Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames Review

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Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames ReviewIf you're looking for an academic discussion of gameplay and player behavior and attitudes, this is the book for you. It covers topics like the magic circle of gameplay, types of cheating, and what players consider acceptable or unacceptable cheating. It's well researched and unusually interesting to read for an academic study.
If you're a gamer interested in a journalistic look into the world of modders, botters, and gold sellers, you won't find it here. People who sell in-game currency for real money or hack into video game code aren't discussed. The book focuses on normal players, some of whom cheat at video games. If you have a level 70 Hunter or are playing Halo 3 on heroic, you probably won't learn anything new because this book is really about you.
Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames OverviewThe widely varying experiences of players of digital games challenge thenotions that there is only one correct way to play a game. Some players routinelyuse cheat codes, consult strategy guides, or buy and sell in-game accounts, whileothers consider any or all of these practices off limits. Meanwhile, the gameindustry works to constrain certain readings or activities and promote certain waysof playing. In Cheating, Mia Consalvo investigates how players choose to play games,and what happens when they can't always play the way they'd like. She explores abroad range of player behavior, including cheating (alone and in groups), examinesthe varying ways that players and industry define cheating, describes how the gameindustry itself has helped systematize cheating, and studies online cheating incontext in an online ethnography of Final Fantasy XI. She develops the concept of"gaming capital" as a key way to understand individuals' interaction with games,information about games, the game industry, and other players.Consalvo provides acultural history of cheating in videogames, looking at how the packaging and sellingof such cheat-enablers as cheat books, GameSharks, and mod chips created a cheatindustry. She investigates how players themselves define cheating and how theirplaying choices can be understood, with particular attention to online cheating.Finally, she examines the growth of the peripheral game industries that produceinformation about games rather than actual games. Digital games are spaces for playand experimentation; the way we use and think about digital games, Consalvo argues,is crucially important and reflects ethical choices in gameplay andelsewhere.

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The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society) Review

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The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society) ReviewWhen Judge Richard Posner first called himself and other legal academics "intellectual entrepreneurs," he was at least half-kidding (in a Chicago kind of way). But in recent years the "market" for legal scholarship has become among the most cutthroat in the world. Professors seem desperate to be the first to homestead new territory in any emerging market.
The work of economists like Edward Castronova has demonstrated that virtual worlds constitute a new frontier, ripe for cutting edge scholarship. The authors in this book are staking their claim to its legal issues. But just being the first to a topic does not mean you have anything interesting to say about it. Castronova's work is interesting, but you don't need this book to understand it. The remaining essays in this book reminded me of cyber-squatted domain names. "What will happen?" they all seem to ask, but they don't offer many answers or even interesting speculations.
The real problem here is that law exists to dealing with real-world consequences, while virtual worlds exist to eliminate them. Law may eventually get some traction in virtual reality, but it hasn't happened yet. If you want to be there when it does, don't read a law book - get yourself into a MMPORG. Just don't plan on keeping your job or your marriage.The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society) Overview
The State of Play presents an essential first step in understanding how new digital worlds will change the future of our universe. Millions of people around the world inhabit virtual words: multiplayer online games where characters live, love, buy, trade, cheat, steal, and have every possible kind of adventure. Far more complicated and sophisticated than early video games, people now spend countless hours in virtual universes like Second Life and Star Wars Galaxies not to shoot space invaders but to create new identities, fall in love, build cities, make rules, and break them.

As digital worlds become increasingly powerful and lifelike, people will employ them for countless real-world purposes, including commerce, education, medicine, law enforcement, and military training. Inevitably, real-world law will regulate them. But should virtual worlds be fully integrated into our real-world legal system or should they be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own forms of dispute resolution? What rules should govern virtual communities? Should the law step in to protect property rights when virtual items are destroyed or stolen?

These questions, and many more, are considered in The State of Play, where legal experts, game designers, and policymakers explore the boundaries of free speech, intellectual property, and creativity in virtual worlds. The essays explore both the emergence of law in multiplayer online games and how we can use virtual worlds to study real-world social interactions and test real-world laws.

Contributors include: Jack M. Balkin, Richard A. Bartle, Yochai Benkler, Caroline Bradley, Edward Castronova, Susan P. Crawford, Julian Dibbell, A. Michael Froomkin, James Grimmelmann, David R. Johnson, Dan Hunter, Raph Koster, F. Gregory Lastowka, Beth Simone Noveck, Cory Ondrejka, Tracy Spaight, and Tal Zarsky.


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Powering Up: Are Computer Games Changing Our Lives (Science Museum TechKnow Series) Review

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Powering Up: Are Computer Games Changing Our Lives (Science Museum TechKnow Series) ReviewUnlike other books in this field, "Powering Up" relies more on research than on anecdotal evidence to present a point.
This small volume is packed with very useful information and raises excellent questions.
The author did a great job gathering all this information. As an academic, the only thing I would have liked to have is a bibliography with the references the author used in her book, that makes going to the original research easier. (Maybe she can have those on her website?).
I wish more authors would produce concise to the point books like this.
Highly recommended.
Powering Up: Are Computer Games Changing Our Lives (Science Museum TechKnow Series) OverviewWhen it comes to computer games, the numbers are astounding: the world's top professional gamer has won over half a million dollars shooting virtual monsters on-screen; online games claim literally millions of subscribers; while worldwide spending on computer gaming will top £24 billion by 2011. From techno-toddlers to silver surfers, everyone's playing games on their PCs, Wiis, Xboxes and phones. How are we responding to this onslaught of brain-training, entertaining, potentially addicting, time-consuming, myth-spawning games?
In Powering Up, Rebecca Mileham looks at the facts behind the headlines to see what effect this epidemic of game-playing is really having on us and the society we live in. Is it making us obese, anti-social, violent and addicted… or just giving us different ways of getting cleverer, fitter and more skilled? She examines the evidence, from experts and gamers alike, and asks some controversial and thought-provoking questions:
Are car-driving games turning us into boy racers?
Could becoming a virtual bully help children solve classroom disputes?
Should you feel remorse for killing pixel people?
Does it matter if you cheat in a single-player game?
Can games get ex-prisoners back to work?

