Book picks similar to
Halo: The Fallen by J.M. Stacklin


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Awaken Online: Happy


Travis Bagwell - 2021
    Chaos. Happiness?Dominic Hart was screwed.Diagnosed with terminal cancer, no money for treatment, and an athletic scholarship hanging by a thread... he didn't have many options. But the university clinic had offered him a free videogame. Some sort of "therapy," they said. A way to while away the hours until he kicked the bucket. Yay.What Dom wasn't expecting was to get swindled by a surly casino owner right out of the gate. Or get dropped in a backwater hellhole voted the “#1 worst starting location in Awaken Online.” That might have been because a videogame mafia controlled the city. Or maybe it was because even the plant life could kill you. Regardless, his shit luck had obviously tagged along for the ride.But that's life. The odds are stacked in the house's favor, you're running out of chips, and you have to decide to hit or fold. For Dom, he decided to go all in. What did he really have to lose?It's just his life and happiness hanging in the balance.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Path of the Apocalypse


S.D. Perry - 2018
    When a mysterious stranger offers to help Lara uncover a clue that could give her the upper hand, she embarks on an expedition to a system of caves in Colombia. However, once they learn of Lara's plans, Trinity will stop at nothing to reach the location first. Trinity believes they can turn the tables on Lara, but in the darkness of the underground caverns, there are terrors in the depths that neither Lara nor Trinity anticipated.Game is due to release on 9/14/18 across all major platforms

A Rebel Rises


R.J. Castiglione - 2017
    During the day he was Michael Semione. He worked, spent time with his family, and did everything young professionals were meant to do. At night, he became Creighton Dian-Cecht, a druid healer in Fjorgyn Online. He was head of a company of crafters and adventurers known throughout the game. Things changed, however, when Michael was killed in real life while playing the game. He was reincarnated in a world based on Fjorgyn a level one, alone and naked in the woods. When he played the game, all he wanted to do was craft and heal. Follow his new life and his new adventures and challenges. See how he reconciles his desire to only heal in this dangerous, new world.

The Art of Pokemon, the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back!


Takeshi Shudo - 1999
    -- Titles based on the hit movie and TV shows

The Dream Architects: Adventures in the Video Game Industry


David Polfeldt - 2020
    He shares what it's like to manage a creative process that has ballooned from a low-six-figure expense with a team of a half dozen people to a transatlantic production of five hundred employees on a single project with a production budget of over a hundred million dollars.A rare firsthand account of the golden age of game development told in vivid detail, The Dream Architects is a seminal work about the biggest entertainment medium of today.

The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide.


Nintendo Power - 2006
    Complete, detailed walkthrough! Maps of every region and dungeon for Wii and Nintendo GameCube versions! Detailed boss-slaying strategies! Find every Piece of Heart, insect and Poe's soul! Giant collectible poster inside! Complete strategy for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii and Nintendo GameCube!

The Witch's House: The Diary of Ellen


Fummy
    It tells the story of Ellen prior to the game.Illustrations and Cover by Oguchi.

Minecraft: The Complete Handbook Collection


Scholastic Inc. - 2014
    For the first time ever, Minecraft's four bestselling handbooks are available in a stunning, gold-foiled boxed set! This ultimate collection includes the Essential Handbook, Redstone Handbook, Combat Handbook, and Construction Handbook. Minecraft--the indie sandbox video game that took the world by storm--has been hailed as one of the greatest phenomena amongst gamers and educators for both its simplicity and its brilliance. Allowing players to build, explore, create, collaborate, and even survive, Minecraft has created a brave new world of gameplay. Each handbook contains helpful tips and information from the creators themselves, all of which will prove vital to your survival and creativity as you learn to mine, craft, and build in a world that you control.

Plants vs. Zombies: Brains and the Beanstalk


Annie Auerbach - 2013
    Zombies: Brains and the Beanstalk is a mash-up of the insanely addictive video game and a classic fairy tale.In Plants vs. Zombies, winner of more than 30 Best Game of the Year Awards, plants—including Sunflowers, Peashooters, Wall-nuts, and Cherry Bombs—defend humans against an array of brain-chomping zombies, such as the Pole-Vaulting Zombie and the Cone Zombie.Now in a thrilling picture book for kids, Jack—of Jack and the Beanstalk fame—enters the fantastical world of the game. He will battle the zombies with his magical beanstalk fighting by his side. The fun never dies in this action-filled adventure for kids with full-color illustrations.

The 7th Guest


Matthew J. Costello - 1995
    Each of them would pay dearly. Who would go willingly to a place of such evil? What dark enticements draw the fated guests? What appalling destiny awaits them? Martin Burden, the small-town beauty who had learned how to please men, but not well enough to keep up her New York City lifestyle; Edward Knox, a kind man with a bad habit of losing other people's money at the races, and his dear, sensitive wife, Elinor; Brian Dutton, the cut-throat businessman who watched his brother die beneath the ice of a frozen lake; Hamilton Temple, the once-great magician still searching for true magic; Julia Heine, the fading, lonely alcoholic, forever dreaming of a new life and of being young again; and the little boy, Tad, who came to the house on a dare, only to be hunted as a sacrifice to Stauf's monstrous evil. Seven guests will become entwined in a dark inferno tonight...

