Review Fix Exclusive: Ben Bertoli Talks: 101 Video Games To Play Before You Grow Up

September 29, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Video Games 0

Review Fix chats with author Ben Bertoli, who discusses the creative process and inspiration behind his new book, “101 Video Games To Play Before You Grow Up.”

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Ben Bertoli: Daily talks with students about gaming had me slowly building a mental list of recommendations. Many kids are afraid to try anything new, but if a suggestion comes from a trusted source it can really sway them. 101 Video Games is my response to every student who ever asked, “What game should I try next?”

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself and the industry through this book?

Bertoli: I went in thinking I knew a lot about these games, but soon realized I had only scratched the surface on many of the classic series that have graced consoles, computers, and handhelds over the years. It’s amazing how many games came about simply due to chance or evolved from a small idea.

Review Fix: What makes it different from other gaming books?

Bertoli: 101 Video Games is interactive, as readers can write in their thoughts, give ratings, and list games they have played from a series. Most other gaming books for kids list individual titles, oftentimes recommending out-of-print and hard to find gems. The focus on series in 101 Video Games makes the recommendations more prevalent to all games and systems — past, present, and future.

Review Fix: What was your research process like?

Bertoli: I spent my nights and weekends scouring the web for information on past titles and long-running series. This meant diving deep into gaming magazine archives, one-on-one interviews, and unique feature stories. I spent roughly two hours researching and writing each of the initial 101 entries in the book.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone buy this book?

Bertoli: It’s the best and most up to date list of must-play gaming series for kids that has ever been put in print.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Bertoli: There’s a good chance I’ll be working on some new gaming related books in the near future. Until then my work can be found on sites like Kotaku, Polygon, Mashable and more.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Bertoli: Everyone needs to play Banjo-Kazooie. That game is magical.

Review Fix: Where can people go for more information on you?

Bertoli: For more info on my book and my gaming articles, folks can head to my personal site (benbertoli.com) or find me on Twitter @SuperBentendo.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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