Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (21)

Solid read.
Disagree with him on some points, but it's an interesting read.Note, this book is not really about how to make games you create fun, so much as it is a rambling discourse about the nature of fun itself.

Koster's Pitch for Gaming Theory
Koster's argument for serious critical approach to gaming is taut and well-thought.He acknowledges gaming to be "fun," while at the same time clearly states why games aren't elevated to artistic status in culture, despite their status in the entertainment marketplace - more economically lucrative than cinema.Until gaming attains the ability to create play that reflects the human condition, like cinema, it will not be classified or regarded as artisitic expression.If I had one criticism of the book, it is a lack of commentary on the economics of the gaming industry, but alas, Koster is a game developer, not a publisher, so this omission is understandable and does not take away from the book's value.I recommend this book for anyone desiring a short theoretical overview of gaming, and historical context.It's laconic, well-written, and offers nice illustrations done by Koster himself.

Very few ideas in too many words.
Raph Koster is clearly a man in love with his own ideas. His writing is full of self-indulgent babbling about very simplistic ideas. He seems to think that he's the only one who's ever thought about games and the way people play them.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers - Games    3. Design and construction    4. Games    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Programming - Software Development    7. Software Design    8. Video & Electronic - General    9. Computer games    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / Game Programming    11. Computers / Games    12. Games / Video & Electronic    13. Multimedia   

Reviews (15)

Could be improved...
When you first get a look at this guide, you think "Woah...very big...", but despite the size, there's a lot of information that's not needed...and a lot that's lacking.
Good info, but not necessary to complete the game
Unlike the first Kingdom Hearts where the guide was essential, this guide is quite optional. The game has enough hints and exploration value for you to find all the chests and special areas without the guide. There are some nice features in Jiminy's Journal that make completing each world quite effective. You also can beat just about every boss without hints, although the hints will probably help you beat the bosses the first time out.
Kingdom Hearts II Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series)
the shipment is faster than i thought, which is great.
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Subjects:  1. Computer adventure games    2. Computer games    3. Computers - Games    4. Games    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Kingdom Hearts (Game)    8. Video & Electronic - General    9. Video & Electronic - Sony PlayStation 2    10. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (2)

Penny Arcade = Great Web-Comic
Penny Arcade is a comic that has been around for almost a full decade now, so it is nice that this year they are finally releasing a series of books that bring the comics into our homes without the need for a computer and internet, excluding how you buy the book itself.
Good collection of a great Webcomic
Penny Arcade isn't my favorite webcomic (that honor goes to PVP), but it's up there, and I'm very happy that Dark Horse comics has begun reprinting the entire run of the series. This second volume collects all of the strips from 2001. Holkins and Krahulik don't use many long-running storylines or, for that matter, any continuity at all, so you can't really expound upon the stories here. Holkins also includes some of his vintage blog posts, detailing stories such as how a rat infestation led to his eviction and tne now-classic "Walnut Saga," which are amusing stories as their own right. The strips are as sharp and clever as ever, without any of the early strips where they were still trying to find their groove, such as those we found in volume one. The book is backed by images from the Penny Arcade card game and some unpublished concepts from Holkins and Krahulik to fill out the book. Some of the stuff at the end feels kind of like padding, but it's still a fun read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Form - Cartoons & Comics    3. Graphic Novels    4. Graphic Novels - General    5. Graphic Satire And Humor    6. Humor    7. Video & Electronic - General    8. Comics & Graphic Novels / General   

Reviews (12)

