No comments about 52 Series: Travel Activity Kit: Repackaged Edition (52 Series).

5 comments about Game Development Essentials: Game Interface Design.

1. I had to order this book for a class, but i do love the series anyway. The book is filled with comments and examples from professionals in the game industry as well as opinions from game design students (which aren't actually as informative or helpful at all. After a while you'll probably just skip over those as there are lots of them and they aren't too interesting) There are lots of pictures so you can see the different interfaces games have had over the years, and it's got current information as of today. There are sections about early games, but there are also sections about the "next gen" consoles, 360, ps3, and wii. If you're into interface design, it's a nice book.



2. I found this book to be a great resource for anyone starting out in game design. It covers all the essentials, from the very first console games of the early 1980's to today's complex MMOG's. You're going to think differently about the basic interface elements you take for granted. I also enjoyed the comments from real people in the game industry. Great graphics, too! This is a great buy, whether it's for a class or just your own library.



3. This book is written for people who have never played computer games, have no ideas what computer games are, and want to catch up with the rest of the world.
   
   It contains no real substance and offers nothing in the way of real insights for people who are looking to learn more about game interface design.
   
   Overall, quite disappointing.



4. This is an excellent book. For those of us one and two-man programming operations as hobbyist programmers, we don't always have the artistic skill or aesthetic intuition to just whip up a GUI. This book explains concepts behind an interface SPECIFICALLY FOR GAMES. THIS is what I found awesome. All the books and articles I've looked up have been for interface design FOR WEBSITES, or stupid, dry, tasteless business-app type programs. This book focuses on game interface design ONLY.
   
   It cites examples of interfaces in games you've played most likely, from the ancient consoles and computers of yesteryear (Atari 2600, colecovision, intellivision, commodore 64) to the more modern consoles (PS, Dreamcast, N64, PS2) and cites examples of what makes a good interface and a bad interface.
   
   They make some good points too, such as interface design for the disabled. (This cool example they gave was for a healthbar that only changed color. What happens if the player was color blind? If the bar went from green to red, the color blind user would have nothing to gauge his health by; so they reccomended making the bar shorten, and/or change color.)
   
   THERE IS NO SOURCE CODE. This book only focuses on concepts and design ideas. Its nice and abstract. It's made to push push push the ideas into your head, even if it is a bit repetitive.
   
   Bottom line is, if you're already Joe Game Programmer for a big company, don't buy this book. Have your art department and UI design team make your game interface for you.
   
   If you're like me, a hobbyist programmer of a small team with dreams of making it big someday, GRAB THIS BOOK. The more resources you can get, the better.
   
   This book doesn't disappoint.
   
   Get it.
   
   Now.



5. This is very colourful, well written, structured and history extensive book.
   
   But within those 271 pages only last 16 are about design. Other 255 feed you with obvious information well known to any gamer.
   
   Such book might be great for some artists who never played any computer or console games. Everybody else should keep away from it.

5 comments about Sigmar's Heirs: A guide to the Empire (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. This is a great resource for those people who aren't as familiar with the setting. It also brings those familiar to the setting form older books up to date with the current time line. While I'd have like to see a little more for the price it's invaluable for the GM. As well as a fun read for the player with a bit of extra cash who wants to understand the setting better.



2. Too many roleplaying games release expansions that are little more than addenda to the rules comprising of pages upon pages of extra classes, feats and the like with setting information getting a few paragraphs here and there. Sigmar's Heirs reverses this trend - mechanics and rules take a backseat to the exploration of the Empire. All of the Imperial provinces are covered in detail, including local sites of interest, personalities and the like. The Empire itself is also covered including religion, politics and history. The core rulebook isn't required to derive use from this book, it's great for pleasure reading or as an idea mine for your game.



3. This book helps with the background, history, beliefs, people breakdowns, and other useful informationon the Empire. the map could be a little more expansiveas some things in descriptions are not shown onthe map, but otherwise it is quite interesting and one of the first books a Gamemaster should get if running in the Empire.



4. This book is one of the best products by Warhammer I have ever seen.
   As a GM I use it as often as "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure" or PH (Player's Handbook). ))
   
   You have lots of useful information on history, politics, society etc of the Empire.



5. this books got every thing you need to get a good feal for the empire.give you good ideas for campaigns as well great buy!!!