If you're part of the gaming revolution yourself, or are just curious to know what's fact and what's fiction in the media coverage of this topic, then this is the book for you.
About the author
Rebecca Mileham has written for the Sunday Times, She magazine, and for museums all over the UK. In ten years at the Science Museum, London, she developed exhibitions on topics as diverse as Charles Babbage's Difference Engines, robotic submarines, face transplants and the male pill.
http://www.rebecca.mileham.net/

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2D Game Building for Teens Review

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2D Game Building for Teens ReviewI just finished the chapter entitled "Your First Game Project" and it was something of an ordeal. Duggan provides us with a series of game scripts which we are to either type into a text editor or the sample version of Torsion which is included on the book's CD. In at least two instances there are typos in this code which cause the intended effect not to occur. I found this out after a lengthy process of comparing the code I typed in with the code as it was printed in the book. I found them to be identical in every case, thus ruling out "operator error". I gave up on that strategy and decided to try and analyze the code to see if I could find any errors. I am not familiar with Torquescript or with C, but I did manage to find the typos and correct them (this thanks to a rudimentary familiarity with HTML and PHP). I can easily imagine how frustrating this would be for a newbie with zero technical knowledge. I am concerned that in subsequent chapters there will be errors that I will not know how to fix and the book will effectively become useless to me.
Because of these errors, I feel that 2D Game Building for Teens is a failure, and not an effective introduction to the Torque Game Builder. I bought the book in part to help me with evaluating the engine. If I used the book as my only yardstick, I would have moved on by now. Fortunately, the demo of the engine which comes on the CD has tutorials which serve to fill in some of the gaps. I could have easily downloaded this demo from Garage Games and saved myself the 20-odd dollars I spent on the book.2D Game Building for Teens OverviewBring your video game ideas to life with 2D Game Building for Teens! Written for anyone with an interest in creating video games, this book will show you how to use the Torque Game Builder, a simple drag-and-drop game engine, to make your very own games to play and share. Following easy-to- understand techniques and directions, you'll work your way through hands-on tutorials that help you put your new skills to use right away as you build simple to more complex games. Everything you need to build your own 2D game can be found in the book, including an introduction to the Torque Game Builder, how to design game graphics, basic programming and scripting techniques, and more. You'll even find an overview of the game development industry to give you an inside look at what it takes to make games, and information on the history of classic 2D games. If you've ever wanted to create your own video games, 2D Game Building for Teens will show you how.

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Nanovor: Hacked Review

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Nanovor: Hacked ReviewThis Is A Great Book But You Have To Be Into Nanovor To Get Somethings. I Like It A lot. I Will Read This Book Again. Its Hard For Me To Read A Book Unless Its Great.If You're A Nanovor Fan Check It Out You'll Like It.Nanovor: Hacked OverviewIt's science-fair time! In a room filled with volcanoes and lab-grown rock candy, Lucas' old-fashioned Fortune Teller is a big hit. Everyone is lining up to find out what the machine can tell them about themselves. But the fun almost comes to an end when the Lab Rats discover that someone has tapped into the data stream and is collecting very personal information. Now Lucas and his friends must dive into the nanosphere, find the source of the trouble and stop the hi-jackers. Will they be able to defeat the enemy nanovor swarm and get back in time for the end of the fair?

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Write Your Way into Animation and Games: Create a Writing Career in Animation and Games Review

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Write Your Way into Animation and Games: Create a Writing Career in Animation and Games ReviewBefore I can properly apply the book (which is textbook format, though a lot more interesting and fun than normal textbooks) here's a little background. I'm a lifelong writer, just now getting serious about publication, with an abiding passion for film (particularly animation) and video games. While I'm not bad on the designing end of the spectrum, writing is definitely my stronger suit. I researched screenwriting and animation writing in my teens, but, figuring I'd learn all this in film school (all of which accepted me, none of which helped me pay) I never took it seriously.
Fast-forward a few years. I'm still in love with writing; it's still a creative pursuit at which I excel (assuming I work very hard and polish each piece); I still love film, but that expensive hobby understandably got pushed onto a back burner. A few weeks ago, I began to wonder seriously, not idly as I've done for years, about what I could do to write for animation and games. Coincidentally, I stumbled across this book.
"Write Your Way into Animation and Games" is a fabulous resource for beginners, and even intermediates depending on what you're looking for. I was frustrated by the first chapters, which cover screenwriting basics and how to craft a simple story. I read them anyway (in case skipping would cause me to miss something). And I have to say, the advice is clear, concise, brief, thorough, and necessary. It was material I'm highly familiar with, but once I banished the "been through this before" conceit, the refresher did very well for me. I'd urge anyone not actually working in animation (not that you'd be picking up this book if you were) to please go over it. It's a little irritating at times, but the information is still valuable.
After the basics, it delves progressively deeper in terms of technique and resources. The information on animation writing, from script format to page count to dialogue and action balance, was fantastic. Without setting out any unbreakable rules, it gives a very clear idea of expectations and guidelines, which is much, much more helpful that something along the lines of "you always have to do this exactly this way."
My only disappointment--and it was fairly minor--was a relative lack of gaming resources. Writing for games and for animation is obviously very similar, but I was more interested in games than in animation at this point. I wish it had been more balances, or even biased in favor of game-writing. That said, given the amount of information and resources in this book, that really was a minor disappointment.
"Write Your Way into Animation and Games" is set up like a textbook. At very rare times, it reads like a textbook, but it's still a lot more interesting than most of the textbooks I have/am dealing with now. If the format would, for some reason, put you off, don't worry about it. This isn't dry reading. The writing is professional but vibrant, and bursting with examples (which I definitely need.) I can't promise this will be a perfect read for any beginner. But, overall, this was a really great guide for me, and I know I'll be using it in the future.Write Your Way into Animation and Games: Create a Writing Career in Animation and Games Overview
Launch your career in writing for video games or animation with the best tips, tricks, and tutorials from the Focal press catalog--all at your fingertips. Let our award-winning writers and game developers show you how to generate ideas and create compelling storylines, concepts, and narratives for your next project.