Animal Crossing Free-For-All!
A very close friend of mine and myself are absolutely addicted to Animal Crossing: Wild World DS. We call each other almost every day with updates on our towns, who gave us thier photo, etc. It's a great game, really. Yet, some things are tricky. When can I find a balloon in the sky with a present? Which K.K. Slider song do I get this Saturday night? Which day can I watch fireworks? What time? So many questions I myself had trouble with are now answered.
Where are the fish and fossil lists?
Hi, I just got this today and I was really excited, but I soon noticed that there are 14 pages missing!! The contents say that there are 158 pages, but the book goes up to only 144. The aquatic creatures list, the long-lost fossil list, the dancing gyroids list, the outdoor plantlife list, and the items index are all missing. The pages were not cut out, they are just not there. Amazon only lists that there should be 128 or so pages, but the book clearly reads 158. I'm going to contact nintendo to find out if I should expect this for every copy or if this is just a printing error.
so-so
its a great guide but there are many typos fount in the guide wich is misleading. bot overall. ITS GREAT ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Games / Reference    2. Games / Video & Electronic    3. Video & Electronic - Nintendo    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Nintendo video games   

Reviews (4)

The ultimate book on Lua programming language
Recently I bought "Programming in Lua, Second Edition". Written by Lua creator himself this book offers great walkthrough the Lua language, includes many useful examples and shows variety of important Lua coding ideoms that comprise so called "Lua programming style". As an expert C/C++/Ruby coder but a novice Lua programmer I found PiL2 a great jump start in the languge.
Great book for all Lua users
If you're a Lua 5.1 user, this book will help a lot. Many things that are left unclear in the Lua reference is picked up in this book, such as how module/require works but not only that.
An Elegant Book for an Elegant Language
I am new to Lua. While a C++ developer, having used Perl, Python and Ruby, I was suprised by how much you can do with this compact scripting language.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming - Software Development    5. Programming Languages - General   

Reviews (28)

Not a complete guide
This guide has the basic walkthrough up to the Elite Four. But as other reviewers have noted, the book is rife with small errors and stops abruptly when detailing the end of the game. The largest omission is the exclusion of -any- mention of how to recieve the National Pokedex or how to travel to Islands 4, 5, 6, and 7. This is not a small extra area of the game, it is several more hours of gameplay and isn't even mentioned. Pokemon completists will be dissapointed with Prima's guide.

Awesome Service
I am very impressed with the quick response that I received when I placed my order.The book arrived exactly when it was suppose to.My son was very happy with the book.Thanks for an awesome job.

A guide filled with mistakes.
This is the worst guide ever.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers - Games    3. Games    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Video & Electronic - General    6. Video & Electronic - Nintendo    7. Games / Video & Electronic    8. Role-playing & war games   

Reviews (53)

Sadly, a Disappointment
If you hate theory, you will love this book. The author makes certain that you do not glean any insights into how Elements 3 works. If you want to crack this book open each time you use Elements, and follow the button-clicking instructions, you will always be on Square One, if that is what you like. For instance, Layers are never described or explained. There is no chapter on Layers. No mention of Layers, the Layers Palette, or Backgrounds, until: "Make a copy of the photo by dragging-and-dropping your Background Layer on the Create a New Layer icon at the top of the Layers palette. This will create a layer titled "Background Copy." No definition of any of these terms has appeared, and presto, you are supposed to know what he is talking about.
Scott Kelby is My Favorite Photoshop Author
First a confession! Scott Kelby is my favorite Photoshop author/DVD presenter. (Eat your heart out Deke McClelland, my second choice!)
Practical, simple to follow
I am an enthusiastic amateur photographer, not a pro.But I enjoy "post processing" my digital images and Photoshop Elements is a good product to use.But there are many nuances to the product and Scott Kelby does an excellent job at presenting those capabilities.His examples are straightforward and useful.I recommend this book highly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    5. Computers    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. Digital photography    9. Digital techniques    10. Photography    11. Techniques - Digital    12. Photography / Techniques / Digital    13. Photoshop   

Reviews (5)

Pretty good!
I'm not new to maya, but I had some questions about easier UV mapping tool, and this book tells me the hint, contains other useful information that I need to know as a good modeler and animator!

