# Game Over by David Sheff

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Game Over by David Sheff and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a well-written account of how video game distribution and licensing worked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the Tetris rights deal. One critic says it takes shortcuts and gets some details wrong.

## Why people recommend it

- Compelling account of Tetris rights (1 comments): "By far the most compelling telling I've seen of the "How BPS and Nintendo got the Tetris rights" story" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49859797))
- Best history of game distribution (1 comments): "It's by far the best written history about video game distribution in the late 80s and early 90s." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49860058))
- Recommended for interested readers (1 comments): "If this is interesting to you, I recommend the book Game Over" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45872096))

## What people warn about

- Shortcuts and factual errors (1 comments): "He took shortcuts and got some important details wrong." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45872314))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985-1993 by Jordan Mechner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/making-of-prince-of-persia-journals-1985-1993.md): 11 recommend
- [Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tempest-vs-tempest-the-making-and-remaking-of-atari-s-iconic-video-game.md): 7 recommend
- [Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blood-sweat-and-pixels.md): 4 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679404694?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780679404699) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Game Over by David Sheff", https://hackerapproved.com/p/game-over/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).