Write Your Way Into Animation and Games provides invaluable information on getting into the game and animation industries. You will benefit from decades of insider experience about the fields of animation and games, with an emphasis on what you really need to know to start working as a writer.

Navigate the business aspects, gain unique skills, and develop the craft of writing specifically for aniamtion and games. Learn from the cream of the crop who have shared their knowledge and experience in these key Focal Press guides:

Digital Storytelling, Second Edition by Carolyn Handler Miller

Animation Writing and Development by Jean Ann Wright

Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games by Christy Marx

Story and Simulations for Serious Games by Nick Iuppa and Terry Borst

Writing for Multimedia and the Web, Third Edition by Timothy Garrand

* How to break in to the industry and have a career in writing for animation or videogames.

* How to fine tune your narrative, characters, world, and dialogue--with this comprehensive guide to writing.

* Companion Web site includes all of the key multimedia and resource components from the original Focal Press books.


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Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete Review

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Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete ReviewI just finished reading the book Total Engagement. It's rare that I read a book that has me wondering if the authors have caught a glimpse of an unexpected future, and that ten or twenty years from now people will be looking back and be saying: that was the book that spotted this crucial trend. Having lived in Silicon Valley for many years, I'm used to having that experience of being exposed to the future ahead of its time. This could be one of them.
The thesis is simple. Millions of people pay each month to participate in massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). I've tried them, and I have friends (and kids) that have been totally sucked into them. They punch a bunch of psychological tickets for humans: the game designers know what they're doing. The book discusses how this is done:
* an epic story line(we're saving the galaxy from the Crumlons)
* clear paths to advancement, with transparency about your skills and performance
* intensely meritocratic societies called guilds that work together in groups to accomplish major tasks
* strong social interactions with other people
* the ability to try, fail and try again rapidly, learning quickly
* the option to try on leadership roles
For many people, these games are where they come alive and truly experience their potential to solve problems, meet challenges and lead a team.
And then they go into the modern workplace, which is frequently as stultifying as these virtual worlds are thrilling. Fail!
Read and Reeves are convinced that at least some smart workplaces of the future are going to adapt some of the ways of the games to more fully engage their employees and become more effective as economic organizations. They don't have a magic formula for how to do this, but do invest a great deal of time analyzing what makes people inside these games tick and how those concepts transfer to the workplace.
Fascinating ideas, and well worth watching and thinking about.Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete OverviewEvery week, millions of people including many of your employees spend hours playing multi-player online games with a level of engagement they don t bring to work. These aren t just adolescent video games we re talking rich narrative quests with 3-D environments, cool avatars, and compelling goals and rewards. Imagine the value if you could transfer key ingredients of game design and the gamer excitement and focus that come with it to the office. What if your employees could solve customer problems, design new software, or configure better shipping routes working inside a game environment at work?This isn t just possible, say Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read; it s inevitable. As global competition intensifies and employee productivity and engagement become more critical, the user experience provided by game technology offers a tantalizing solution for business. This is far more than a quaint metaphor for business and it s way beyond training tools. Implemented in the workplace, elements of games can solve a host of business problems with morale, communication, and alignment all while honing skills like data analysis, teamwork, recruitment, leadership, and more. Based on extensive hands-on research, case studies, and the authors entrepreneurial ventures, Total Engagement convincingly outlines how games will transform work, from repetitive call-center jobs to high-level teams who must collaborate with members dispersed around the globe. The authors show why you must begin building a game strategy now and offer practical guidelines for how to:--Select the game design features that can address your company s pain points --Use avatars to increase engagement and productivity--Employ virtual currencies to help employees set priorities, share resources, and meet goals--Implement participant-driven communication systems to facilitate team-building--Discover untapped leadership skills by shifting collaboration to game-like environments--Mitigate possible negative effects of game applications at work Authoritative and provocative, Total Engagement shows you how to become a player to reckon with as the gaming revolution transforms the workplace.

