarake are still there.
Its a nice little book overall, as chris kohlers a great authour and its a tidy little history of video gaming from the japanese perspective.

If youre also interested, ive got a few more really good recommendations if youre into video game history, and the like.

If anyone wants a really informative look into the origins of Nintendo in the market, read "Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life". I read it over winter break and it became one of my favorite books.

This video is really good too! But definitely doesn't contain as much as you can fit in a ~200 page book.

I just finished reading Chris Kohler's 'Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life' so a lot of my thoughts probably derive or have been influenced by that. But if you want more reading, that is probably a good place to look.

On one hand, while Nintendo doesn't really push the boundaries of graphical fidelity, I would argue that they do push the boundaries of technical mechanics. They invented/pushed the boundaries of the d-pad, analog thumbstick, shoulder buttons, the save system (beyond passwords), controller rumble, portable gaming, touchscreen gaming (before smartphones), motion control and the use of gyroscopes/accelerometers, VR gaming (hellow Virtual Boy), and probably more. The visuals of a video game are only one of the ways in which you interface with the game. Nintendo simply chooses to refocus their efforts of player-game interface away from visuals and more to tactile UX. One of Miyamoto's earliest jobs at Nintendo as a designer was to improve the design of a driving wheel for a game, making it able to be used both left and right handed, and changing instructions from short text blocks to more universally understood icons.

Speaking of Miyamoto, I think another contributing factor of the overall cohesive aesthetic that Nintendo has is the long continued leadership by frankly some geniuses of the industry. This may stems from the Japanese mentality of loyalty to one's company. Takeda started at Nintendo since 1971, Miyamoto at Nintendo since 1977, Iwata at HAL laboratories in 1980, Taijiri at Game Freak since 1981, Aonuma at Nintendo since 1991, Sakurai at HAL Labs since 1992 and so on. This allows for a continued vision that can last throughout the decades. A Zelda or Mario game from today has the same "feel" as that of the early years, even if many things have changed because the same creative talent behind the two games are the same. That sort of institutional knowledge is invaluable in keeping a cohesive feel between and within franchises.

Nintendo's desire to also create a game that plays well and feels right is also invaluable. See modern games that basically are beholden to hit specific deadlines and have a sequel out every year, and compare that to how Breath of the Wild was continually delayed in order to "get it right." The "polish" that often describes Nintendo games is a result of that. Miyamoto often talks about the "feel" of how it is to play Mario games has to be right and is constantly being tweaked. Again, this is a focus on gameplay and mechanics as the defining feature of a game, as opposed to graphics. It bears noting that one of Iwata's famous speeches at GDC is the "Heart of a Gamer" speech. Not to say that other game developer studios don't have the same passion for games. But I think the fact that Nintendo has control as both publisher and developer over the game development process is pretty key. When as a developer you don't have to care about hitting a publisher's imposed deadline because you are the publisher, you have more liberty to apply the polish or push back things as necessary. Blizzard and Valve's success with Overwatch is another example of this success where publisher and developer are the same.

I also will point to, as Kohler does in his book, the Japanese tradition of visual storytelling. Ukiyo-e woodcuts and later manga point to this. Yes we have comic books and cartoons here in the States as well, but I think culturally it isn't quite as ingrained as it is in Japanese culture. See how the haiku as a Japanese form of poetry is meant to convey the imagery, feeling and emotions of nature in such a limited scope. This tradition carried onto video games. Before Donkey Kong, the most "narrative" there was to a video game was Pac-Man. However Donkey Kong really pushed that idea of narrative in a video game with cut scenes in between levels and with a full three-arc narrative. This narrative was carried on between games in Donkey Kong Jr. Obviously other games have caught on, but this idea of story telling even with limited technical limitations has always been part of Nintendo's DNA. Even with only 8 bit graphics, they were creative enough to figure out how to convey Mario's features. That's why he has gloves and a moustance. Link has a green hat in order to tell direction. I think Nintendo clings to the adage - Constraints breed Creativity.

As others have pointed out, this idea of a cohesive aesthetic within and between franchises is not exclusive to Nintendo. Square Enix does this as well, with Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest, as does Atlus with Persona.