1 comments about Presidential Trivia: The Feats, Fates, Families, Foibles, and Firsts of Our American Presidents.

1. this book, presidential trivia, is a quick read, easy to pick up and put down. it's choke full of tid bits that aren't commonly known about many of our presidents. pieces of it i found really touching (e.g., the guy in the electoral college voted against monroe where everybody else voted for him ONLY because he felt that Washington ought to be the only president unanimously elected). i also liked a quip on lincoln's height, at 6'3 3/4", once, when asked about his height, he said that he was "tall enough to touch the ground". great bedside reading or coffeetable reading. i really enjoyed it! while i'm no presidential scholar, the data presented by lederer appear consistent with the few books that i've read. nice job!

No comments about Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual: Practical Training for the Ambitious Chessplayer.

No comments about Large Print Crosswords #8 (Large Print Crosswords).

3 comments about "Puzzler" Futoshiki.

1. A very enjoyable book until a fairly difficult (for me) puzzle about midway thru the book. I don't think there is a "logical" solution or at time I thought it was more likely that I couldn't see it. Then starting with solution to puzzle 91, I noticed that the stated solutions weren't matching the puzzle! The solutions are incorrect through at least puzzle 111. For example, puzzle 91 only has seven rows and columns and yet the solution shows 8 X 8! Needly to say the fixed numbers in puzzle don't match either. Even when the rows and columns match the fixed numbers aren't matching! This wouldn't be so bad except that now I don't trust the puzzles to have logical solutions.
   
   I was tempted to rate it a 3 because I did enjoy it, but a lot that has to with the fact this is my first book on the subject.



2. As another reviewer indicated, the solutions are in an incorrect order and don't correspond with the puzzle numbers, which is an inconvenience. The puzzles themselves, however, are top-notch and great fun to solve. I highly recommend this book for futoshiki lovers.



3. Every night I get out this cute little paperback book and work out a puzzle or two. I find it very challenging -- but yet, not so hard that I simply give up. At the end of the day, when I'm very tired, I work on these puzzles and it seems to be a GREAT cool down. You'll enjoy it!!! Gina

4 comments about An Adventurer's Guide to Eberron (D&D Retrospective).

1. 
   Just got this in the mail today and read through it in one shot. I would highly recommend this book mostly for anyone who is new to Eberron as this is basically a short but solid snapshot of every aspect of Eberron, from each of the Five Nations to the Dragonmarked Houses, from Xen'drik to Sarlona etc., accompanied by many fantastic illustrations.
   
   Again, anyone looking for a good basic intro to Eberron, this book is what you want, and for those of us who are already Eberron fans, I'd get this just for the illustrations, if not for the solid overview of this campaign setting.



2. I should have checked the page count (64) before purchasing this book. It was maybe half the size I expected it to be. It did not contain much in the way of new information either. That was OK, however, because the book war marketed to people who are "a fan of fantasy artwork and literature", which I am.
   
   Even so, I remain disappointed. I recognized much of the artwork from books I already owned. And as for the "literature", it was mostly short blurbs, not longer essays as I was hoping for.
   
   In short, I would say the only values of this book would be to introduce a new player to Eberron or to have lots of artwork in one place.



3. An Adventure's Guide to Eberron is merely an overview with reprinted pictures from D&D's Eberron Campaign setting. As mentioned in other reviews, there is NO NEW INFORMATION!. This is nothing more than Wizards of the Coast trying to make money. If I had known what this book was, I would never have bought it.
   
   One striking difference between this and other Eberron books as that there is NO character data or any other sort of information that would be used in a D&D game. There is NOT even an index of where information can be found in other books.
   
   I am a little baffled by who the target audience is. D&D players would be better off buying the campaign setting. Casual readers, who happened to pick up the book, might look at the nicely printed art work, but the book quickly offers them little. The book provides a paragraph at most of a wide ranging subject talked about on each page and makes little effort to tie it all together or provide any sort of transition between subjects. The only purpose I see in the book is that I might show it to a friend who played D&D but was unfamiliar with the Eberron Campaign setting. Personally, I think that the Player's Guide to Eberron [...] is a far supieor book in providing an idea about Eberron.
   
   If you are thinking of buying this book, go to a local book store and look at it first! Pick it up and flip through the pages. If you do that, you will most likely come to the conclusion that your money can be better spent else where.



