Set an even longer time ago in a galaxy far, far away, BioWare's 2003 RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic wowed Jedi and Sith Lords alike with its compelling characters, lightsaber customization, complex morality choices, and one of the greatest plot twists in video game history. Among the droids and blasters, the game delves into themes like choice, free will, and the construction of identity and memory. Featuring brand new interviews with Lead Designer James Ohlen and Senior Writer Drew Karpyshyn, game critic Alex Kane's book unveils how this classic game was made, analyzes KotOR's worldview through the lens of philosophy, mythology, and the ethics of war, and investigates how the game borrows techniques from contemporary films like The Sixth Senseand Fight Club. Whether you align with the light or the dark side, you're invited to dive into this fun and thoughtful exploration of the most beloved Star Wars game of all time.
In 2014, Yacht Club Games released its very first game, Shovel Knight, a joyful 2D platformer that wears its NES influences on its sleeve. This unlikely pastiche of 8-bit inspirations manages to emulate the look, feel, and even the technical limitations of nostalgic titles like Mega Man, Zelda II, and Castlevania III-imbued with a contemporary sense of humor and self-awareness. But how is a fundamentally retro game created in the modern era? And what do the games of the past have to teach today's game designers? Based on extensive original interviews with the entire Yacht Club Games team, writer David L. Craddock unearths the story of five game developers who worked so well together while at WayForward Games that they decided to start their own studio. From the high highs of Shovel Knight's groundbreaking Kickstarter to the low lows of its unexpectedly lengthy development, Boss Fight presents a new master class in how a great game gets made. Get ready to steel your shovel and dig into this fascinating oral history. For Shovelry
When Final Fantasy V was released for the Japanese Super Famicom in 1992, the game was an instant hit, selling two million copies in the first two months alone. With a groundbreaking job system that combined the usual character classes like knights, thieves, and mages with offbeat classes such as chemists, dancers, and bards, the game appeared to be a shoo-in for North American distribution. But the game was dubbed "too hardcore" for a Western audience and was swapped out with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, a simplistic new game tailor-made for Americans. That didn't stop a teenage Chris Kohler from tracking down Final Fantasy V. The young RPG fan got a Japanese copy of the game, used it to teach himself Japanese, and with the help of some internet companions created the first-ever comprehensive English-language FAQ of the game. As the internet narrowed the cultural gap between the East and West more each year, the game was eventually translated into English for the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, and iOS. Fans in the West finally got to learn what all the fuss was about. Now the acclaimed author of Power-Up and an editor at Kotaku, Kohler is revisiting the game that started his career in games journalism. Based on new, original interviews with Final Fantasy V's director, Hironobu Sakaguchi, as well as previously untranslated interviews with the rest of the development team, Kohler's book weaves history and criticism to examine one of the Final Fantasy series's greatest and most overlooked titles.
If you want to be a Bakugan Brawler, you have to get this handbook Inside you'll find everything you need -- and want -- to know about the hottest game around. It's a guide to the best brawlers, the fiercest Bakugan, and the biggest brawls. AND it's got tips on how to play the game yourself. With this guide and practice, before you know it, you'll be ready to take on Dan or any of the other Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Praise for Working the Phones:
"A sharp reminder of the difficulties faced by call-center workers." --The Financial Times
"Jamie Woodcock shows us what call-centers can tell us about bleakness and resistance in the modern workplace." --VICE
"Jamie Woodcock's brilliant insider account of life in a British call-center reveals the dirty realities of digital capitalism . . . a book that is sure to become a classic." --Peter Fleming, author of The Mythology of Work
"Woodcock knows not only his theory but his subject inside out. There's casualization, cruelty, and regimentation, but also subversion, and his focus on employee resistance offers a flicker of hope." --Times Higher Education
In Marx at the Arcade, acclaimed researcher Jamie Woodcock delves into the hidden abode of the gaming industry. In an account that will appeal to hardcore gamers, digital skeptics, and the joystick-curious, Woodcock unravels the vast networks of artists, software developers, and factory and logistics workers whose seen and unseen labor flows into the products we consume on a gargantuan scale. Along the way, he analyzes the increasingly important role the gaming industry plays in contemporary capitalism and the broader transformations of work and the economy that it embodies.
Jamie Woodcock is a sociologist of work, focusing on digital labor, the gig economy, and resistance. He is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics and is the author of the award-winning Working the Phones (2016). He is on the editorial board of Historical Materialism and an editor of Notes from Below, an online journal of workers' inquiry.
This strategy guide contains hints and clues to help readers discover the twisted puzzles of the Stauf Mansion, solve the mystery, and rescue the heroine. The book includes game graphics, character profiles and the game background.
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond.
Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be "a series of interesting decisions," Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design.
