5 comments about Resident Evil Zero Official Strategy Guide.

1. I found that Prima`s Guide are more detailed.I stink at games,so I needed a edge and I bought this one.I would not buy another one from them.



2. This is the first Resident Evil game that i've ever owned and so i needed help with the game. I've played all the games but never owned one till now. Anyway, i get the game and have to buy a guide. I buy one and i start playing. I find some of the stuff they asked me to do near impossible for a first time person. I found myself doing parts over again 3 or 4 times before even getting anywhere close to compleating them. In other words, the guide was almost no help at all with some parts. If u can find another guide, buy that one first.



3. Before he was Dan Birlew, writer for Brady Games, Dan Birlew was known on the web as President Evil. There is a reason for this. Birlew has been writing game walkthroughs, plot guides and more for horror games for years, and he knows his stuff. He is not a mere serial writer for a corporation, he is, was, and ever shall be a gamer. He knows his stuff, and he explains it well.

   This game guide is well-written, concise, and mananges to navigate you through the trickier parts of the game with ease, without ruining any of the shocks and surprises. This is a difficult thing to do, but Birlew is a past master at it. He can not teach you how to be a skilled gamer, if you are not already. He tells you how enemies can be outmanuevered and defeated, how to get through the game in the shortest possible time, and how to survive the tricky bits. It is a Strategy Guide, not a cheat guide, and as a strategy guide it is the best you could ask for. Buy it.




4. This guide is a concise and thorough guide. I have to give credit to the author because doing some of the feats in this game the way he did seemed nearly impossible at first but using Dan Birlew's strategies I managed to survive everything this game threw at me with no problems.

   The walkthrough is much better written than their RE1 guide was. Not as many typos and they don't result to the Kill everything strategy that was previously used. Puzzles are easily described and while the guide has points where it is difficult to read...you have to remember that Dan Birlew is an RE veteran so you can trust what he's trying to tell you in this guide.

   What I like about this guide is that it is simply that, a guide. No spoilers, but rather right to the point in helping you get the best from your gaming, in helping you get through an area in the best way possible. They recomend what items you should drop (like that Knife that is only there to taunt you), and what room to drop it in.

   They also have a very nice way of helping you adapt to the game, something I don't usually get out of strategy guides anymore. Most guides wouldn't go into so much detail on the aspects of the game and helping you prepare to master it first. Most other guide would much rather jump into the walkthrough right away.

   This guide is a companion when you go thorugh RE0, and not a guide that completely holds your hand. Helpful hints and easy puzzle solutions as well as easy to see boss call outs. In other words, a nice organized walkthrough. I couldn't ask for anything more. This is the best RE guide I've seen from BradyGAMES since their N64 RE2 guide. Great Guide, if you need help on RE0 you should definitely pick this up.




5. I totally needed this book in order to further progress in the game. This book was unavailble locally and it was reasonably priced plus it was wrapped and in mint condition.
   
   Thank you Amazon.

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Official Strategy Guide for GameCube.

1. The game is great. Another Legend of Zelda has hit top grade and flew over the disappointing Majora's Mask. The game is quite easy, but having a guide for an adventure game isn't much so of an adventure. I love the game. I also appreciate that they made this guide, but i don't think too much of it.



2. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is not an easy game to write a strategy guide for, considering how very many tangents and extra features there are in the game. But this book succeeds pretty admirably, walking you throught the tough parts step-by-step. The charts that cover such things as where to find Heart Pieces and Treasure Maps are especially helpful. The only problem with the book is that in a few places, it directs you to use more difficult methods than necessary to accomplish tasks - for example, it might tell you to use water jars to cool off lava to make a footpath (hard to do and usually gets you burned a few times) when you can simply use your grappling hook to swing across the lava with no problem. But overall, this book is pretty much a must for anyone with a Zelda: Wind Waker game.



3. this guide has everything you need in it to complete the game fully exept that it has one mistake in it. in the list of all the heart pieces there is one listed twice and one missing. heart piece 43 should be at rock spire island and to get it you need to defeat the boats in the area and haul up the treasure they leave. one of them is a heart piece.
   other then this it is a very good guide.



