Don't Fall Flat! Make sure you tear it up on both the Flipside and Flopside of Count Bleck's mindbending geometric gauntlet with our Official Nintendo Power Player's Guide! Super strategies for pounding all of your flattened foes! Awesome flipping tips to power up your platforming! Detailed maps of every chapter and all hidden item locations revealed! Complete strategy for Super Paper Mario for Wii!

"Game Design, Second Edition" offers a behind-the-scenes look at how a game gets designed and developed—from the day the idea is born to the day the box hits the shelves. This new edition offers information on the latest techniques and development models, interviews with 12 top game designers, document templates that can be used during product development, and numerous industry resources. It is a practical guide that covers everything from the fundamentals of game design, to the trade-offs in the development process, to the deals a publisher makes to get a game on the shelves. No matter what your role is in the industry, understanding this entire process will help you do your job better. And if you ’re looking to break in, you ’ll find knowledge here that is usually attained only after years in the trenches.

Game Scripting Mastery is your key to the complicated issue of scripting. It provides a detailed guide to the design and implementation of a full-featured game scripting system. This book focuses on the design of procedural, C-style languages and their compilation to virtual machine code. Alternative scripting methods are discussed as well, including dynamic linking and simple, command-based languages. This is the first book to provide you with complete, comprehensive, and highly accessible information on game scripting. The CD includes the DirectX SDK, all source code from the book and other tools to turn you into a scripting master.

A game is only as intriguing as the characters that inhabit its world. Game Character Design Complete demonstrates each step of modeling, texturing, animating, and exporting compelling characters for your games. You’ll learn how to model in 3ds Max from sketch references, texture in Adobe Photoshop, rig bones, and animate a character back in 3ds Max. Game Character Design Complete covers all aspects of character creation-from the technical to the artistic. Don’t worry if your artistic ability isn’t awe-inspiring. You’ll cover every aspect of the design process in easy-to-follow steps, including texturing and animating your character. If you have a working knowledge of 2D and 3D graphics, then you have all of the skills you need to begin creating cool characters for your games.

Amazing graphics, kickin' tunes, and an awesome story--these are the makings of a great role playing game and now they're all covered in one book! Programing Role Playing Games with DirectX covers all aspects of creating role playing games--from storyline development to hard core programming techniques that bring landscapes, music, and graphics to life. It offers more technical information than some of the theory-based books on the market and gives you the information you need to know regarding character building--the main component of computer-based role playing games.

Welcome to the exciting world of the video game artist. "Beginning Game Graphics" is your guide on a step-by-step path, beginning with the most basic modeling techniques and wrapping up with advanced workflows used by professional game artists. It provides powerful and easy-to-use tools to get you started, and it covers many of the methods, philosophies, and proven techniques that can improve your game demos and help separate you from the crowd in the rapidly growing interactive entertainment industry. Whether you are a video game enthusiast, an artist breaking into the world of video games, or a game programmer ready to model your own characters and sets, this book is the ideal introduction to 3D modeling for video games.

This is not a game-or is it? Alternate reality games (ARGs) ask players to ignore barriers that separate the real world from the virtual-Web sites, television ads, movie credits, and even game-generated phone calls can be clues to uncovering the mystery the game represents. ARGs have become the fascinating new compulsion for the people who participate in them, as they share information and collaborate to solve the game's challenging puzzle. "Beyond Reality" uncovers the mysteries behind this new form of gaming. It discusses the intriguing implications of blurring the lines between the real world and the virtual. Interested in trying your hand? This book takes you beyond the ARG basics, teaching you how to focus your critical thinking skills into an ARG context as you discover how to play the game. You can examine how an actual ARG was played out and then participate in an ARG simulation yourself as you step inside the world of alternate reality gaming.

The Caro-Kann Defence has a well-deserved and established reputation as an incredibly solid and, at the same time, dynamic defence to 1 e4. The Caro-Kann appeals to all types of players, but is especially useful to Black players who prefer a sound platform on which to build and who are resourceful in both defence and counter-attack. Star players who enjoy using the Caro-Kann include Vishy Anand, Michael Adams and the legendary Anatoly Karpov. In this easy-to-read guide, Grandmaster Joe Gallagher goes back to the basics of the Caro-Kann, studying the key principles of its many variations. Throughout the book there is an abundance of notes, tips, warnings, and exercises to help improving players, while important strategies, ideas, and tactics for both sides are clearly illustrated.

As Internet poker exploded, thousands of players turned to Internet Texas Hold'em to help them become winning players. Today, Internet Texas Hold'em is now the most successfull book ever on Internet poker. Internet Texas Hold'em is an excellent tool for beginning to intermediate players to be successful at limit Texas Hold'em with specific topics focused on Internet play.

Mutants & Masterminds has been called "the best, most exciting superhero RPG in years." It sets "new standards in design and presentation." It has won multiple ENnie and Pen & Paper Awards and it appeared on every critic's "best of" list for 2002.

Farmville lets you create your own private oasis away from the chaos of everyday life. You have total control of how your farm looks and what crops you choose to plant. In Farmville, the sky is always blue, the grass is always green, and the sun is always shining. It's easy to see why so many people have gotten hooked on this game.

Since he arrived on the chess scene in 1992 at the age of 16, Vladimir Kramnik has been tipped as a future World Chamption. Here, he annotates 100 of his best games, and talks about his life and unusual childhood.

Books as solid as this one don't just spring out of the Spectrum without a serious investment of time and e ffort.