Reviews (7)

Not just a successful start up story
Philosophy, international labor, high tech, economics, globalization, the internet and virtual universes are all neatly wrapped together in this book.It is a very successful telling by Mr. Dibbell of what is going on right now...not just in the MMO world but in many aspects of society.It was so fascinating for me to read.He did not hype up the metaverse phenomenon.But, he did make it a bit less complicated.You really get the message that what is currently undergoing is not trivial and has serious implications to how we all live our lives.Play versus work, the lines are getting more blurry.But, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.If "Liar's Poker" is the must read for the financial markets, "Play Money" should definitely be the counterpart for virtual economies.

Patchy
This book is well-written (mostly) and a good look at an interesting subject.However, the author seems not to trust his own subject, since he constantly moves away from the interesting part of the book (the story of how the strange market in imaginary goods works) in order to pad the book out with boring digressions on watching his daughter play, or even more boring half-baked essays on What It All Means (no surprise that the author is a contributor to Wired magazine.)Still, if you read the reporting parts, which are good,and skip over the self-indulgent, meandering attempts at philosophy, which are not, you'll learn a lot and enjoy yourself.

Making Hay
Play money is a fantastic read.It pulls you into its tale of Internet adventure and doesn't let go until the final word.I loved its refusal to separate the author's exploration of internet games, and his meditation on the economies they've generated, from the events of his off-line life -- child care, depresssion, marital break-up.Like a teenager, he starts out killing lizardmen in the fabulous realm of Ultima Online and ends up selling enchanted swords, pieces of gold, and miraculous suits of armor for a living.A real living, not a virtual one. (Is this play or is it work is the question.) The race to see if he can meet a deadline proving that he can earn more selling magic weapons and gold pieces than he can at his day job keeps the pages turning, and the painful -- and sometimes joyful -- unfolding of events in his actual life is riveting.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Business    3. Business & Economics    4. Business/Economics    5. E-Commerce - General    6. Economic aspects    7. Electronic commerce    8. Fantasy games    9. History - General History    10. Modern - General    11. Sales    12. Video & Electronic - General    13. Virtual Reality    14. Investment & securities   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Domestic    6. Architecture / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (28)

Excellent book, we even use it at Microsoft ...
I am working on a commercial XML application at Microsoft that is heavily leveraging WPF and pretty much all of the devs on my project that are developing in WPF have this book sitting open on their desks right now.It is a really great, easy to read and understandable book.You still need the detailed documentation on MSDN when you want to see all of the API details but if you want a logical, understandable walk throught WPF this is the book.
Very Out Of Date
While Avalon aka Windows Presentation Framework is still in beta, I had hoped that the code examples and references in this book would not be far out of date.I am finding that they are dramatically out of date (writing this review 04/27/2006).This is not to criticize the quality of the book or of the content; it appears to be well written.However, it was written in September 2005, and there has been at least 3 new beta releases of the framework since then.About 1/2 of the examples I have tried will not even compile, or have bad runtime errors.
A thorough grounding
The nascent WinFX API, of which Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a part, is one of the most exciting developments in Windows programming in years. Though the technology is still in beta (it is slated to ship with Windows Vista in late 2006 or early 2007), it can be used to build working applications now, in either the Vista beta or Windows XP with Service Pack 2, allowing the adventurous developer to get a jump start in the technology that will drive Windows development for the next decade.
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Subjects:  1. Application software    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Operating Systems    6. Microsoft Windows (Computer file)    7. Microsoft Windows (Computer software)    8. Operating Systems - Windows    9. Computer Programming    10. Computers / Operating Systems    11. Computers / Operating Systems / Windows    12. Internet    13. Windows Vista, Windows Presentation Foundation, WPF, Longhorn, Avalon, XAML, WinFx, WAP   

Reviews (1)

Poorly made, wrong info not worth a dime
Short and sweet the maps suck, theres nothing you can't find online for free and its poorly put togther. There will be far better fan produced guides soon, avaiable online for free... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Computers - Games    3. Games    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Video & Electronic - General    6. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (4)

metal gear solid3 snake eater
maps are a bit confusing. Picture illistration are small and not very clear. the control pictures in the illistations are also hard to see.

