Good Game, No Rematch
A Life Made of Video Games
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
*An Inside Hook Book You Should Be Reading This April*
A "funny, genuine and knowledgeable" (Ben Schwartz) memoir about the video games that entertain and inspire us, and even hold the power to transform our lives, from an Emmy®-nominated television writer, stand-up comedian and former writer for Nintendo.
At the ripe age of three, Mike Drucker got his very first Nintendo console—the Nintendo Entertainment System—and he was hooked. Every video game felt like a new chapter was opening in his life, expanding his world for the better and—sometimes—for worse. Final Fantasy VII, for example, helped him navigate the pitfalls of an early crush. And Dance Dance Revolution taught him how to almost, kinda move his body appropriately to music. Mike split his career between gaming and comedy, landing an internship with Saturday Night Live, playing Wii Sports with the cast and crew, and then a job at Nintendo, where he named an iconic character in the Legend of Zelda series. Then he returned to comedy with a job writing for The Tonight Show, never forgetting the video games that brought him there.
Drucker shares stories of beloved classic games, including:
NBA Jam Street Fighter II Mortal Kombat Super Mario Brothers Zelda King’s Quest The Sims Dungeons & Dragons and more!
Good Game, No Rematch is a love letter to video games and the people who play them, from an endearingly nerdy voice in the world of comedy.
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In this raucous trip through mushroom kingdoms and final fantasies, Tonight Show writer Drucker reflects on a life spent playing video games. "I would love to say that I was born with a controller in my hands, but that would've ultimately meant a horrifying injury for my mother," Drucker writes in the opening essay, setting the tone for a collection that offsets dorky deep-cuts with an underlying sweetness. "Dance Dance Teen Romance" follows Drucker's adolescent dalliances with Dance Dance Revolution, which made him feel like he'd "finally transform into the handsome, godlike man that existed nowhere in my genetic family history." In "I'll Never Have a Real Fake Family," Drucker jokes that his horrific track record of keeping his virtual family safe on The Sims is the main reason, aside from "the abject sadness genes in my blood," that he'll never have children. The narrative through line is thin, with passages about Drucker's earliest stand-up gigs and his first writing jobs only occasionally appearing amid odes to King's Quest and NFL Blitz. Though there's little here to appeal to readers who've never picked up a controller, even casual gamers will find this a hilarious treat.
