Featuring interviews with the creators of 43 popular video games--including Spyro the Dragon, Syphon Filter, NFL GameDay 98 and Final Fantasy VII--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most influential (and sometimes forgotten) titles of the original PlayStation era. Interviewees recall the painstaking development, challenges of working with mega publishers and uncertainties of public reception, and discuss the creative processes that produced some of gaming's all-time classics.

Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by Nintendo, Disney and EA Sports. Series editor Matthew Wilhelm Kapell teaches American studies, anthropology, and writing at Pace University in New York.