Scratch this book for the sake of your money
Sorry but this guide is good for the getting through the storyline-After that its nearly useless! The book doesn't tell you all the secrets! or what happens if you kill all the toy frogs!

an extremely helpful guide for a challenging game
Bradygames brings us this strategy guide for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the Playstation 2.This is a fairly large paperback edition and is filled with details about the game and color screenshots from the game.The most important thing to note about this guide is that it only covers the walkthrough of the game on the "Normal" difficulty setting.While the maps would be the same on "Easy" or "Hard", the number of enemies and their locations would change on the more challenging difficulties.The location of certain items may also change, but this guide does not cover any other difficulty but "Normal".Since I played through the game on "Normal" mode, I can speak for how helpful it was for that difficulty. Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers - Games    3. Games    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Metal Gear Solid (Game)    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Video & Electronic - Sony PlayStation 2    8. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (19)

Very good book about a very cool system.
MindStorms is an absolutely fascinating robot building system for children, adults, and those who don't fit well into either category. This book helps you delve more deeply into the principles behind making really cool robots with MindStorms. The opportunities for learning are just never-ending, and at the same time, thelimitless fun anyone can have, from pre-teen to geezer, makes the learning very rewarding. This book helps open this potential.
This is it!
This is the best book on lego building techniques I've seen so far. The basic mathematical foundation is extensive and done without holes or errors, and the ideas, from the mechanical to the lego-technical are well choosen. Something missing in this book? yes, heavy treathment of diagonal matching gear, but it's partly explained why not... the book is so well written that you probably won't feel it like a loss..

Building Robots With Lego Mindstorms : The Ultimate Tool for Mindstorms Maniacs
Great accompaniment for the Lego kit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Design and construction    3. Engineering - Mechanical    4. Games    5. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    6. LEGO toys    7. Microcomputer Programming    8. Popular works    9. Programming    10. Programming Languages - General    11. Robotics    12. Robots    13. Science/Mathematics    14. Technology & Industrial Arts    15. Video & Electronic - General    16. Computers / Computer Engineering    17. Computers/Programming Languages - General    18. Technology / Robotics   

Reviews (29)

excellent book for game developers
I'm about 2/3 through this book now, and I've found it very helpful.The explanations are good, and what I particularly like is how he illustrates most of the topics with pictures and graphs, explaining the relevance to rendering graphics in games.Unlike most math books and courses I've taken, I'm not left wondering "what the heck relevance does THIS have?" every time I turn a page.He also does provide C++ code game graphics rendering at the end of most topics.The code is very useful, and well explained.I can definitely see myself using some of it in future projects.
Great Introduction to the Math and Algorithms Behind Rendering
The first time I tried to read this book, I took frequent breaks and only made it to about chapter 10, not really understanding a few of the proofs and algorithms. However, after going through the entire book all at once in about a week, I was able to understand everything. It was definately worth it.
Not for Novices or Intermediate
Not an easy read. I thought of myself as being an intermediate level mathematician - leaning slightly towards the novice, but this was beyond my expectations.After the first few chapters on Vectors, getting into Matrices he lost me.Even some of the vector math lost me.Sure, if I want to find the cross product of two 3d vectors I can do it, I'd just go look up his source code,but *why* it works exactly?Don't know.
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Subjects:  1. Advanced    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer games    4. Computer graphics    5. Computer science    6. Computers - Games    7. Discrete Mathematics    8. Game Theory    9. Mathematics    10. Programming    11. Programming - Software Development    12. Science/Mathematics    13. Video & Electronic - General    14. Applied mathematics    15. Computers / General    16. Image processing: graphics (static images)   

Reviews (4)

Beautiful Book, Great Buy
Even someone who isn't a dedicated/hardcore fan of the Halo series can appreciate the beautiful art and all the work that went into designing this game. Worth every penny.

