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Control Freak
- My Epic Adventure Making Video Games
- Narrated by: Kurt Kanazawa
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The designer of Unreal and Gears of War offers an eye-opening personal account of the video-game industry as it grew from niche hobby to hundred-billion-dollar enterprise.
Video games are dominating the planet. In 2020, they brought in $180 billion dollars globally—nearly $34 billion in the United States alone. So who are the brilliant designers who create these stunning virtual worlds? Cliff Bleszinski—or CliffyB as he is known to gamers—is one of the few who’ve reached mythical, rock-star status. In Control Freak, he gives an unvarnished, all-access tour of the business.
Toiling away in his bedroom, Bleszinski created and shipped his first game before graduating high school and at just 17 joined a fledgling company called Epic Games. He describes the grueling hours, obscene amounts of Mountain Dew, and obsessive focus necessary to achieve his singular creative visions. He details Epic’s rise to industry leader, thanks largely to his work on best-selling franchises Unreal and Gears of War (and, later, his input on a little game called Fortnite), as well as his own awkward ascent from shy, acne-riddled introvert to sports-car-driving celebrity rubbing shoulders with Bill Gates. As he writes, “No one is weirder than a nerd with money.” While the book is laced with such self-deprecating humor, Bleszinski also bluntly addresses the challenges that have long-faced the gaming community, including sexism and a lack of representation among both designers and the characters they create.
Control Freak is a hilarious, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir. Even if you don’t play games, you’ll walk away from this book recognizing them as a true art form and appreciating the genius of their creators.
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- Anonymous User
- 23-11-2023
Almost perfect
The only thing that would have made it better is if it was narrated by CliffyB himself
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- RazzyRicho
- 02-01-2024
Write a letter
All of that because he wrote a letter to Epic Games. Badass! Yeah there was also a craptonne of work that went into making the games too, but never be afraid to reach out and say hi!
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- SimSam Small
- 13-11-2022
Edge of a Cliff
A fantastically authored insight into one of gaming's biggest names. This autobiography had me laughing out loud and crying. Thank you for sharing!
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