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Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences (Lea's Communication Series) Review

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Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences (Lea's Communication Series) ReviewHow far video games have come since Pong and Space Invaders. The contributors to this book undertook serious analyses of current popular video games, some 25 or so years since those early games. The book is not about the technological aspects of how games are written. Though some chapters have brief explanations. Instead the focus here is on higher level issues.
These include asking what makes a game addictive; something which is certainly not of abstract academic interest. By now, the display resolutions are so fine, and the updating of the scenes so smooth that a player might be able to immerse himself into a virtual environment. A willing suspension of disbelief indeed! The emotions of a player are studied, as a clue to addiction.
Another aspect is the rise of Massive Multiplayer Online Games. These involve collaborative and competitive efforts between many human players, in an environment run on central servers that their machines login remotely to. The social mores of some MMOG universes are explored. On this topic, much more can probably be written than what the book only relatively briefly covers.
Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences (Lea's Communication Series) OverviewFrom security training simulations to war games to role-playing games, to sports games to gambling, playing video games has become a social phenomena, and the increasing number of players that cross gender, culture, and age is on a dramatic upward trajectory. Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences integrates communication, psychology, and technology to examine the psychological and mediated aspects of playing video games. It is the first volume to delve deeply into these aspects of computer game play. It fits squarely into the media psychology arm of entertainment studies,the next big wave in media studies. The book targets one of the most popular and pervasive media in modern times, and it will serve to define the area of study and provide a theoretical spine for future research.This unique and timely volume will appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students in media studies and mass communication, psychology, and marketing.

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RPG Maker for Teens Review

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RPG Maker for Teens ReviewThis book which begins with a fairly extensive history and background of RPG games (beginning with simple classics such as Nethack), describes the skills and planning needed for their preparation; and covers in some detail the development of a teen's own game in the easy to use $60.00 programming environment RPG Maker VX (a 30 day trial is available over the Internet) and various free graphics tools used to supplement this development environment. The book carefully proceeds to give instruction in developing a role-playing game that could easily be understood by a teen or any other novice as well as developmental and historical outlines of this genre to all who might be interested. The biggest barrier to entry (or long-term use) is the cost of RPG Maker VX; but less powerful tools available for free might have limited the scope of games possible to create with this book.
--Ira LaefskyRPG Maker for Teens OverviewMake your RPG ideas come to life! RPG Maker For Teens shows teens and other beginners how to create their very own role-playing games, sword-and-sorcery quest games that feature turn-based combat, inventories full of unique weapons and armor, and fierce monsters prowling in dungeons. Using RPG Maker VX, a complete computer game application software, means that prior programming experience is not required. You'll follow easy-to-understand instructions and hands-on tutorials as you first build a sample game, and then your very own RPG as you work your way through the book. With RPG Maker For Teens, you'll learn everything you need to create fun, fantasy RPGs that you can play and share with others, including how to build a game world, invent characters, stage battles, put together quests, and edit and publish your finished game.
From the Author: 10 Quick Tips to Getting Started with RPG Maker
Create a new project and name it something distinct.Your first step in your new project is to declare the size of your map.Right-click on the map name in the panel list and select Map Properties; there you can change the dimensions of the map.
Draw your major landforms or interior structure.From the menu, select Mode > Map or press F5.Use the Pencil, Rectangle, Ellipse, or Flood Fill tools to place tiles on your map where the ground, floors, and/or walls would exist.
Using the Pencil tool, draw major tile elements, including impassible forests, grass, fences, buildings, and so on. Add more detailed tile elements as you go, including hangings, decorations, boxes, props, and more.
Create more maps that fit the outline of the game you want to make, including interior and exterior maps to be explored.
Now place Events.From the menu, select Mode > Events or press F6.Start by placing your player starting position.Then add transfer events from the current map to subsequent maps.Add non-player characters (NPCs) the player can dialogue with.You can add Door, Inn, and Treasure Chest quick events wherever you believe them necessary.
Decide where you want Enemies. If you want Enemies ambushing players all over your map, open Map Properties and set Troop Encounters.If you want to prompt encounters physically, place NPCs that instigate Battle Processing (Tab 3 of the Event Commands dialog box) on Player Touch.You can even set the NPC to run at the player by setting Autonomous Movement Type to "Approach."
Decide who you want to start in the player's party by editing the Database.From the menu, select Tools > Database or press F9 and navigate to the Actors tab.You can also change their abilities in the Skills tab and their professions in the Classes tab.
Edit or create custom Items, Weapons, or Armors in the Database.You can edit or create custom Enemies there, also.
Fine-tune the look of your game in the System and Terms tab of the Database.You can also edit or create custom graphics and import them into your game.Some graphics to consider modifying include player characters, NPCs, enemies, objects, map tiles, the title screen, and the Game Over screen.Likewise, you can edit or create custom sounds for your game.Study the music and sound effects listed in the System tab of the Database for audio you might want to adapt.
Test your game thoroughly.You should test after each new element you add to save you editing time later on.After you've tested your game thoroughly, have someone else test it for you.If your game passes the test, go to File > Compress Game Data to publish your game to an executable file.Distribute your game on the Internet or burn it to CD-ROM so that other people can play it.


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Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) Review

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Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) ReviewThe author does a good job of applying well-known and not so well-known psychological principles to game character development. I was surprised to find that the book is mostly substance and doesn't have a lot of fluff. There are interviews from game industry veterans at the end of each chapter which helps to provide more viewpoints on the information. I found the interview with the two japanese designers to be the most interesting.
I think the overall point of the book is to take more into account when designing characters. There are reasons behind every decision you make in anything you do. This book helps to uncover some of the psychology behind characters and their interactions.
With all of this in mind, I would have to say that I don't feel this book's $50 pricetag is completely justified by what I got out of it. The information for me wasn't completely eye-opening; and there's nothing that specifically sticks to mind after having read it that would change my approach to characters a whole lot(other than perhaps their interactions).
The dvd included with the book adds very little to the subject matter; it is nothing but a bunch of low-quality cutscenes from video games. I expected the dvd to have interviews, supplemental reading material, or at least the author commenting on the cutscenes chosen. Unfortunately none of that is included.
The quality of the book physically is very high; it is printed on extremely high quality paper(thermal paper I'm guessing) which seems like it would be very resistant to stains or water damage.
Overall this book is a worthy read. If the price was closer to the $25 mark or the dvd included more worthwhile material I would definitely rate it a lot higher.Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3D Technology) Overview

