i am 8-bit: Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s


Jon M. Gibson - 2006
    Frogger. Super Mario Bros. These classic videogames are burned into the collective consciousness of an entire generation, thanks to countless hours spent at pizza parlors and bowling alleys across the country. Now artists such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Ashley Wood put their memories to paper, canvas, and wood to create original works of art inspired by the art of the videogame. Chuck Klosterman shares his thoughts in his distinctively insightful and entertaining style in a foreword on how videogames created a new playground for artistic expression. With more than 100 thought-provoking, amusing, and simply fun pieces of original art, i am 8-bit is a pixilated stroll down memory lane.

Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1


Jonathan Little - 2011
    Even regular online tournaments offer substantial prizes running to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jonathan Little, a highly successful poker professional who has won over $4 million in tournament play in just four years, explains exactly how to succeed in this highly competitive field. Playing technically sound poker is crucial but this is far from the only skill necessary. “Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1” deals with the fundamentals of play and how to handle varying stack sizes. It teaches the reader: ·        Why  tournaments are the most profitable form of poker·        When to play small ball and when to play long ball·        How to understand effective stack size·        How to tailor your play to winning, not just cashing ...plus much more

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Official Strategy Guide


Jennifer Sims - 2008
    BradyGames’ World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Official Strategy Guide includes the following: Complete coverage of each race, with strengths, weaknesses, and more.WEAPONS: Discover the awesome battery of weapons and armor, with detailed equipment listsNORTHREND EXPLORED: In-depth information on quests, bosses, and treasuresNEW DUNGEONS: Instances and Raid roles explained plus locations and strategyCOMPLETE CRAFTING COVERAGE: Every recipe for every crafting professionPlatform: PCGenre: Role-Playing Game

Cycle of Hatred


Keith R.A. DeCandido - 2006
    Cycle of Hatred

Minecraft: Construction Handbook


Matthew Needler - 2014
    You'll learn how to construct houses, bridges, ships, floating islands and rollercoasters of the highest quality.

Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo


343 Industries - 2016
    The amazing illustrations come from a variety of renowned illustrators, including Jean-Sébastien Rossbach, Leonid Kozienko, Benjamin Carré, Isaac Hannaford, and 343's internal art team, too.For the first time ever, the timeline of the Halo universe is available in one place, charting humanity's battles against alien forces of the Covenant, Forerunners, and the Flood--making this book an absolute must-have for Halo fans.

Essential Poker Math: Fundamental No Limit Hold'em Mathematics You Need To Know


Alton Hardin - 2015
    I'm here to tell you it is not. In fact, fundamental poker math is very easy to learn. More importantly, it can yield you a lot more profits at the poker table. Without using simple math at the poker table, you are simply playing a guessing game. Use Simple Math at the Poker Table and Increase You Winnings In this book I will teach you how to use simple arithmetic at the poker table to gain a huge skill advantage over your opponents that will allow you to win more and lose less. Poker players that don't use math are simply guessing and you'll learn to no longer guess and know the right mathematical move at the poker table. These simple mathematical concepts I will be teaching you will drastically help improve your poker game and allow you to make the most profitable decisions at the poker. Contents and Overview First you will be introduced to some fundamental overarching poker concepts that apply to poker mathematics. Then we will begin our journey into poker mathematics where you will learn about probabilities and odds, pot odds and implied odds, pot equity, and expected value. You will then learn how to quickly estimate your equity at the poker table using the Rule of 2 & 4. Moreover, you'll learn the steps involved in determining if calling with a drawing hand is profitable or not. We will also cover how to size your bets with the best hand and teach you how often bluffs and hero calls need to work to be profitable. Lastly, we will show you how to perform EV calculations and better understand card combinations. Effectively Understand and Utilize Essential Poker Math Develop a keen understanding of Probability and Odds Learn to quickly calculate Pot Odds & Implied Odds at the poker table Effectively use Pot Equity & The Rule of 2 & 4 to Determine the correct poker play Understand how to use Expected Value (EV) both on and off the table to analyze your plays Learn the important math behind Bluffs & Hero Calls to give you a skill advantage over your opponent Learn Card Combinations to further enhance your card reading abilities And Many More Amazing Topics… What You Will Get out of This Book Suitable for both beginning and experienced poker players alike you'll learn many essential fundamental poker mathematical concepts that will help you drastically improve your poker game. After reading this book, you will have mastered fundamental No Limit Holdem mathematics. You will have gained a huge skill advantage over your opponents and you will be able to quickly and effectively use math at the poker table to make are always the most profitable move. Most importantly, you will become a much better and profitable poker player! So what are you waiting for? Purchase this book today to start learning how to advance your poker game with simple poker math! Alton Hardin is the founder of MicroGrinder.com, a free micro stakes poker website that is dedicated to helping micro stakes poker players improve their poker game by offering a wide array of free and low-cost resources including poker courses, poker t

Dungeon Master's Guide


Mike Mearls - 2014
     - An excellent resource for new and existing Dungeons Masters to engage in both adventure and world creation, with rules, guidelines, and sage advice from the game's experts. - Created as part of a massive public playtest involving more than 170,000 fans of the game.