A pretty good art book
Packed with plenty of eye candy for the reader to look over and interesting writings about the development of the game.I was pleased to find a decent amount of conceptual sketches and beautiful environmental renderings.
Wonderful Book
FOR ANY HALO FAN THIS BOOK IS A MUST. THE DETAILED ARTWORK THAT IS PROVIDED HERE WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT IDEA OF HOW THE GAME FIRST CAME ABOUT AND THE ORIGINS AND GROWTH OF THE OVERALL PRODUCT. THE ARTWORK IS AMAZING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHARACTERS IS GREAT. THERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS THAT I DISLIKED. FIRST OF ALL CERTAIN PICTURES (USUALLY RANDOM DRAWINGS) ARE QUITE OBVIOUSLY COMPTER SCANS OF THE ORIGINAL PENCILS. ITS A SHAME THAT SUCH DETAILED PICTURES END UP LOOKING RATHER PIXILATED DETRACTING FROM THE DESIGN DEPTH. ALSO, THE SECTION REGARDING LANDSCAPES IS LACKING ANY REAL INSIGHT. THERE ARE NUMEROUS PICS OF THE GAME MAPS BUT VERY FEW FLESHED OUT DRAWINGS OF THE MAPS PROGRESSION. MOST OF THE PENCIL DRAWINGS OF THE MAPS ARE SKETCHES AT BEST. AND CONSIDERING THAT THIS BOOK COVERS HALO AND ITS INEVITABLE SEQUEL IT SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN HARD TO COVER THE SUBJECT. BUT OVERALL THE BOOK DOESNT DISAPPOINT AND WILL GIVE ANY DESIGN, HALO OR ART FAN A GREAT READ. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Computer games    3. Computer graphics    4. Design    5. Digital & Video    6. Fiction    7. Fiction - Science Fiction    8. Programming    9. Science Fiction    10. Science Fiction - General    11. Video & Electronic - General    12. Video games    13. Fiction / Science Fiction / General    14. Illustration    15. Image processing: computer animation   

Reviews (2)

Up To Date View of the State of the Art
This book is a collection of forty-seven articles around the common theme of shading images in real time. Many of these effects have been common in the movie world for many years, but in that application the shading can be done on very expensive machines and the time it takes to produce an image is not important because the resulting image is to be shown on screen rather than immediately on a display. Now, with the increasing power in the PC's in widespread use, these techniques are being brought down to the standard desktop.
A comprehensive collection of ready-to-use techniques
Shader X3: Advanced Rendering With DirectX And Open GL compiled, organized, and deftly edited by Wolfgang Engle (Senior Special FX Engineer at Wings Simulations) is packed from cover to cover with 630-pages of insightful new techniques, innovative approaches to common problems, as well as practical tools and tricks that will help in all areas of shader programming. All of the articles comprising Shader X3 evolved from the the working experiences of industry professionals, and all of the sections were expertly edited by shader programming experts. This comprehensive collection of ready-to-use techniques will enable even the most novice programmer to get up to speed quickly, and the more experienced programmers will find a wealth of insights and techniques to improve efficiency and avoid redundancies. Shader X3 is an essential, "user friendly", and highly recommended instructional reference for shader programmers.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Games    6. Video & Electronic - General    7. Art / Graphic Arts    8. Computer graphics software   

Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Video & Electronic - General    6. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (4)

Powerful, Smart, Unparalleled
Deconstructing the Elements, 2nd edition is basically what you wish every reference book could be.The binding is strong even though it's a soft-cover and the pages are all color matte finish.Almost every step of every walk-through in this text contains an image of what you should be seeing in 3dsMax.
Brilliant tutorials for creative solutions to common problems
This book is fantastic. I've read at least 12 books on 3ds Max. This is easily one of the best. The author avoids overly technical jargon and is always clear, concise and to the point. This is for intermediate level users. Having used Max for 4 years now I was impressed with all the new things I learned.Take your time, don't get frustrated and you'll get the most out of this book. If nothing else you'll learn about Particle Flow which is an amazing tool.

Excellent intermediate to advanced tutorial
I'm 3 tutorials in and very impressed so far, especially with the methodology behind the use of materials to simulate phenomena.The included screenshots on the DVD Rom have been very useful when I miss something, and the reference material is outstanding.This is definitely for users with some experience, and is refreshingly lacking in redundant instructions, but should add a level of sophistication to any 3D artist's toolbox.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - 3D Studio    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. Internet - General    9. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    10. Image processing: computer animation    11. Multimedia   

Reviews (1)

Solid Strategy Guide for HARD Game
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a very hard game.I got stuck on it pretty early, but I knew I was up for a challenge because I played the first game.So I bought the strategy guide.It helped a LOT.
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Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games/Puzzles    3. Video & Electronic - General   

Reviews (6)

Easier Autocad
I have four Autocad books.This one is far and away the best of the bunch.It is comprehensive, and most important to me, it is easy to understand. My computer went through a major system crash which took just about all my programs with it.I had to reinstall Autocad Lt. and then reconfigure a bunch of my personal customizations.I could not have done it without this book.Whenever I have a question about Autocad this is the first reference I reach for.