Why I did not learn anything from this book.
Some Maya books are unclear about the real "need to know" steps on creating a model and this is one of those books.It is well known that most really good books about Maya topics come with a DVD with video tutorials that help reinforce the book and further your knowledge.I am sorry to say that this book did not have much to offer in that area.
Terrific Resource
This book is a terrific resource for those who want to refine their skill set. It provides information on the structure of proper topology for your characters right up to rigging and animation. For those who want a detailed book on modelling a character. . .this is not it. This book assumes that you have advanced modelling skills and does not provide step by step instructions. It would be an extremely awesome book if it did.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer animation    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Three-dimensional display systems    8. Computer Software Packages    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design   

Reviews (2)

Good bag of tricks for advanced game programmers
This is the latest volume in the game programming gems series that is now six years old. This book, like the others in the series, is a collection of articles written by industry experts for the advanced game programmer. Because it covers so much ground with little or no background information, I doubt that one reader will be able to appreciate the whole book. The book comes with a CD that has source code for all of the articles, which is very helpful.
Programming Tips from the Pros
Intended for the intermediate to advanced game programmer, this is a book that will literally have something for everyone. It contains fifty-two 'gems' that is, articles on how to some particular aspect of game programming. Sophisticated game programming is probably the most complex programming there is. And this book goes into some pretty sophisticated programming details.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer games    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers    6. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    7. Programming    8. Video & Electronic - General    9. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General    10. Software engineering   

Reviews (4)

This book is great.
this book is great - it is not too advanced for beginners. It walks you through director setup, but also allows for you to skip to the more advanced stuff. Its a great book for any level and is engaging, and an easy read. I recomend it strongly.

Almost good
This book is good...but i would really like it it has a little more picture on the steps.

EXTREMELY HELPFUL!
having learned the basics of director in a class was a good start to the program, but being the MONSTER that director is, a 'beginner' like myself, definitely needs the extra help.This book is relatively easy to understand, (relative because the program itself is just so complex), and is thorough.I found solutions for problems in the book that I could not find on the Macromedia website!
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Director (Computer file)    8. Multimedia systems    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    10. Multimedia   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (5)

I am so happy to have found this book and DVD lesson
I have needed InDesign Training for a very long time.It is the only program the agency I work for is allowed to use, but I live in the middle of nowhere and have been unable to attend classes.This book and 2 hour DVD lesson totally has gotten me up to speed on making page layouts.I only wish I had bought it from Amazon instead of Barnes and Noble, I would have saved $15.At any rate, get this book.The best thing about it is that the author uses PRACTICAL examples for doing things.Most computer books expect you to know things already.Well, I didn't know squat.Now I do.The author runs you through simple examples, getting more and more complex with functions, until you have it down.I love that!I loved this book so much I ordered his Photoshop book too since I need to learn that program.So, if you bought InDesign CS2 and need help from the get go, GET THIS BOOK FIRST!

If it wasn't for Deke....
I would never have tackled InDesign CS2 without this book. Deke lays it out, so to speak, in every way. Do-along lessons, The DVD and the large pictures showing you what it should look like create a visual safety net. You almost can't go wrong. The book lessons are so clear and Deke takes you through every way to do a thing in each lesson. If you're a keyboard freak there are keyboard shortcuts galore, include Deke Keys which you can install with the lessons. I am more of a mouse person and Deke makes sure to outline all the ways you can use the mouse to access pallets and work with graphics and text. Deke is enthusiastic about the software but brutally honest about it's few shortcomings. Best of all, he takes you through the trickiest parts of the learning process and manages to be funny all the while. I always love Deke's lesson plans. Instead of using a stuffy business format for the sample documents he presents you with projects like Little Pupper Friend's Cookie Recipe or Professor Shembops 1970's pop music quiz. It all feels less intimidating. Another good thing is the way Deke explains things for those of us who have been using PageMaker or QuarkXPress. Adobe InDesign CS2 One on One is a wonderful way to learn. The book is great for design people who are not particularly "techie". Still, InDesign CS2 is not for sissies.I know this sounds nutty, but I feel like Deke is right here with me every step of the way.