4. this guide is really helpfull it tells you many extra things where to go everything! if you have the game you need this to in order to beat it or want the extra things i have everything in this game because i beated it twice you get to have three names and of course you start off at 3 hearts but with this guide you can get more when ever you beat a major beast in the game you get a heart and you also find peices of hearts to earn a full one it takes 4 peices of hearts to get a full one you get tresures and empty bottles to carry things hookshot fire errows ice light and the regular you get the graboling hook a camera a tingle tuner this item is when ever you need help you hook up your game boy advance to be connected with tingle and he could help you out i cant tell you everything because there is so much things and it might ruin the fun of the game but anyways this guide would really help so if you have the game and dont have this guide then you should get it now!



5. Great strategy guide. It also includes a strategy guide for Ocarina of Time, which is the main reason I bought it. I could find no other Ocarina of Time strategy guide for the Gamecube game.

3 comments about Mercenaries (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. The strategies are well put together, but the collectibles section have some errors with the locations. Also, the pages don't stick to the spine of the book well. Overall, it seems like an OK book.



2. Very awesome merchandise. Amazon is very awesome to do business with, and i will certainly be doing business again with amazon.



3. AN EXCELLENT STRATEGY GUIDE FOR AN EXCELLENT GAME.TELLS YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW AND WELL WORTH PURCHASING FOR HELP WITH THIS EXCELLENT GAME.

5 comments about Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences.

1. [...]
   I really enjoyed "Learning by Doing" Clark. Your frame of thinking helps place things into a space for mulling over the possibilities. I noticed the big "we have no idea" at the end of the interviews on the question of measuring the effectiveness. That is a big challenge, and I think the way there is already being constructed by Mislevy and others in the "adaptive testing" arena - but instead of giving an adaptive test, we'll just make an unobtrusive observation using the same rigorous theory base without hurting the playability, fun, sim aspects.
   
   What you called the "universal truths" (I wasn't as convinced about sticking it in the intersection of games and sims) are also called "generic structures" in the systems dynamics literature - you probably know that. It makes one wonder if in the authoring environments of the future, those structures will be facilitated through wizards to help people build games and sims. With a few critical questions, the agent could "fill-in" a generic structure to some extent...including capturing the causal chains of events (e.g. what happens first?, when that goes up what does it do to the second thing?).
   
   I really like the clarity of the framework of "sim, game, pedagogy" crossed with "systems, cyclical, linear" and also the idea that sims allow-uses discovery/practice, games allows-uses testing/softening and pedagogy allows-uses presentation/support. The Mislevy (et al) assessment model has four parts: task model (a bit like the sim in that it is the model of everything that the user could be doing, sets the context and expectation), user model (a bit like the game in that it models in clear computational terms what the "winning" user will be doing), the evidence model and presentation layer (collects data, makes judgements about what the user knows, and selects the next item to present to the user). The presentation layer is a bit mechanical...so really the three essential parts of any assessment are the task, user and evidence models, which I think can be brought into a useful alignment with your framework - in order to go after that issue about metrics of effectiveness.
   
   Another thing your model makes me think of is that on the content type side, cyclical contains linear and is contained by systems. e.g. systems models have both linear and cyclic causal relationships, simple cycles are first created by two linear relatinships that bounce back to each other...and curvilinear paths of many kinds are essentially linear at the microscopic level. So that leads me to wonder (and I think your chapters make this point) that pedagogy is contained in games (i.e. games teach) and are contained by sims (i.e. sims can be fun, have prefered goal states like "winning" or "succeeding", use scores, give feedback. etc.) These metaphors might break down on some issues, but they're giving me pause to reflect and relate to your framework.



2. It is no secret that "conventional eLearning" is not as engaging, interactive and interesting-and therefore also not as effective-as it should be. And we know that even current technology has the potential to do much more for "eLearning," or "technology-enabled learning" than we see today. And the rate of change in most technology is accelerating rather than slowing. It is the future potential that excites most of us who are involved in learning technology.
   
