2 comments about Super Mario RPG Game Secrets: Unauthorized (Secrets of the Games Series.).

1. I used this book to go througth the game sucessfully, but it wasn't entirely accurrate, especially on the part where Booster and his buddies open the cutains- there's no specific one- it's totally random! Also it claims that "ALL SECRETS" are revealled, but I discovered several items that weren't listed at all. Because it was unauthorized, there was no way of checking whether all secrets really were revealled. Well they weren't. There was a VERY useful badge that I found that wasn't listed at all in the book. The purpose of a guide is defeated if it ignores certain info. I'd recommend an offical guide so there are guareneed to be no mistakes.



2. The overall presentation of the guide deserves a three. It'll get you through the game without much trouble, and believe me you CAN use this with Booster's curtain pull game (it actually isn't Random it's the same EVERY time you play).

   The reason I gave this guide three stars is because it isn't a complete guide. What I mean by complete is that it the things neccesary to make a guide are not there. The guide doesn't have many (if really any) screenshots at all. No maps, bestiary or anything of the sort. It has a weapons and armor list at least.

   The guide WILL get you through the game if you're willing to read the LONG walkthrough that would've been easier to follow had they given you a map of some areas.

   The guide also doesn't tell you every secret. It's more concerned with getting you through the game more than anything. Not that it's a bad thing but you get a guide to help you MASTER the game and this guide doesn't do that.

   My advice would be to TRY and find the one by Nintendo Power or get the BradyGAMES guide they're pretty good.

5 comments about Super Mario 64: Survival Guide.

1. This book is awsome.It has helpful information



2. I swear I cannot get thru a game without some sort of guide. This one did not help me so much. First of all, it is in black and white, which I was not expecting. So that makes it hard to tell what part of the game they are talking about. It really is not much a walk thru either. I guess I have been spoiled by Primas' full cover step by step guides for playstation. This guide is ok if you are already a video game pro and just want to see what you may have missed. But for those of us that can't get past the first few levels without a guide - I do not recommend this one. It also is over priced for what you get.



3. Its safer to go with more accepted companies when choosing a guide. Avoid this and buy a Nintendo or Prima version. This guide, although fair, could use a lot more. Its simply not worth paying the money to buy this subpar material when you could be getting some actually well-written and thoughtfully putout guides. It seems Douglas Arnold and Mark Elies, if they have written over 30 guides, could have done a better job on this.

   Boo

   Mike London




4. Sometimes, when they make strategy guides for video games, they absolutely don't seem to make it right. There always seems to be something missing here, that the company making the game has even better. That is the case with Super Mario 64: Survival Guide by J. Douglas Arnold. Out of all the strategy guides that were made, this one was the worst ever made. There really isn't a lot to focus here outside of there is no 3-D Maps, to help you locate any of the items, not enough text, and especially, the tips here really aren't as detailed as the book claimed it has. If you have this one, you're better off trying to get the original strategy guide Nintendo created, because this one is one that Bowser always dreams of.



5. I always buy a guide for the games I purchase because I don't want to spend 8 hours running in circles trying to solve a puzzle...a guide is great when you are at a deadend. I pulled out my old Nintendo 64 and Super mario 64 for my son to play, this guide was packed away with it. I was amazed at the lack of details in the guide. The guide will allow you to complete the game, but there's not much there about the extras - where do I find the flying cap etc... Sometimes the instructions are a little vague, without the details you can still spend a lot of time trying things over and over and over...
   
   The guide will get you through the game, but if you want details look somewhere else.

5 comments about Game Audio Programming (Advances in Computer Graphics and Game Development Series).

1. I recently had the opportunity to be the sole programmer for a very cool project that was a combination of a music player and a comprehensive jukebox. Yet, this was my first experience with *serious* audio programming on the Windows platform.

   While doing my research on how I would meet the requirements for this project (including playback, sound mixing, crossfading, and conversions between the various standard audio formats - WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis), I was very fortunate to stumble on this book while in a bookstore in Manhattan. At first I was thrown off by the title and assumed that this book was intended solely for 'game developers.' However, after picking it up and scanning it, I quickly realized that that was not the case. This book is for *anyone* interested in audio programming on the Windows platform.

   In my opinion, this book accomplishes several things VERY well:

   1) Provides the reader with a very good understanding about how audio works in general and the key components of any wave that you must understand when tackling a project such as mine (eg. sampling rate, bit depth, etc.)