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Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning Review

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Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning ReviewThe use of games in K-12 math education is growing fast, and respected mathematician Keith Devlin uses this book to set out his vision of how this movement will grow and become more influential. I really enjoyed Devlin's accessible style, and appreciated his focus on 'Mathematical Thinking' rather than pure arithmetic, a common problem with the existing generation of math games. Devlin seems to play an awful lot of World of Warcraft, an online MMO, and this seems to influence a lot of his observations. My own belief is that casual math games, of the type provided by Mangahigh.com, are a more flexible medium for math education, and that combining an MMO with math could be an overwhelming task, with unreliable results. Devlin gives lots of interesting insights, although he sometimes relies overly on James Paul Gee's seemingly endless rules for education games. I enjoyed this book, and will look out for further publications from this author.Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning OverviewStanford mathematician and NPR Math Guy Keith Devlin explains why, fun aside, video games are the ideal medium to teach middle-school math. Aimed primarily at teachers and education researchers, but also of interest to game developers who want to produce videogames for mathematics education, Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning describes exactly what is involved in designing and producing successful math educational videogames that foster the innovative mathematical thinking skills necessary for success in a global economy.Read the author's monthly MAA column Devlin's Angle

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Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames (Charles River Media Game Development) Review

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Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames (Charles River Media Game Development) ReviewThis is a good book. It suffers from having multiple authors in that it lacks the consistent tone that most writng books have, but all the writng is still good.
It is focused on the interface betwen the writer, the game, and the team, and is long on cautionary points. It will be of value to anyone who is writing, producing, or leading all or part of a game team, particularly if they lack practical experience.
If you are only interested in a book about writing for games, Lee Sheldon's 'Character Development and Storytelling for Games' is probably a better choice, but if you are intending or actually writing game, or working with a game writer, this is a good read and a potentially vital resource.Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames (Charles River Media Game Development) OverviewAs computer games become more and more like Hollywood productions, the need for good story lines increases. Research shows that stories are highly valued by game players, so today's studios and developers need good writers.Creating narrative--a traditionally static form--for games is a major challenge.Games are at their heart dynamic, interactive systems, so they don't follow the guidelines and rules of film or T.V. writing. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames addresses these issues and is the first book written to demystify this emerging field. Through the insights and experiences of practicing game writers, the bookcaptures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today's game industry.This unique collection of practical articles provides the foundations to the craft of game writing. The articles, written by members of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Writing Special Interest Group, detail aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and nonlinear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters. Throughout the articles there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have. The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, and is a detailed guide to all the techniques of game writing. This book is an essential read for anyone wishing to get into this exciting field, particularly for new game writers wanting to hone their skills, and film and T.V. scriptwriters who want to learn how to transfer their skills to the games industry.
From the Editor: Tips and Tricks
Game Writing was the first book by the IGDA Game Writing Special Interest Group, and remains its most popular. For writers new to games it's an indispensible guide, and for experienced writers it's full of tips and tricks from some of the industry's most successful game writers.

Here are a few extra tips for anyone interested in writing for games.

Stories Don't Make Games.A lot of people say to me, "I've got this great idea for a game..." and proceed to tell me a plot outline for a story. Many of the stories I hear would work better as a book or a film than a game, but even in the cases that would make a great game, there's nothing I can do to make that story become a game. Videogame projects are big business, and unlike movies, they don't begin life as a story outline. The story is something that is either developed along with the game, or that is added later. You can't start with a story and expect to finish with a game.
If a Job's Worth Doing...So you can't have your great story idea turned into a game. What should you do instead? The short answer is: find a way to make your own game. If you aren't a programmer, this probably means teaming up with someone who is, or using off-the-shelf game creator software. Don't worry too much about the quality of your first game, because if you want to be a professional game writer you're committing to work on lots of games, and you should try to learn from every project you work on. If you only want to work on big-budget videogames, then game writing might not be for you.
Start Small!It may sound obvious, but don't try and run before you can walk. A lot of people working on their first game story have plans to create an epic forty-chapter role-playing game with myriad twists and turns. But seriously, are you really going to be able to make a game that big as your first project? Try writing your game story as a novella or a screenplay first. If that sounds like a lot of extra work, then you're not ready to work on a game that big, because writing a game script is more work than writing a book or a screenplay. Instead, aim for something much smaller--a short story, or the equivalent of one episode of a TV show. You'll have a better chance of finishing what you start.
What Does the Player Do?Creating stories is harder work than most people give credit, and game stories have an extra problem--the player has to have something to do. You need to make sure that events in your story imply activities that the player will enjoy doing, otherwise, you're not really making a game at all.
How Much Can the Player Do?Also, you have to be realistic about how much choice you can offer the player. You might want to allow the player options at every step of the plot--but then you'll need to develop and test all of the possibilities that this implies. This is a lot of work! Fortunately, Game Writing has many ideas that will help you think about empowering players without generating extra work.
Game writing can be rewarding work, but it is still work, and anyone who hopes to succeed in this exciting and challenging field needs to be prepared to rise to the challenge. There's no better place to start than Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames.