Review
The book is extensive. However, if you are looking to learn 3D max, you'd better look for something else! This book is a reference guide more than anything else.

AutoCAD 2006 Bible - Very helpful book
You can find everything you need for improving your AutoCAD skills. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. AutoCAD    2. AutoCAD (Computer software)    3. CAD-CAM - AutoCad    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Graphics - Design    6. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    7. Computer graphics    8. Computers    9. Computers - Other Applications    10. Computer aided design (CAD)    11. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design   

Reviews (14)

Useful book
I recieved a PSP for christmas, but until I got this book I had no idea what a powerful machine it is! This book will teach you how to do anything you have ever wanted to do, including; build a battery pack, revert your firmware (without bricking your psp!), turn a one player game into a two player game, write your own homebrew applications, watch Tivo, take documents with you, teach your PSP how to read, instant message, and tons of other cool hacks! The accomompanying website is also a great help, since it is filled with homebrew applications! I also highly suggest his other book, Geek my Ride.

great psp accompaniment!!!
I received a Sony PSP as a mother's day gift and wanted to gain more intell than I found in the owner's manual. I purchased Mr. Rahimzadeh's book and found it extraordinarily useful! I recommend HACKING THE PSP to anyone who wants to take full advantage of all the cool capabilities of their new toy.

The best book for hacking the PSP
I got this book a few days ago and I could not put this down.The first day I put a couple of home brew games on my psp and it worked fine.This is a Great book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer games    3. Computers    4. Computers - Games    5. Computers - General Information    6. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    7. Programming    8. Security - General    9. Sony video games    10. Video & Electronic - Sony PSP    11. Computer Hardware & Operating Systems    12. Computers / Personal Computers & Microcomputers / General   

Reviews (9)

Not just for games
You don't have to be programming a game to find the gems like the ones for rendering and geometry useful. Good reference and guide
Game Programming Gems 2 is a collection of short articles detailing various aspects of computer game design.Personally, I found the first half of the book to be very helpful while the second half, on rendering and audio techniques, was too brief and lacked the depth to be of much use.However, the first half, covering general game programming technique and mathematics has proved very useful to me in my amateur game programming endavours. Good resource.
An excellent resource for the times when you encounter problems you diddnt know existed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer games    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Microcomputer Graphics    8. Programming    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Video & Electronic - General    11. Art / Graphic Arts    12. Computer Programming   

Reviews (40)

For Absolute Beginners
The boom in online poker has brought with it an equal boom in how-to handbooks for internet players. The problem is that they're all pretty useless, for the very simple reason that:
Boring
The book contians standard information, is written somewhat blandly, and doesn't reveal anything the myriad other poker books have already covered.
good book, even better starting chart
Teaches the ins and outs of poker and will help any beginer improve his game. The flop chart is the best asset,follow it and it will help eliminate alot of beginer mistakes. not for advanced readers, but if you are an advanced player Middle limit poker by ciaffane is the best book out i feel for the advanced. This book and the ciafane book are the only two poker books you need if you are beginer or play poker at all. Has turned around my bottom line dramatically ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computers / Entertainment & Games / General    2. Computers / Internet / General    3. Gambling - Card Games    4. Gambling - General    5. Games    6. Games / Card Games / General    7. Games / Gambling / Card Games    8. Games/Puzzles    9. Card Games - General    10. Computers    11. Entertainment & Games    12. Internet - General    13. Poker   

Reviews (8)

Read this book second
I just finished reading "Learning By Doing" from cover to cover.Those who are practicing in this field will want to read this book to learn of techniques that might not be readily apparent such as branching stories and interactive spreadsheets.I would recommend that they read "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" by James Paul Gee first, however, as I found the writing style of "Learning By Doing" a little sparse, like fleshed out bullet point slides.It is clear, though, that the author has a lot of experience in this topic and his book is a contribution to the field.