Enough with the shortcuts already
I bought this book because of the extensive amount of instructional video that accompanies the written text. It was something I was looking for in an instructional book - and I didn't find another book with 2+ hours of video. However, after only completing four of the chapters I cannot help but be bothered by the fact that the author has an awful habit of telling you ever possible shortcut configuration for every function. He spends an inordinate amount of time explaining all the shortcut possibilities which is very distracting when you are trying to follow along with an exercise. It's great to know all these handy shortcuts, but if you are just starting to learn InDesign (and I'm guessing here) you initially just want the basics. This approach really slows down the process. Unfortunately, these "shortcut digressions" seem to continue throughout the book. The video content (and the book content) probably could have been reduced by about 30-40% if he didn't labor about every possible shortcut every other sentence. In all fairness the book does contain a lot of content, but I am kinda disappointed by the video. They could have made this potentially excellent book truly excellent if they made an appendix of all these shortcuts rather than cram every option into every exercise. Very distracting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe InDesign    2. Adobe InDesign (Computer software)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - Design    5. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    6. Computer Graphics - General    7. Computers    8. Computers - Desktop Publishing    9. Computers - Other Applications    10. Desktop Publishing - General    11. General    12. Adobe, InDesign, compositing, DTP, page layout, Workflow, Quark Xpress, Deke McClelland    13. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    14. Computers / Desktop Publishing    15. Computers / Desktop Publishing / General    16. Desktop publishing    17. Desktop publishing software   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computer Graphics    4. Computer Graphics - Design    5. Computers - Other Applications    6. Management - General    7. Marketing - General    8. Product Management    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    10. Image processing: graphics (static images)    11. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (2)

Best Pinball Book Ever
I never buy books due to the fact you can read most stuff on the net. This book however, is so well researched and put together that I STRONGLY recommend buying it. There is so much informations, and a truck load of pictures of all sorts of tables.

The Bible of Pinball's 2nd Golden Age!
What an incredible book! I use the term 2nd golden age since the 1930's was the first.
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Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games/Puzzles    3. Video & Electronic - General   

Reviews (13)

Resident Evil Player's Guide
It's hard not to find a satisfactory player's guide, and this is no exception. I buy player's guides for two reasons, and those would be for: 1. collecting 2. Help, because I'm stuck and don't know what to do. This just so happens to be one of those where I needed help to complete the game. I have no problems with this product and would recommend it.

A must-have guide
I began the game sans the guide and decided it was to my best interest to start over after reviewing the hints.It probably would have taken me until NEXT Christmas to finish instead of the 3 months.

This guide vs. Gamefaqs free contents
Why would you shell out a dozen big ones to get a walkthrough while you can get two dozen walkthroughs for free plus lots of detailed guides for free on Gamefaqs.com?Two reasons: 1. This guide is much better written and edited than the poor-English ones you find on Gamefaqs, 2. this guide includes maps and other goodies.If you are a true RE4 fan this is an indispensable companion to getting the most -- like 100% -- out of your RE4 game.If you just want to play RE4 once through, then one of the free walkthroughs from Gamefaqs should suffice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Games    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Games    6. Resident Evil (Game)    7. Video & Electronic - Nintendo Gamecube    8. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (33)

Fast Delivery, good product
The book was shipped on time, and in good condition.I have no complaints with this dealer.

Great Book For Beginners
this is a great book if you wanna learn c++ or game programming. it gets you started in both areas. it explains everything very well and teaches you how to write ms-dos batch files and stuff like that to go with your cpp applications. also the disk comes with a good IDE Dev-C++. Great Buy.