Chris BatemanFounder, IGDA Game Writing Special Interest GroupEditor, Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames


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The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies Review

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The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies ReviewNot only is this an extremely interesting, readable account of textual strategies in video games (and associated media), but it's a model Kindle edition. The footnotes are hyperlinked and many of the cited web-pages in the notes can also be accessed directly from the Kindle. Even the index is hyperlinked. In the index, the original page numbers are retained but linked to the right locations in the Kindle edition. Somebody put a lot of attention into this and it makes this the most usable Kindle edition I have.The Meaning of Video Games: Gaming and Textual Strategies OverviewThe Meaning of Video Games takes a textual studies approach to an increasingly important form of expression in today's culture. It begins by assuming that video games are meaningful-not just as sociological or economic or cultural evidence, but in their own right, as cultural expressions worthy of scholarly attention. In this way, this book makes a contribution to the study of video games, but it also aims to enrich textual studies.Early video game studies scholars were quick to point out that a game should never be reduced to merely its "story" or narrative content and they rightly insist on the importance of studying games as games. But here Steven E. Jones demonstrates that textual studies-which grows historically out of ancient questions of textual recension, multiple versions, production, reproduction, and reception-can fruitfully be applied to the study of video games. Citing specific examples such as Myst and Lost, Katamari Damacy, Halo, Façade, Nintendo's Wii, and Will Wright's Spore, the book explores the ways in which textual studies concepts-authorial intention, textual variability and performance, the paratext, publishing history and the social text-can shed light on video games as more than formal systems. It treats video games as cultural forms of expression that are received as they are played, out in the world, where their meanings get made.

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Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames Review

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Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames ReviewIt's been a pleasure reading Beyond Game Design. I've found this text to be the rare successful combination of new information and old information explored in new ways. Each chapter feels complete in and of itself, with ideas from previous sections seamlessly supporting the next. For those working as designers or developers, or those who hope to work in design someday, this is a text worth reading.Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames OverviewAs a game designer, you are always looking for new ways to make a game unique and interesting. Beyond Game Design:Nine Steps Toward Creating Better Videogames shows you how to make better video games by challenging you to think outside of conventional game design wisdom.Written as a series of essays by industry experts on different components of game theory and design, the book tackles the full spectrum of issues related to how and why players enjoy certain games. You'll explore player emotions, patterns of play, gender and cultural diversity, accessibility issues, and various types of player skills. Providing practical, hands-on design tips and advice, as well as the theory and psychology behind how and why people play games, Beyond Game Design will help you tap into new player types and new ways to engage players as you discover how to make better, more successful videogames.
Editor Introduction
More Than Design
Beyond Game Design began with my dream of creating a book that would offer more than the nuts and bolts of game design. I wanted to offer something that would look deeper--into the psychology of play--and also look further into the issues relating to making games in our modern diverse cultures.
It was a great privilege to work with the authors of the chapters in this book--Richard Bartle, Noah Falstein, Katherine Isbister and Nicole Lazzaro are some of the biggest names in game design and the psychology of play, and Michelle Hinn, Joe Saulter and Sheri Graner Ray are unparalleled in their work in game diversity.
The book offers "Nine Steps" toward creating better videogames, but this nine-step program actually has two distinct aspects: understanding what games do and including a larger audience for games. Both steps are about making videogames for the new marketplace, one that is very different from the market for games just five years ago. It's a survival guide for companies who make games in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Here's a potted version of the nine step program that explains what it's all about:

Understand Emotions:Nicole Lazzaro is the leading researcher into game emotions, and explains why any game must be accessible and fun, and why "fun" means different things to different people. We don't all enjoy the same emotions of play; some players love failing a tough challenge and repeating it over and over again until they eventually win sweet victory, but for other players that's their idea of hell. Developers who understand the emotions of play are ready to compete in the new market for digital games; those who don't are living on borrowed time.
Understand Social Play:The explosion of Facebook and casual games has happened on the back of a newly recognised social aspect to play. Even traditional game forms, like First Person Shooters, are now dependent on social design for their success, as Modern Warfare amply demonstrates. Katherine Isbister describes the different social mechanisms available for game design, and why success in the wider market for games now requires designing for more than just a single player--even for single player games!
Understand Patterns of Play:I've been writing about Roger Caillois' patterns of play for many years, but with Beyond Game Design I took his work to a new level by tying each pattern to a specific neurobiological mechanism. The patterns of play are specific neurochemical responses that govern how and why games are fun--and understanding these is vital to commercially successful game design. This is your brain on games!
Understand the Limits of Theory:Richard Bartle's infamous "suits" model of Massively Multiplayer gamers was a seminal event in player studies, and remains widely read and used today. But a model can only take you so far. Bartle explains why every theory has limits and also why--despite those limits--it's still vital that commercial game design deploys theories.
Include Both Genders:Sheri Graner Ray has written extensively on gender distinctions in play, and makes a compelling argument that modern digital games that do not take into account issues of gender are leaving a lot of money on the table. Designing to include both genders means expanding the players who might enjoy your game--and that can make all the difference in commercial success.
Include Cultural Diversity:Joe Saulter is a jazz man turned game developer, and has a stark warning for players making games for a white male audience: that isn't the consumer base for digital entertainment anymore. If you're making games for just one ethnic group, you're already falling behind your competitors in the new marketplace for games.
Include Players with Accessibility Issues:When it comes to accessibility, it starts to look like diminishing returns... Is it really worth designing elements of games for players with specific disabilities? Michelle Hinn argues that many of the changes required to reach gamers with disabilities are trivial to implement, and that the number of affected players can be far larger than most developers and publishers usually think--especially when designing for a mass market audience of the kind Nintendo's Wii and DS target.
Include Players with Different Skills:My studies of the audience for games have thrown up a lot of interesting discoveries, but my most basic result still has the most to say to commercial game development: different players have different capabilities, and enjoy different things. If you are spending a lot of money developing a videogame you can't afford to be designing the game for a very small subset of the audience for games. The games that succeed support different ways of playing for different players.
Include Structures That Adapt to Player Needs:Finally, Noah Falstein brings it all together by exploring how games can be responsive to player needs. It's a cutting edge issue, and one that Noah has considerable experience with. By building games that work for many different players, you target a wider audience--and commercial success in the new market for digital games depends upon precisely that.