Lovers and Others Strangers: Paintings by Jack Vettriano


Jack Vettriano - 1997
    Illustrated with 100 of his paintings, the book is accompanied by an elegant biographical portrait of the artist’s life and achievements.

The Anatomy of Greatness: Lessons from the Best Golf Swings in History


Brandel Chamblee - 2016
    While no two are identical, Brandel Chamblee, the highly regarded television analyst and former PGA Tour professional, once noticed that the best players of all time have shared similar positions in each part of the swing, from the grip and setup to the footwork, backswing, and follow-through. Since then, Chamblee, a student of the game’s history, has used scientific precision and thoroughness to make a study of the common swing positions of the greats. Now, in The Anatomy of Greatness, he shares what he has learned, offering hundreds of photographs as proof, to show us how we can easily incorporate his findings into our own swings to hit the ball farther, straighter, and more consistently. What does it tell us that the majority of the greats—from Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson to modern masters like Tiger Woods—employ a “strong” grip on the club? How did legends like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Mickey Wright, and Gary Player unlock hidden power and control by turning in the right knee at address? Why are some modern teachers preaching quiet footwork when forty-eight of the top fifty golfers of all time lifted their left heels on the backswing, allowing them to build power? At the same time that Chamblee is encouraging certain swing virtues, he also debunks a number of popular—but misguided—swing philosophies that have been hindering golfers for years. The result is perhaps the best and clearest explanation of how to hit a golf ball ever published. Golfers can take The Anatomy of Greatness to the driving range and use Chamblee’s clear explanations to build better swings—and get more speed and consistency into their swings—immediately. This book is like having a series of private lessons from the best golfers of all time, and it will help golfers build swings that make the game easier and more fun.

Game Over, Press Start to Continue: How Nintendo Conquered the World


David Sheff - 1993
    Whether it is recounting the struggles over the game"Tetris," offering blow-by-blow narrative of Nintendo's bitter legal warfare or its see-saw competition with other companies for market leadership, Game Over is a masterful piece of business journalism and technical reportage-a book both cautionary and hugely entertaining.

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter


Tom Bissell - 2010
    He is also an obsessive gamer who has spent untold hours in front of his various video game consoles, playing titles such as Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, and Oblivion for, literally, days. If you are reading this flap copy, the same thing can probably be said of you, or of someone you know. Until recently, Bissell was somewhat reluctant to admit to his passion for games. In this, he is not alone. Millions of adults spend hours every week playing video games, and the industry itself now reliably outearns Hollywood. But the wider culture seems to regard video games as, at best, well designed if mindless entertainment. Extra Lives is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming—but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. Along the way, we get firsthand portraits of some of the best minds (Jonathan Blow, Clint Hocking, Cliff Bleszinski, Peter Molyneux) at work in video game design today, as well as a shattering and deeply moving final chapter that describes, in searing detail, Bissell’s descent into the world of Grand Theft Auto IV, a game whose themes mirror his own increasingly self-destructive compulsions. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is like no other book on the subject ever published. Whether you love video games, loathe video games, or are merely curious about why they are becoming the dominant popular art form of our time, Extra Lives is required reading.

Things We Think About Games


Will Hindmarch - 2008
    It is essential reading for designer, critic, and straight-up rank 'n' file gamer alike." --Robin D. Laws, creator of HeroQuest and Feng Shui Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball think a lot about games. At their commentary website, Gameplaywright.net, they think out loud about what it means to play games, make games, sell games, and love games. They are gamers. Here, with fellow game designers and notable game players, they think out loud on paper in the first Gameplaywright book. Things We Think About Games collects dozens on dozens of bite-sized thoughts about games. From the absurd to the magnificent, the demonstrable to the dogmatic, this collection spans both the breadth of games--board, card, roleplaying and more--and the depth of gaming, offering insights about collecting, playing, critiquing, designing, and publishing.

The Game Console: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox


Evan Amos - 2018
    You'll start your journey with legendary consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Commodore 64. The visual nostalgia trip continues with systems from the 1990s and 2000s, and ends on modern consoles like the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.Throughout the book, you'll also discover many consoles you never knew existed, and even find a rare peek at the hardware inside several of history's most iconic video game systems.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made


Jason Schreier - 2017
    In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous.Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.