Book picks similar to
Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations by Sebastian Deterding
non-fiction
game-studies
games
rpg
Inside the World of Roblox
Roblox - 2018
Discover everything there is to know about Roblox!Explore the most popular experiences, meet talented members of the community, check out the coolest items in the Roblox Catalog, and get an exclusive sneak peek behind the curtains at Roblox’s HQ.With insider info from the Roblox team and celebrated game developers, this is the official definitive guide to the world’s largest entertainment platform for play.
Playing with Super Power: Nintendo Super NES Classics
Prima Games - 2017
The Console A nostalgic celebration and exploration of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in all its 16-bit glory.The Games Discover everything you've always wanted to know about some of the most beloved SNES games, including the previously unreleased Star Fox 2!The History Learn about the SNES development and the visionaries behind this groundbreaking console.The Legacy An in-depth look at how the SNES has left its mark on the gaming industry, and how its legacy continues.The Memories Featuring a plethora of fan art, music, and more, this book is a love letter to playing with Super Power!Speedrunning Tips Some of the best speedrunners around share their tips and strategies for getting the best times in these beloved classic games.Exclusive Foreword Written by Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo of America.Paperback version.
This is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco
Garry Mulholland - 2002
Along with that song, every one of these singles helped reshape the culture’s style, language, and performance. This is the story of how music and the world change, how bands reach a peak and dominate the scene briefly before fading away, and about the undeniable power of certain songs (Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” for example). Here are punk and grunge, disco and rock, funk and electronica, rap and hip-hop. Every incisive, illuminating, and outspokenessay defies the accepted view of music journalism. From Elvis Costello’s “Alison” and The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” to Bjork’s “Hyperballad” and Missy Elliot’s “The Rain”, it’s a truly provocative read.
Dungeons & Dreamers: A Story of how Computer Games Created a Global Community
Brad King - 2003
D&D captured the attention of a small but influential group of players, many of whom also gravitated to the computer networks that were then appearing on college campuses around the globe. With the subsequent emergence of the personal computer, a generation of geeky storytellers arose that translated communal D&D playing experiences into the virtual world of computer games. The result of that 40-year journey is today's massive global community of players who, through games, have forged very real friendships and built thriving lives in virtual worlds. Dungeons & Dreamers follows the designers, developers, and players who built the virtual games and communities that define today's digital entertainment landscape and explores the nature of what it means to live and thrive in virtual communities.
Cityscape (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement, v 3.5)
Ari Marmell - 2006
The game material is completely compatible with the D&D core rulebooks and includes timesaving tools and tips for any urban campaign. The material in this supplement is appropriate for both D&D players and Dungeon Masters and includes content that appeals to both
Designing Games
Tynan Sylvester - 2013
You’ll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiences—a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players.In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track, including how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Packed with examples, this book will change your perception of game design.Create game mechanics to trigger a range of emotions and provide a variety of playExplore several options for combining narrative with interactivityBuild interactions that let multiplayer gamers get into each other’s headsMotivate players through rewards that align with the rest of the gameEstablish a metaphor vocabulary to help players learn which design aspects are game mechanicsPlan, test, and analyze your design through iteration rather than deciding everything up frontLearn how your game’s market positioning will affect your design
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.
Dark Sun Campaign Setting: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement
Richard Baker - 2010
Use it to build Dark Sun® heroes and thrilling D&D® adventures set in the Seven Cities of the Tyr Region, the Ivory Triangle, the Sea of Silt, and monster-infested wastelands—or plunder it for your own D&D campaign! The
Dark Sun
Campaign Setting provides exciting character options for D&D players, including new races, new character themes and class builds, new paragon paths and epic destinies, and new equipment. It also provides everything Dungeon Masters need to run 4th Edition Dark Sun campaigns or include Dark Sun elements in their homebrew campaigns. It has rules and advice for handling survival challenges, arena encounters, desert terrain, and adventure creation. It also presents a short, ready-to-play introductory adventure.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Skyrim Library, Vol. I: The Histories
Bethesda Softworks - 2015
Lavishly illustrated and produced, these titles are straight out of the world of Skyrim - and a must for any wandering adventurer.
First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game
Noah Wardrip-Fruin - 2004
Yet it is widely believed that the market for electronic literature--predicted by some to be the future of the written word--languishes. Even bestselling author Stephen King achieved disappointing results with his online publication of Riding the Bullet and The Plant.Isn't it possible, though, that many hugely successful computer games--those that depend on or at least utilize storytelling conventions of narrative, character, and theme--can be seen as examples of electronic literature? And isn't it likely that the truly significant new forms of electronic literature will prove to be (like games) so deeply interactive and procedural that it would be impossible to present them as paper-like e-books? The editors of First Person have gathered a remarkably diverse group of new media theorists and practitioners to consider the relationship between story and game, as well as the new kinds of artistic creation (literary, performative, playful) that have become possible in the digital environment.This landmark collection is organized as a series of discussions among creators and theorists; each section includes three presentations, with each presentation followed by two responses. Topics considered range from Cyberdrama to Ludology (the study of games), to The Pixel/The Line to Beyond Chat. The conversational structure inspired contributors to revise, update, and expand their presentations as they prepared them for the book, and the panel discussions have overflowed into a First Person web site (created in conjunction with the online journal Electronic Book Review).
Play Unsafe
Graham Walmsley - 2007
We buy shelves of thick books. We plan detailed adventures. We memorise rules.In Play Unsafe, Graham Walmsley explores what happens when you throw the serious stuff away: when you stop working, stop planning and start playing.This book explains how to make roleplaying less like work and more like play; stop killing other players' ideas and build on them instead; and put stories at the heart of your game.
Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction
Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen - 2007
This textbook traces the history of video games, introduces the major theories used to analyze games such as ludology and narratology, reviews the economics of the game industry, examines the aesthetics of game design, surveys the broad range of game genres, explores player culture, and addresses the major debates surrounding the medium, from educational benefits to the effects of violence.Throughout the book, the authors ask readers to consider larger questions about the medium:what defines a video game? who plays games? why do we play games? how do games affect the player?Extensively illustrated, Understanding Video Games is an indispensable and comprehensive resource for those interested in the ways video games are reshaping entertainment and society. A Companion Website (www.routledge.com/textbooks/978041597...) features student resources including discussion questions for each chapter, a glossary of key terms, a video game timeline, and links to other video game studies resources for further study.
Attack of the Flickering Skeletons: More Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Stuart Ashen - 2017
You will probably wish you still didn’t.YouTube sensation Stuart Ashen is back with his second instalment of terrible old computer games you’ve probably never heard of... because what the world needs right now is to know exactly how bad Domain of the Undead for the Atari 8-bit computers was.Attack of the Flickering Skeletons is even bigger than the original Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of – this second excavation of gaming’s buried past will not only unearth more appalling excuses for digital entertainment, but also feature guest contributors and several special interest chapters not based around single specific games.These are NOT the games you’ve heard of a million times in YouTube videos. This is a compilation of truly obscure and dreadful games. Dripping with wry humour and featuring the best, worst graphics from the games themselves, this book encapsulates the atrocities produced in the days of tight budgets and low quality controls.These are even more appalling games that leaked from the industry’s tear ducts, taken down from the dusty shelves of history by the man who has somehow made a living by sticking rubbish on a sofa and talking about it.
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 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.