That's Beyond Game Design in a nutshell, but of course, the chapters of the book go into far more depth than I've described here. This book is an essential guide to creating commercial digital entertainment for the new audiences, the new marketplace and the new conditions in the videogames industry. Ignore it at your peril!

Chris BatemanEditor, Beyond Game Design


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The Video Game Theory Reader Review

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The Video Game Theory Reader ReviewThis book is an introduction to a nascent field within new media studies: video game theory, or ludology. As such, many of the essays contained herein are trying to get a grasp on what constitutes video game studies, period. Some of the questions broached are as follows:
What would constitute a formal analysis of a video game?
What features do all video games share (what can we classify as a video game, anyhow?)
Which approaches are best for the analysis of video games: semiotics, psychoanalysis, cinema studies, cognitive psychology?
This volume takes a few baby steps towards answering those questions. Gonzalo Frasca, for instance, makes the important argument that even the simplest games cannot be considered in mere narratological terms, but must be considered as a simulation. He then uses Roger Caillois's terms paidia and ludus to establish a tentative typology of video games.
Other essays, such as Mia Consalvo's essay on the Sims and Final Fantasy IX, are more shallow and contribute little beyond a superficial plot analysis and trite comments about how radical it is that a guy can have a girl avatar (and vice-versa) in a video game.
I found Patrick Crogan's essay on Combat Flight Simulator 2 and Pearl Harbor (the movie) especially insightful, as it drew some fascinating connections between Manuel De Landa, Paul Virilio, and the simulation representational ethos (as opposed to narrative).
In conclusion, this is a really hit-or-miss collection, which is perhaps to be expected considering how marginal video game studies currently is within the academy. Nevertheless, it contains some valuable contributions to this inchoate field between its covers, which will certainly help to legitimate game studies in the future.The Video Game Theory Reader OverviewThe Video Game Theory Reader brings together exciting new work on video games as a unique medium and nascent field of study - one that is rapidly developing new modes of understanding and analysis, like film studies in the 1960s and television studies in the 1980s. This pioneering collection addresses the many ways video games are reshaping the face of entertainment and our relationship with technology. In the volume, leading media studies scholars develop new theoretical tools and concepts to study video games. Drawing upon examples from a number of popular games ranging from Space Invaders to Final Fantasy , the contributors discuss the relationship between video games and other media; the shift from third- to first-person games; gamers and the gaming community; and the important sociological, cultural, industrial, and economic issues that surround gaming.

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Game Widow Review

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Game Widow ReviewVideo games can be much fun, but too much of anything is a bad thing. "Game Widow" draws on the stories of spouses whose relationships have taken quite the beating due to the others excessive gaming habits. With much advice for neglected spouses who are dealing with either relationships broken beyond repair or having hope for recovery, "Game Widow" is support that many women need when it feels like they've been thrown aside for a video game.
Game Widow OverviewIs your loved one constantly monopolizing your computer or TV to play video games? If so, you might be a game widow. Wendy Kays, former game widow, is here to help. In this book, she successfully bridges the gap between those who game and those who don't by sharing invaluable advice and practical strategies for reclaiming your relationship with a video-gaming spouse, friend, or family member.

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Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (Popular Culture and Philosophy) Review

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Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (Popular Culture and Philosophy) ReviewLuke Cuddy edits HALO AND PHILOSOPHY: INTELLECT EVOLVED adds another powerful guide to the 'Popular Culture and Philosophy' series, this focusing on one of the most successful videogames ever. Halo's unique features are examined in light of its philosophical meanings, from the ethics of behaviors and how ancient philosophers would have considered the Halo environment to the meaning in different characters. Any Halo player will find this a much more accessible method of understanding philosophy.Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (Popular Culture and Philosophy) OverviewSince the Doom series, First Person Shooter (FPS) videogames have ricocheted through the gaming community, often reaching outside that community to the wider public. While critics primarily lampoon FPSs for their aggressiveness and on-screen violence, gamers see something else. Halo is one of the greatest, most successful FPSs ever to grace the world of gaming. Although Halo is a FPS, it has a science-fiction storyline that draws from previous award-winning science fiction literature. It employs a game mechanic that limits the amount of weapons a player can carry to two, and a multiplayer element that has spawned websites like Red vs. Blue and games within the game created by players themselves.Halo's unique and extraordinary features raise serious questions. Are campers really doing anything wrong? Does Halo's music match the experience of the gamer? Would Plato have used Halo to train citizens to live an ethical life? What sort of Artificial Intelligence exists in Halo and how is it used? Can the player's experience of war tell us anything about actual war? Is there meaning to Master Chief's rough existence? How does it affect the player's ego if she identifies too strongly with an aggressive character like Master Chief? Is Halo really science fiction? Can Halo be used for enlightenment-oriented thinking in the Buddhist sense? Does Halo's weapon limitation actually contribute to the depth of the gameplay? When we willingly play Halo only to die again and again, are we engaging in some sort of self-injurious behavior? What is expansive gameplay and how can it be informed by the philosophy of Michel Foucault? In what way does Halo's post-apocalyptic paradigm force gamers to see themselves as agents of divine deliverance? What can Red vs. Blue teach us about personal identity?These questions are tackled by writers who are both Halo cognoscenti and active philosophers, with a foreword by renowned Halo fiction author Fred Van Lente and an afterword by leading games scholar and artist Roger Ngim.