Beginning C++ Programming -- With game examples
As mentioned earlier, this book is more like an introduction to c++ than it is an introduction to game programmnig for people already knowing c++.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Programming Languages - C++    6. C & Visual C    7. Computer games    8. Computers / General   

Reviews (4)

It's a great walkthrough... but not a great guide.
I love Dead Rising but I wanted to know everything about the game so I got the strategy guide. When looking though the guide I found everything I needed to know and even more, but I soon found that not everything that I needed was in this book (It might be in the book, but it's not easy to find) Good assistant, but It doesn't know EVERYthing
Greetings,
Seems pretty good
Like all strategy guides, you should be careful about reading too far into it before playing, unless you don't care about spoilers.Seems obvious, but you know how people can be.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computers    4. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    5. Video & Electronic - General    6. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (4)

Lives up to its title
It's easy to come up with seductive titles for image editing books, purporting to help you "Master" the topic or offer a "missing" manual.But when you get right down to it, most of the books just offer the same old basic information. Top of the bill !!
As a "collectionner" of the best Photoshop books on the market I must recommend this excellent book from Richard Lynch to all the digital photographers among us.Other reviewers explained the content of the book in detail so I won't do the same,I can only agree their comments! Power at a bargain price
If you are already comfortable with Elements 4, but feel a little frustrated by the lack of a number of tools of its bigger brother, this is for you. I bought it for the tools: I discovered the book is full of invaluable advice. Workflow, separations, masking... The combination of Elements 4 with the book and tools covers all my expectations for a dedicated amateur. And yes, I like shooting raw, taking advantage of 16 bits,black and white... and I have still much too learn from the book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop elements    2. Adobe Photoshop elements (Computer software)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - Design    5. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    6. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    7. Computers    8. Computers - Desktop Publishing    9. Computers - Other Applications    10. Digital techniques    11. Microcomputer Graphics    12. Photography    13. Techniques - Digital    14. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    15. Photoshop   

Reviews (49)

Does okay with help, but...
I got this because FFx-2 is such a huge game that I needed some help getting through it. Although the strategy guide does help, it's a little disorganized. For example, I used the guide from the moment I started the game to get those small, special things that I might otherwise miss.. I get near the end of the game and the strategy guide points out that if I had done something in every chapter from the beginning of the game that I would have been able to get a hidden prize. That would have been great if they had told me at the beginning of the book instead of at the end when it was far, FAR beyond too late.
Difficult to use
This guide has some errors and is hard to use. I've used guides for most of the FF games and several other RPG's. This is the worst. I've had to seek help from on-line guides for things that should have been included here.
FFX-2 guide
Great guide....I have played this game about 10 times and find something new each time.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computer Games    3. Computers - Games    4. Games    5. Games/Puzzles    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Video & Electronic - Sony PlayStation 2    8. Video games    9. Games / Video & Electronic   

Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Video & Electronic - General    5. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (6)

An Essential Source for Robust 3D Graphics Engine Design
I have not yet been able to purchase the second edition of this book.However, since it is a refinement of the first edition, I feel that I am somewhat competent to review this later version of Lengyel's text on this knowledge of the fundamental chapters which are included in both editions.
Even better than the first edition
I gave the first edition of this book a 5 star rating, so considering that the second edition provides updates to the original as well as four new chapters, it's no surprise that the second edition earns a 5 star rating as well.
This book is fantastic
This book is great. Its material is well explained, the topics covered are complete (for the most part), and the examples make sense. It is a fantastic reference that should be on the shelf of any professional game programmer or aspiring game programmer. However, this book isn't a hand holding guide to making "cool" games, as some reviewers expected it to be. There is no single book for that. There are so many topics to cover, it would be impossible to put them all into one text. Please don't be fooled by reviews from non-professionals, as this book is a must have. For a list of beginner books to give yourself an introduction to game programming, feel free to send me an email. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer games    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers    7. Computers - Languages / Programming    8. General    9. Mathematics    10. Programming    11. Programming - General    12. Three-dimensional display syst    13. Three-dimensional display systems    14. Video & Electronic - General    15. Art / Graphic Arts    16. Computer Programming    17. Image processing: graphics (static images)    18. Mathematical theory of computation    19. Mathematics for scientists & engineers