   Games and simulations (G&S) is clearly one of the most interesting and exciting areas of learning technology and undoubtedly will play a big part of "next generation (e)Learning," whether in schools, universities, government or industry. This is now being recognized, and evidenced by the growing number of "conferences-within-conferences" (seen most recently at the Training Fall Conference and Expo in Long Beach) or the Serious Games Summit in WDC-to mention just two-dedicated to the topic of G&S.
   
   Clark's book is a most welcome addition to the growing literature covering G&S-and it is a book I highly recommend for anyone interested in learning technology. And if you are involved in some way in learning and training, you cannot avoid technology and if you want to be conversant and be ready to make (smart) decisions on issues that undoubtedly will soon come your way, if they have not already, the ROI on the money spent on Clark's book will no doubt be great.
   
   Clark is a highly respected analyst-with a long history of insightful writing on learning and learning technology (which thousands of practitioners and analysts have enjoyed for a number of years)-as well as a simulation developer, and a business executive (leading Simulearn). Few others can equal his credentials in the area of learning technology so even before the book arrived in my mailbox I knew that this would be one I would enjoy and find very useful. It did not disappoint me.
   
   Not only is it well written but it is a very nice combination of the following:
   -- Clear analysis of different types of G&S. This is very useful as it will help future discussion and dialog and reduce the confusion that results when people think they are talking about the same things but in fact are not. Even if one does not agree with Clark's taxonomy he is nevertheless doing us a service by stimulating a richer dialog around these issues.
   -- Lots of good examples. Especially for readers interested in using G&S in their organizations, and therefore need to understand the practical side of G&S, Clark's book is very useful as it provides a range of different examples covering the different types of G&S discussed in the book. The examples come from different types of users and sectors, and few application areas exist where G&S could not be highly useful.
   -- Challenges that lie ahead. Because of Clark's varied background he is very well positioned to reflect on the challenges that lie ahead and to give a realistic assessment of where we are heading with G&S. As with other analysts, like Clark Quinn, for instance, Aldrich recognizes that the future for G&S is no cakewalk. It is very hard-and often costly-to build high quality, customized simulations, for instance, as Clark learned when he built Virtual Leader. But as tools and technology improve, as more vendors compete and offer better products, and as buyers recognize the benefits of G&S (See the excellent work by James Gee at the Games and Professional Practice Simulations at the Academic ADL Co-lab, for instance) and demand thus accelerates, "effective cost" per user (nominal cost normalized by learning effectiveness) will no longer be a major adoption barrier.
   
   Clark is also one of the most popular speakers on the conference circuit so once you have read his book you will have more to talk to him about when you meet him at one or more of the upcoming events where he will speak.
   
   Eilif Trondsen, Ph.D.
   Director
   Learning on Demand Program
   SRI Consulting Business Intelligence
   (...)



3. I just finished reading "Learning By Doing" from cover to cover. Those who are practicing in this field will want to read this book to learn of techniques that might not be readily apparent such as branching stories and interactive spreadsheets. I would recommend that they read "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" by James Paul Gee first, however, as I found the writing style of "Learning By Doing" a little sparse, like fleshed out bullet point slides. It is clear, though, that the author has a lot of experience in this topic and his book is a contribution to the field.



4. In 1985, I started developing educational computer simulations in DOS on the IBM PC. Since that time I have been involved in every new form of educational technology.... touchscreen, videodisc, CD-ROM, internet. For the last 8 years I have been consulting in corporate training. To try to stay smart, I read everything I can get my hands on.
   
   After reading Learning by Doing by Clark Aldrich, I am completly blown away. Clark is a genius. This book is relavent and puts into context everything I have been doing for 22 years.
   
   This book captures in a fun, easy to read informative style, both the pedagogy and technology for creating state of the art e-learning experiences.
   
   I have never been motivated to write an Amazon review before, but I can't over emphasize my enthusiasm for this book. I have already had several of my clients buy this book. The book is well researched and completely current with latest trends and advancements. The use of bullet lists and charts/ diagrams is very helpful. The index is more comprehensive and complete than any book I have ever seen. Clark's editorial comments are right on target.
   
   The book is not a dense encyclopedia, so if that is what you are looking for then supplement your library with some of the other current titles on blended learning. I give this book my highest recommendations as an introduction/ overview to the most current research and pedagogy in the use of educational technology for corporate training.
   
