Features a step-by-step walkthrough of each single-player mission in the game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This title helps to find detailed maps which call out intel locations, alternate routes, and flanking manoeuvres.

A study of Everquest that provides a snapshot of multiplayer gaming culture, questions the truism that computer games are isolating and alienating, and offers insights into broader issues of work and play, gender identity, technology, and commercial culture.

In Play Between Worlds, T. L. Taylor examines multiplayer gaming life as it is lived on the borders, in the gaps--as players slip in and out of complex social networks that cross online and offline space. Taylor questions the common assumption that playing computer games is an isolating and alienating activity indulged in by solitary teenage boys. Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), in which thousands of players participate in a virtual game world in real time, are in fact actively designed for sociability. Games like the popular Everquest, she argues, are fundamentally social spaces.

Taylor's detailed look at Everquest offers a snapshot of multiplayer culture. Drawing on her own experience as an Everquest player (as a female Gnome Necromancer)--including her attendance at an Everquest Fan Faire, with its blurring of online--and offline life--and extensive research, Taylor not only shows us something about games but raises broader cultural issues. She considers "power gamers," who play in ways that seem closer to work, and examines our underlying notions of what constitutes play--and why play sometimes feels like work and may even be painful, repetitive, and boring. She looks at the women who play Everquest and finds they don't fit the narrow stereotype of women gamers, which may cast into doubt our standardized and preconceived ideas of femininity. And she explores the questions of who owns game space--what happens when emergent player culture confronts the major corporation behind the game.

Fortnite: Battle Royale is taking the world by storm, combining the high-octane action of traditional shooters with the creative construction elements of sandbox games like Minecraft. With 40 million players and counting, competition is fierce, and strategy is essential. Once you jump from the Battle Bus onto the island below, there can be only one goal: survival. This guide has all the tips and tricks you need to master the melee, whether you're playing on a console, PC, or your phone. Illustrated with dozens of full-color screenshots, find essential information on big-picture offensive and defensive tactics, best practices for building, and indispensable combat techniques. Learn all about uncovering loot, optimizing weapons use, exploring map locations, establishing a fortress, completing challenges, and more--in solo, duo, or squad mode.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, Goodreads

Following the success of The Accidental Billionaires and Moneyball comes Console Wars--a mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry.

In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo.

The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan.

Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Wars is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It's the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.

Written as a collection of notes in Damon Baird's journal, The Survivor's Log expands on declassified testimony and other facets of the game and serves as an in-universe artifact within the timeline of the series. This firsthand account chronicles the soldier's experience in a riveting and beautifully illustrated oral history -- the events he witnessed and the deterioration of COG society, his decision to take his unit rogue, and stories from the other members of his cohort. Divided into sections on COG society, Kilo Squad, and E-Day, the book underscores the perseverance of Baird and Kilo Squad and highlights key details on Locust forces. The Survivor's Log is a genuine treat for fans of the game that USA Today heralded as "an intense prequel," as well as "an exhilarating expansion and another worthwhile reason to rev up the chainsaws.

• PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS: Learn which weapons to keep an eye out for to suit your play style--and how to use them effectively.
• RIDE ON THE STORM: Discover how to combine the right weapons with the right vehicles to stay one step ahead of the pack.
• UNLOCK THE VAULT: Travel back in time and remind yourself of fan favorites from seasons past.