Walt Williams ended up in the videogames industry almost by accident, but I am happy that he did as otherwise, he wouldn't have written this funny, revealing and extraordinarily self-aware book about his path into what many might think is the perfect career but ended up being very much not what might be expected.
Significant Zero shines due to William's approach to the narrative which, as you'd very much expect from someone whose job is to write for videogames, is pitched perfectly. There is snark, sass, anger, cynicism and even, at times, joy. From his beginnings as a would-be Marvel comic writer (he got to the front door), to travelling the globe, finding his own voice and surfing the currents of good and bad fortune, to finally settling down with a family (see, there is a happy ending here too), it is Walt's personality that carries you through the tale. And he needs to be engaging because at times he is a self-confessed dick.
Truly, there are moments where he comes across as the most arrogant, unpleasant person in the room. And that's ok, because you still get to find out that there are, at times, even more unpleasant people present and, even worse, far better people who are affected by that. But this book is more than just an ego trip/mea culpa (delete as applicable). It also about the games industry.
Now, I know what you're thinking, things will have changed since this book was published and since Walt experienced the events he describes within, but if you've been keeping track at all of the industry and have read this book, you'll know that's not the case at all. There are long periods of crunch, of merely existing and robotically following the same routine, eating the same crap food and imbibing alcohol and medication just to get through the day. It feels like burnout (not to mention an early death) is constantly around the corner. If ever there was an advert for not working in the industry, this is it.
It's not all dark though, as Walt shares his observations and experiences as the industry developed through the first decade and a bit of the 21st century. There is very pointed commentary on game pricing and DLC, which is all the more pertinent now due to different pricing regimes between platform holders and the ubiquity of micro-transactions even (or should that be especially) within full price software. The contributions from Greg Kavasin and Anthony Burch are the metaphorical cherries on the top and are well worth your attention too.
What really struck home for me was Walt's involvement in Spec Ops: The Line, a third-person cover shooter that is one of the best of its kind to make it to market. The key hook in the game is the story and how it was presented. Whilst I shall not spoil anything here, go have a play of it if you can (and if you can't read up about it), so then you can understand that it was not only the journey of one soldier in a war zone, but one writer in a company - the real world scars of its production are eye opening.
It's not all Spec Ops, of course, but for a man who has worked on Star Wars: Battlefront, BioShock, Civilisation and Mafia amongst others, it is the core of the book. Having said that, reading about The Darkness II made me pick up copies of that and the first game just to see what the fuss was about, and I have to admit, I enjoyed them immensely.
Part memoir, part treatise on the world of videogame creation, Significant Zero is a book that anyone who is interested in how games are created should read, if only just for the anecdote of watching a voice artist (and their husband) complete a recording session. Time may make some of the points raised here moot, but as a snapshot of where the industry was and to a fair degree still is, this tome cannot be beaten and is well worth your money.
You can purchase Significant Zero from the usual places, and you can follow the author on Twitter here.
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