   I especially recommend this book for corporate trainers who are trying to figure out how to evolve from instructor led to a blended learning paradigm.



5. Although Aldrich provides a good guide with an overall view of pitfalls or benefits of serious games, I did not think there was enough depth in design and effective learning techniques for my research needs. For an HR or training professional who wants to get an extensive overview in this field, this book would be very useful.

3 comments about Burnout Paradise (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. I rarely buy strategy guides, but the others I have for Nintendo Mario games are much more detailed and player friendly. This review is for the Xbox 360 version of this game.
   
   The fabled Paradise City where this game takes place is complex with lots of roads, shortcuts, secret areas, and alternate routes (train tracks, dirt roads and so forth). At every intersection there are events such as races, burning routes (time-limited dash between two points in the city), road rages (take out a certain number of competitive cars before time runs out) and so forth.
   
   The guide almost always uses intersections to locate these features as if the reader is already familiar with them instead of marking them on a map.
   
   In addition, the tip sections refer to information in previous tips, sometimes causing you to read back through several tips in order to get the whole story (still need to know the intersections, too).
   
   I had almost completed the game before purchasing this guide to help me locate the last little obscure bits, but it took some head scratching to make heads or tails of the info inside. Buy it if you need it, but search online for player-made guides first.



2. The old adage -Fool me once.... etc.
   Well I will not be fooled again with the Prima books. Like the review above, none of the areas are marked on the map as they should be.
   A big map is given (probably to compensate for Prima's inability to provide an excellent guide) with a matrix on it; okay that's good but none of the areas that you need to get achievements are details. I could go on but I don't want to bore you anymore. It suffices to say check with other players instead of
   purchasing any Prima books!



3. Good book, too much detail lol. All secrets revealed, but I only use it to check car stats, more fun this way.

2 comments about The Sims 2 Revised: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. If you don't get this book you won't fully understand all the featues of the sims 2. Everything you need to know is there.



2. When I ordered this, I was expecting a small, slim little guide with a few tips and strategies. I mean, how much could there be to a computer game? So as you can imagine, I was surprised when I pulled out a thick, 366 page book that broke down everything you could ever need to know (and more) about The Sims 2 into sections, explaining and describing everything, in detail, from Sim genetics, pre-made neighborhoods and the pre-made families that inhabit them, NPCs, Sim memories, Sim death, building a house... okay, I'm confusing myself (and probably you). Here is the complete chapter/section list:
   
   ---
   
   Part One: The Basics
   -Chapter One: Getting To Know The Sims 2
   -Chapter Two: Getting Started
   
   Part Two: Creating Families, Neighborhoods, And Sims
   -Chapter Three: Welcome To The Neighborhood
   -Chapter Four: Create-A-Sim And Genetics
   -Chapter Five: Simology
   
   Part Three: It's A Lot Like Life
   -Chapter Six: The Six Ages Of Sims: Playing The Generation Game
   -Chapter Seven: Needs
   -Chapter Eight: Aspirations, Wants, And Fears
   -Chapter Nine: Skills
   -Chapter Ten: Careers And School
   -Chapter Eleven: Social Interactions
   -Chapter Twelve: Family Life
   -Chapter Thirteen: NPCs
   -Chapter Fourteen: Community Lots
   -Chapter Fifteen: Objects
   -Chapter Sixteen: Disasters, Disease, And Death
   
   Part Four: All In The Family: Sims In Action
   -Chapter Seventeen: The Ex-Machina Family Blog
   
   Part Five:
   -Chapter Eighteen: Build Mode
   -Chapter Nineteen: Story Mode And Moviemaking
   -Chapter Twenty: Sim Autonomy
   -Chapter Twenty-One: The Sims 2 Body Shop
   -Chapter Twenty-Two: Custom Content
   -Chapter Twenty-Three: Appendix A: Cheats
   
   ---
   
   So, yes... if you play The Sims 2 at all, get this book. Even if you're just a casual player. I assure you, your Sim gaming experience will be much better. The only regret I have is not having this book around when I first started playing TS2.