Another Winner by Clark
It is no secret that "conventional eLearning" is not as engaging, interactive and interesting-and therefore also not as effective-as it should be. And we know that even current technology has the potential to do much more for "eLearning," or "technology-enabled learning" than we see today. And the rate of change in most technology is accelerating rather than slowing. It is the future potential that excites most of us who are involved in learning technology.
Aldrich Framework Extends to Assessment
[...]
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Computer games    5. Computer-assisted instruction    6. Education    7. Employee Training And Development    8. Experimental Methods    9. General    10. Simulation methods    11. Training    12. Business & Economics / Training    13. Computer modelling & simulation    14. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (6)

fantastic
I am most pleased with this book. The faux leather cover is just so cool, and it's so nice to have all but the most recent errata corrected in the book already. I didn't mind having to separate each page when I first got it -- as someone else said, it just proves you really are the first person to open the book.
A handsome reissue: black leatherette, silver edging core rule guide
The CORE RULEBOOK II V. 3.5 is a 'must' for any Dungeon and Dragons player: it's a special edition for collectors bound in a handsome black leatherette cover with silver edging on pages and a handsome reprint of the v.3.5 rules, updated to include the most current rules errata. Blend the updates into your DND game and become a better Dungeon master with this handbook, which helps newcomers grow into Masters and helps those with background to improve. From the foundations of DND, from styles and playing to using rules, handling nonplaying characters, creating campaigns, handling magic items and more, each chapter comes packed with DND management tips, encounter levels, instructions and tables and charts. Power levels, ability scores, teams and player directions pack rules which are meant to keep DND vital and moving. A 'must' for any would-be Dungeon Master.
Natural 20
one word Beautiful. I enjoy being the only one at the game table to own both the special edition DMG and PHB.One problem i did have was that the gilted edges were stuck together and I had to go through the book one page at a time and carefully seperate the pages.
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Subjects:  1. Fantasy    2. Fantasy - General    3. Fiction - Fantasy    4. Games    5. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    6. Games/Puzzles    7. Role Playing & Fantasy - Dungeons & Dragons    8. Video & Electronic - General    9. Games / Role Playing & Fantasy    10. Role-playing & war games   

Reviews (9)

Game theory and design? This is the book you've been looking for!
You're getting it straight from the horse's mouth since this book is written by the grandfather of the modern MMORPG.
Guide to the philosophyand strategy of designing virtual worlds
To begin with, this book is not a programming book. There is no code, no discussion of VRML, MPEG-4, or X3D. Instead, this book stands back and takes a "big picture" look at the design of a virtual world from the viewpoint of systems engineering, social engineering, philosophy, history, and psychology. Ethical considerations are even tossed in for good measure.
Serious book on Serious fun
I would have to say that Dr. Bartle's book on game design is one book on a tiny bookshelf about the width of a loaf of bread that is worth reading - and this one is worth more than the rest of the shelf combined.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer Programming    5. Computer games    6. Computers    7. Computers - Languages / Programming    8. Design    9. Human-computer interaction    10. Programming    11. Programming - General    12. Programming Languages - General    13. Virtual Reality    14. Computers / Computer Graphics / Game Programming    15. Programming languages    16. Software engineering   

Reviews (11)

Be Warned, this book is for version 5.5
This book only to find out it's for version 5.5... Not a cheap book, as I already have purchased it.

Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Vol. 2: Advanced Techniques (3rd Edition, Version 6.5)
If you are a novice make sure you get Vol. 1 it is really great.I bought volume two because I learned so much from volume one and what a great AE reference book to have sitting on you shelf.Whenever I have a question the book has an example that I can apply to my project.

After Effects Advanced Techniques Review
I am very happy with the book to this point.Classroom in a book provided the basic stepping stones to get up and running, Advanced Techniquies is getting to the meat of the matter and moving my skills up to the next several level, or perhaps better stated as several layers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cinematography    2. Computer Animation    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - Design    5. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    6. Computer graphics    7. Computers    8. Computers - Other Applications    9. Data processing    10. Special effects    11. Computer graphics software    12. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    13. Image processing: computer animation