4. I think this is a great book, but not for the price ($19.95 MSRP and $13.57 on Amazon). It's only 64 pages, and as the other reviewers have said, it provides no new information. If your players have already read the Campaign Setting, or even some of the novels, then this book isn't worth reading, because they probably won't get any new insight, or information, from it.
   
   Regardless of the price, it is an excellent book, because it is an easy way to introduce new players to Eberron without making them read the large Campaign Setting. It is the first Eberron book that seems to be designed for this purpose, and it does it very well. The artwork provides great visual identification that brings the game world to life, with short, easy-to-understand descriptions of practically everything that makes up the background of Eberron. From Dragonshards, to the different Eberron Races, to the role of magic in society, to the continents and the world -- it's covered in here. It fulfills this one role so perfectly that I gave it three stars, despite the price.
   
   However, there are three major cons to this book:
   
   1) It gives away certain secrets of the setting. It's not as bad as the Campaign Setting, but it removes a certain mystery, especially about the secret rulers of a far-away continent (and other things of this nature).
   
   2) It's not a coffee table art book. There's too many words, and too much recycled art (from the other Eberron books), for it too be a good coffee table book. It also won't make sense to anyone who doesn't play in Eberron, as the descriptions really bring detail and interest to Eberron (and not the art itself). The pictures are pretty, but I wouldn't buy it for that.
   
   3) The price is insane. $20 for 64 pages of recycled art? Wizards of the Coast already paid the artists for the original commission of the artwork, and now it seems they are seeking pure profit from this book. I can't recommend this book, despite how great it fulfills the one purpose perfectly, because of the price (even the lower Amazon price).
   
   In short, it's a great book for introducing new players to Eberron, without making them read too much. The artwork is great, and wrapped in a neat little package. However, the price is exorbitant. If you don't mind spending the money on 64 pages, then buy it.

1 comments about Chess Explained: The Queen's Gambit Declined.

1. This is a relatively short book with a page count of 128 (including title page, contents, etc., and advertising at the back!) but it is filled with useful information that emphasizes ideas more than an endless list of variations. It is probably the best overall QGD survey book in my sizeable (550 volume) chess library.
   
   The book presents 25 complete games. This is a great approach for the class player (compared to a variations tree) because you see the middle games and even endgames that arise. The games are spread over 8 chapters which cover the Alatortsev variation, Tarrasch Defense, Exchange and Blackburne, Ragozin and Vienna, Semi-Tarrasch, Cambridge Springs and Laskers, Tartakower, and Classical. As you see the coverage is wide, treating to at least some degree (one or more games) the major variants which are in play. The notes also treat (briefly) many other options including oddities such as the Dutch-Peruvian Gambit. Games are from modern practice.
   
   While plenty of variants are presented in the notes (certainly enough to cover the ground and be useful) the book is really on the "chatty" side and there is plenty of text which explains concepts and ideas. This is all made to fit in a low page count by means of slightly oversized pages and a rather small font size. However, the diagrams are large, clear, and copious. Even though I can't play blindfold, I am able to read a lot of the book without the aid of a chess set and board.
   
   There is no real white/black bias. Ideas for both sides are discussed making this book suitable for basic repertoire development for either color. I say "basic" repertoire development and what I mean is that there is more than enough here for the class player, but at a high level of play (perhaps expert and up) you will want specialist books which cover your favorite lines in more detail.
   
   Overall: a very nice effort and well worth the cost. Don't be put off by the low page count. More is not always better.

5 comments about Jump Into Jazz: The Basics and Beyond for Jazz Dance Students.

1. I bought this for my neice and I have been the favorite Uncle ever since!



2. I bought Jump Into Jazz for my daughter who is a High School Dance Teacher, and she has found this book, recommended to her by another dance teacher, to be a thoroughly useful tool that she refers to daily...excellent.



3. I teach jazz dance in a college setting and recommend this book for my students. Jump into Jazz breaks the art of Jazz dance down beautifully. I have found this book to be extremely helpful and concise. The illustrations are easy to understand, and the worksheets at the back of the book are a wonderful way for my students to test their understanding of the ideas presented.



4. It's easy to read and the structure is logical. Both picture and text describes the movement and how it should be executed. It's good for both the student and the teacher, and contains beside the descriptions of movements the basic of jazzhistory, music theory, stretch and a lot more. It's a good book.



5. This is a very informative book! Tons of practical information and a detailed and interesting history of jazz dance.