4 comments about Shadow of the Colossus(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. Unhappy with this game. Some may like the fact that it is all big bosses but for me it was too repetitive, you kill a boss then end up back at the starting point to then journey to another boss to kill him and return to the starting point . . . you get the jist. Nothing to fight on the way just land to travel on and that takes a lot of time so you end up spending loads of time traveling to the boss then to fight to travel agian. Unsatisfied!



2. While this isn't the best guide I've ever seen, it's only real problems are subjective ones as regards layout and such. The guide itself is full of information, makes it easy to not completely spoil everything for yourself it all you're looking for is a quick hint (has sections on how to find the Colossi, sections on how to scale them, and sections on exactly how to beat them if you still can't figure it out). Has some very nice high-res artwork from the game as well and is very slickly presented. Features a few hidden elements of the game as well. Overall, an excellent guide worth owning if you enjoy using or collecting them.



3. The game is good but it needs some work. Sometimes your guy doesn't want to do what you want him to do. like grab or let go... They need to use other buttons and quit only using the same button for several actions..



4. I really liked this game despite the rough handling and amazingly challenging gameplay, but a game is supposed to be a challenge. I hate games that are too easy. It makes gaming basically pointless.
   
   This guide was a good source of information and it helps you find a couple of easter eggs here and there.

5 comments about Sims 2: Seasons: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. SEASONS ARE FUN FOR SIMS. THEY GET TO GROW A GARDEN. THEY CAN PLAY IN LEAVES AND RAKE LEAVES AND THEN BURN THE LEAVES. THEY CAN PLAY IN THE SNOW IN WINTER TIME. THEY CAN MAKE SNOW ANGELS, BUILD SNOWMEN, HAVE SNOWBALL FIGHTS, OR ICE SKATING AT THE SKATING RINK. THEY GET TO BE RAINED ON TOO. DON'T KEEP YOUR SIM OUT IN THE COLD FOR TOO LONG OR THEY WILL GET SICK AND THEN THEY WILL HAVE TO SLEEP UNTIL THEY GET BETTER. THIS IS A LOT OF FUN!



2. I've had limited time to play since installing this latest expansion pack to The Sims 2, but when I've played, I've really enjoyed the new features, careers, activities, etc. The added game content is well worth the price of this expansion! If you enjoy The Sims 2, you will definitely enjoy this expansion!



3. This guide was very helpful in that it gave insight to a great deal of new things the Seasons Expansion Pack had to offer. Without the guide it would have taken me some time to find and utilize these new features. Knowing about the new features and how they work made gameplay much more interesting. The guide has a great layout for finding things.



4. I have been a fan of the Sims since the very beginning and own every expansion but this is the best for the Sims 2. The changing of the seasons really brings reality to the game which is what we Sims fans really want. It feels so much more real to see it snowing or raining. I also love the gardening aspect of the game. You need to really tend to things to get your gardening skills to grow and it's alot of fun. I have all the original Sims games and expansions and also everything for Sims 2 but if I had to suggest only one expansion to get it would be this one. It is definitely the best so far.



5. I live in a climate where the season change so I was happy to see my Sims season change too. I love that you can set your own season; so if you want it to snow all the time you can set that. I love the little add-ons like the sun burn or turning blue if your outside for too long. The details are what makes this game/expansion pack enjoyable.
   
   I'm having a hard time with getting my trees to produce fruit though...

5 comments about Dungeonscape: An Essential Guide to Dungeon Adventuring (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. Mostly interesting reading, but I don't expect I'll use much from this book.



2. The tactical design of dungeon encounters is excellent- it provides a template that you can expand upon and really lets you think out your encounters with the bad guys. After all, the players don't want to fight a bunch of punching bags, either.
   
   To answer the comments of the Factotum class being "unbalanced":
   Whenever I see a class, I compare it to the Cleric: combat progression, saves, relative importance of each ability score, spells, healing, and special abilities. The Factotum doesn't even come close. While it matches the cleric in hit points, combat, and ability score requisites (replacing intelligence for wisdom), it seriously lags in spellcasting ability (access to at most a handful of spells a day), healing, and turning abilities. In fact, the only thing that gives Factotums any edge at all is precisely having all class skills and a ridiculous amount of skill points due to high Intelligence scores. It is interesting to see that the ideal ability score stats for a Factotum apply perfectly to a Duskblade (in the excellent Players Handbook II), which is a much more powerful class across the board.
   