Doom 3: Worlds on Fire


Matthew Costello - 2008
    With global economies in ruins and all-out world war more than a possibility, the U.S government turned to the Union Aerospace Corporation, giving it carte blanche on the legendary red planet of Mars in a desperate bid to construct an off-world outpost that might provide resources, a military advantage...as well as something so secret that even members of government don't have a clue about it.... Special Ops Marine Lieutenant John Kane was once a careerist simply glad to have a job, and couldn't care less about politics just as long as Uncle Sam's check cleared. But that was before he listened to his conscience and disobeyed a direct order. Busted down to private, Kane has been reassigned to the "U.S. Space Marines" -- the private army of the UAC -- with the prospect of becoming little more than a glorified security guard on Mars.... Now Lt. Kane's fate leads him to Mars City -- part environmental community, part lab center, and all owned and protected by the UAC. It's a strange world with a fatal environment, and the thousands who live and work within the city have already begun to think of themselves as Martians. And away from Mars City, at the strange ancient sites uncovered on the planet, a small squad of marines stand guard while scientists uncover wall glyphs and search for artifacts, having already found something that is so far amazing and inexplicable -- including the relic called "U1," nicknamed "the Soul Cube" -- and unknown to all, the bringer of destructive chaos and unspeakable horror....

The Alan Wake Files


Clay Steward - 2010
    Clay Steward's gripping journey takes him to a small town in the pacific Northwest where he follows in the tracks of best-selling author Alan Wake and renegade FBI Agent Robert Nightingale. There he travels ever deeper in the woods and ever farther into the heart of darkness to unravel a series of mysterious events that reach hundreds of years into the past and chillingly into the present.

Arcade Mania: The Turbo-Charged World of Japan's Game Centers


Brian Ashcraft - 2008
    Another thing that makes Japan unique in the gaming world is the prevalence of game arcades. While the game arcade scene has died in the U.S., there are 9,500 "game centers" in Japan with more than 445,000 game machines. Arcade Mania introduces overseas readers to the fascinating world of the Japanese gemu senta. Organized as a guided tour of a typical game center, the book is divided into nine chapters, each of which deals with a different kind of game, starting with the UFO catchers and print club machines at the entrance and continuing through rhythm games, fighting games, shooting games, retro games, gambling games, card-based games, and only-in-Japan games. Covering classic games from Space Invaders to Street Fighter, games that are familiar to Americans in their home console versions (Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Dance, Dance Revolution), as well as the unique, quirky games found only in Japan, Arcade Mania is crammed full of interviews with game makers and star players, and packed with facts about the history, background and characteristics of each game, all lavishly illustrated with photographs and game graphics. This book is a must-have for gamers everywhere.

Pinball Wizards: Jackpots, Drains, and the Cult of the Silver Ball


Adam Ruben - 2017
    The strangest thing about pinball is that it persists, and not just as nostalgia. Pinball didn’t just stick around—it grew and continues to evolve with the times. Somehow, in today’s iPhone world, a three-hundred-pound monstrosity of wood and cables has survived to enjoy yet another renaissance. Pinball is more to humor writer Adam Ruben than a fascinating book topic—it’s a lifelong obsession. Ruben played competitive pinball for years, rising as high as the 80th-ranked player in the world. Then he had children. Now, mired in 9,938th place—darn kids—Ruben tries to stage a comeback, visiting pinball museums, gaming conventions, pinball machine designers, and even pinball factories in his attempt to discover what makes the world’s best players, the real wizards, so good. Along the way, Ruben examines the bigger story of pinball's invention, ascent, near defeat, resurgence, near defeat again, and struggle to find its niche in modern society.

Atari Inc.: Business is Fun


Marty Goldberg - 2012
    - Business is Fun, the book that goes behind the company that was synonymous with the popularization of 'video games.'Nearly 8 years in the making, Atari Inc. - Business is Fun is comprised of thousands of researched documents, hundreds of interviews, and access to materials never before available.An amazing 800 pages (including nearly 300 pages of rare, never before seen photos, memos and court documents), this book details Atari's genesis from an idea between an engineer and a visionary in 1969 to a nearly $2 billion dollar juggernaut, and ending with a $538 million death spiral during 1984. A testament to the people that worked at this beloved company, the book is full of their personal stories and insights. Learn about topics like:* All the behind the scenes stories surrounding the creation of the company's now iconic games and products.* The amazing story of Atari's very own "Xerox PARC" research facility up in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains* The full recounting of Steve Jobs's time at Atari, with comments from the people he worked with on projects and the detailed story of the creation of Atari Breakout, including input by Steve Wozniak on his development of the prototype, and how it couldn't be used and another Atari engineer would have to make the final production Breakout arcade game instead.* The creation of "Rick Rats Big Cheese Restaurants" which later became "Chuck E. Cheese's"* How Atari Inc. faltered and took down an entire industry with it before being put on the chopping block.If you've ever wanted to learn about the truth behind the creation of this iconic company told directly by the people who made FUN for a living, then this is the book for you!