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Philosophy Through Video Games Review

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Philosophy Through Video Games ReviewWhile many attempts to "make philosophy relevant" to beginners come across as forced and artificial, _Philosophy Through Video Games_ does an excellent job of showing how important philosophical problems naturally arise from thinking about video games. The issues discussed range from the very old to the cutting edge, some of which are sure to intrigue anyone who enjoys both video games and intensive reflection but has not been able to bring the two together in any meaningful way. Cogburn and Silcox are very good at explaining difficult issues clearly and helpfully, making them both understandable and important without presupposing any previous knowledge of philosophy.
Anyone looking for a new way to bring students into the oldest discipline should read this book. I plan on using it for a first-year course very soon.Philosophy Through Video Games OverviewHow can Wii Sports teach us about metaphysics?Can playing World of Warcraft lead to greater self-consciousness?How can we learn about aesthetics, ethics and divine attributes fromZork, Grand Theft Auto, and Civilization?A variety of increasingly sophisticated video games are rapidly overtaking books, films, and television as America's most popular form of media entertainment. It is estimated that by 2011 over 30 percentof US households will own a Wii console - about the same percentage that owned a television in 1953.In Philosophy Through Video Games, Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox - philosophers with game industry experience - investigate the aesthetic appeal of video games, their effect on our morals, the insights they give us into our understanding of perceptual knowledge, personal identity, artificial intelligence, and the very meaning of life itself, arguing that video games are popular precisely because they engage with longstanding philosophical problems.Topics covered include:* The Problem of the External World* Dualism and Personal Identity* Artificial and Human Intelligence in the Philosophy of Mind* The Idea of Interactive Art* The Moral Effects of Video Games* Games and God's GoodnessGames discussed include:Madden Football, Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, Sims Online, Second Life, Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Elder Scrolls, Zork, EverQuest Doom, Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto, Civilization, Mortal Kombat, Rome: Total War, Black and White, Aidyn Chronicles

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Flash Multiplayer Virtual Worlds Review

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Flash Multiplayer Virtual Worlds ReviewThis is a fantastic book that will give you a solid foundation in building isometric Flash MMOs. It makes a great addition for those who already have Jobe Makar's ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds by covering many new topics.
I've been a roleplayer all my life, starting with D&D in the 80s, LARPing in the 90s and internet gaming in the 21st century. My favorite game of all time has to be Neverwinter Nights. I loved it because of the fabulous Aurora toolset it came with that let you create your own virtual world. I spent two months building a "mod" for others to play. And hundreds did. In the end, I got some cheers and jeers and made a few friends. But it always irked me that I would be unable to profit from my creation because the platform I built my game on belonged to someone else. I hoped someone would create an open software system that would allow me to use my own art and build my own worlds.
That brings us to this book. Despite the enormous popularity of Flash social games, there are very few sources that pull back the veil and show step-by-step the code underlying them. This book teaches you how to set up SmartFox Server and create small tiled worlds linked with portals. These zones can then be populated with NPCs who have their own walkpaths and inventories. Character interaction and questing are both covered using dialog trees and keywords. The book also delves into minigames, stores and numerous social features using APIs from Facebook and Twitter. It doesn't cover combat, character stats, gold, spells or crafting, but lets hope the author writes a sequel.
Don't fool yourself into thinking this is going to be easy though. This is high-level Actionscript that will test your coding talent. Also be aware that this book came out a few months before the release of SmartFoxServer 2 which uses Java for server-side scripting. That means the server-side code examples (there are two in the book) may need to be rewritten from ActionScript to Java to work with SFS2.
The book has a few weaknesses. The editors dropped the ball several times with grammar. While the book is well organized, it could have benefited from having chapter checklists. Getting the tutorials up and running is not exactly plug and play. But I have gotten all the way through with 90% of the features intact. The book uses FLAs for content so FlashDevelop users and Adobe Flash Builder 4 owners may need to download Flash Professional trials to use the demo tutorials.
Soon I hope to build my first virtual world. And unlike modding for a game, it will be mine to do with as I will. Thanks, Makzan! And please keep writing!Flash Multiplayer Virtual Worlds OverviewThis is a step-by-step, hands-on guide that is filled with examples and screenshots of building a multiplayer virtual world. The virtual world is built gradually; each chapter in the book sequentially develops the virtual world. The author explains the fundamentals with examples from existing virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Mole, Dofus, and World of Warcraft. If you are a Flash or an ActionScript developer who wants to build powerful and immersive multiplayer games, this book is for you. This book assumes that you have some experience with ActionScript 3.0.

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Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens Review

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Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens ReviewThis book was used in our Intro to Programming class and taught us the basics for computer programming without even learning actual code. Teaches you about if/else statements, loops, objects, methods, and even recursion, which makes the transition into real programming quite smooth. It was so easy! We were creating 3D stories the first day of class and disappointed when class was over. Who would have ever thought creating a game would be so simple and fun????
The book provides step-by-step instructions that anyone could follow. Pick up this book and let your imagination run wild. I recommend this to anyone interested in computers, programming, 3D, games, or just a new way to keep busy when you are bored. You will be surprised at the amazing things you could create after just the first few pages.Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens Overview"Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens" shows teens like you how to develop virtual 3D worlds using the simple, visual programming language, Alice. Virtual worlds can take the form of animated stories, movies, and games. This book will teach you step-by-step how to create virtual worlds, including developing your story, setting up your world, adding and animating characters, incorporating sound, and sharing your world with others. You'll even discover how to add strategy to your worlds so they can be used as interactive stories or games. Written in clear language using hands-on projects and exercises to teach you each new skill, this book is easy to follow at your own individual pace.

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