   Just because a "jack of all trades" class actually has access to most core class abilities (eventually) doesn't automatically make it unbalanced. If you don't buff up the Factotum's combat abilities with every spare feat you have, you'll find he is weaker than the bard, who is still a superior spellcaster with Bardic Knowledge and the same rogue abilities as the Factotum. Speaking of which, Bards are now truly bards in 3.5E- if they ever were jacks-of-all-trades, they are no longer. The most the two classes have in common is being excellent "fifth party members".



3. Overall, I enjoy this book and find it useful. In particular, the mundane equipment I found cool, as well as some of the alternative class features. I agree with some of the other reviews: the factotum is too powerful, especially for a base class - heck, it's overpowered for a prestige class. No class should have every skill as a class skill: that's patently ridiculous, and cuts against the grain of so many other asects of 3.5, where distinctions between class and cross-class skills are important.



4. One of the most useable of the 'scape' series books, because it's applications are found in more situations overall.



5. I wanted a list of cool dungeon features--some with rule implications and others just for flavor. The books runs through types of walls. Wall of air, fire, ice, water, acid, magic, bones etc. Then they cover floors: air, fire ice, water, acid, magic, bones. I was hoping for a little more than a run through elements and adjectives commonly found in D&D. I pay for creativity. Given an hour the most inexperienced D&D player could have brainstormed the short list of commonly found dungeon rooms.
   
   The book talks about "Acidborn sharks" that are bred to breath acid like water. It's a find example of the absurd style of this book. It emphasizes bland topics that focus on the rules rather than the story.
   
   I found about 10% of the book useful. Among the useful parts were the equipment lists and dungeonbred sub-type. You can get all this from a short read in the book store.

5 comments about Tomb Raider: Legend: The Complete Official Guide.

1. I'm very happy with this guide. It is very detailed with nice photos. It came in good time and in excellent condition. A little long to read and it does not stay open by itself but very informative and I am happy that I purchased it.



2. I bought this book almost a year after I bought and played the game. First of all, there is only 1 down-side on this book, I expected more page filling art works, scetches, of pictures of the locations. Sure they are in it too, but small and too few.
   But never the less, don't let this spoil the book, because for the rest I found it very handy (and nice) to read. It's written in a funny way, clearly by somebody who also enjoyed playing the game and writing this book, Everything is explained in a clear way, making it sound almost too easy to get all the hidden treasures, and what I also found helpfull was a map of every level, in clear detail, where to find what, how to get there, what to find there. And ofcourse all the unlockable secrets of the game itself.
   All together I am very happy with the purchase of this book



3. This is just what I needed. Being new to the Tomb Raider series, I was in need of something to help me with the in's and out's of the game. With the guide, I have been able to get farther into the game in 3 days than I had managed in 2 months without it.



4. Hi, I'm a lover of Tomb Raider. I've played many of the Tomb Raider games. The last one out; Legend, is very fun and even better then the tomb raider games before. The other Tomb Raider games gave you a phone number to call incase you got stuck. Tomb Raider Legend does not have that. Your best bet is to get Tomb Raider:Legend:The Complete Official Guide. This way you will not miss anything and if you can't figure something out and you've spent hours on it, you can cheat and find out how to do whatever it is you're trying to do or get through. Before purchasing the book I was told of a few different web sites where I could find answers to my questions I have about Legend. Unfortunately, that did not work for me. I'm very happy to have purchased The Complete Official Guide, for Tomb Raider Legend. It's made the game much more enjoyable, even more so than it already was!Tomb Raider: Legend: The Complete Official Guide



5. I guide really help me understand most if not all of the puzzels.The bosses are fairly easy and the each of the courses are are pure fun. I love the construct of the game it's fun granted. Though it may take a little getting use to the set up of the controls.Tomb Raider is the best game that I have played in while