   2) While geared towards using the DirectX Audio APIs, the author provides a sound explanation (no pun intended) of why this API should be seriously considered and how it compares to using other APIs (typically offered by a 3rd party)

   3) Perhaps most important, the author takes a very disciplined approach to the design of an audio system. This is extrememly helpful since many readers, like myself, will purchase this book not only because they have an interest in audio, but also because they need/want to build their own set of audio engines that they can use/reuse in present and future projects. This feature alone seperates this book from most, if not all others (that are typically reference books to a technology such as DirectX). This also demonstrates that the author has a very solid meta-level understanding of what he is writing about, pulling from many recognized and practical real-world projects.

   4) Serves as a very good reference to the DirectX Audio APIs (DirectSound and DirectMusic) and even the Windows Media Format SDK

   5) Discusses the main file formats (Raw PCM, WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis) and how you can employ various codecs to get wave data from a file to a DirectSound buffer or vice versa. This is very useful because, on the Windows platform, you dont get some of these formats for free. So, an understanding of how you can design a system to support virtually any audio codec is therefore invaluable - and something the author does very well. He even walks you through the integration of the MP3 and OGG Vorbis formats into your audio engine.

   I really cant say enough about this book. In fact, even though I shop here ALL the time, this is the first book review I have ever written on Amazon's website. Anyone who is interested in audio programming, at ANY level, should purchase this book. You will NOT be disappointed.




2. I recently had the opportunity to be the sole programmer for a very cool project that was a combination of a music player and a comprehensive jukebox. Yet, this was my first experience with *serious* audio programming on the Windows platform.

   While doing my research on how I would meet the requirements for this project (including playback, sound mixing, crossfading, and conversions between the various standard audio formats - WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis), I was very fortunate to stumble on this book while in a bookstore in Manhattan. At first I was thrown off by the title and assumed that this book was intended solely for 'game developers.' However, after picking it up and scanning it, I quickly realized that that was not the case. This book is for *anyone* interested in audio programming on the Windows platform.

   In my opinion, this book accomplishes several things VERY well:

   1) Provides the reader with a very good understanding about how audio works in general and the key components of any wave that you must understand when tackling a project such as mine (eg. sampling rate, bit depth, etc.)

   2) While geared towards using the DirectX Audio APIs, the author provides a sound explanation (no pun intended) of why this API should be seriously considered and how it compares to using other APIs (typically offered by a 3rd party)

   3) Perhaps most important, the author takes a very disciplined approach to the design of an audio system. This is extrememly helpful since many readers, like myself, will purchase this book not only because they have an interest in audio, but also because they need/want to build their own set of audio engines that they can use/reuse in present and future projects. This feature alone seperates this book from most, if not all others (that are typically reference books to a technology such as DirectX). This also demonstrates that the author has a very solid meta-level understanding of what he is writing about, pulling from many recognized and practical real-world projects.

   4) Serves as a very good reference to the DirectX Audio APIs (DirectSound and DirectMusic) and even the Windows Media Format SDK

   5) Discusses the main file formats (Raw PCM, WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis) and how you can employ various codecs to get wave data from a file to a DirectSound buffer or vice versa. This is very useful because, on the Windows platform, you dont get some of these formats for free. So, an understanding of how you can design a system to support virtually any audio codec is therefore invaluable - and something the author does very well. He even walks you through the integration of the MP3 and OGG Vorbis formats into your audio engine.

   I really cant say enough about this book. In fact, even though I shop here ALL the time, this is the first book review I have ever written on Amazon[.com]'s website. Anyone who is interested in audio programming, at ANY level, should purchase this book. You will NOT be disappointed.




3. This book was very disappointing. It is a book about programming audio APIs, not programming audio algorithms. The section on Advanced 3D Techniques is mostly a description of how to use EAX. There is little here that could not be gleaned from the documentation and examples that come with the APIs in question.

   This has only the barest whisper of theory. Just enough for someone to understand what a certain function in the provided APIs might mean. DSP, FFT and DCT are not even mentioned in the index! In all, this book is pretty much useful only to someone who doesn't want to deal with the included SDK documentation with DirectX Audio. Anyone working upon a different platform, or wishing to go beyond the basics of merely playing back samples should look elsewhere. Do you really need a 640 page long book just to figure out how to play back a sample?




4. I agree with a previous reviewer that this book is dedicated to developing a high to mid level audio engine based on DirectSound and DirectMusic. This book is not about audio programming from scratch. It doesn't give any algorithms for implementing your own 3D audio engine. It does give pretty good explanation of the I3DL2 spec (but this can be gleaned from the AISIG site. It also has a good explanation of Occlusion and Obstruction.



5. For anyone actually doing practical audio programming for a game, this book is a great resource. No, it doesn't dig into academic minutia such as implementing your own software mixer, or explaining FFTs or writing custom DSPs, as those topics fall outside the realm of game programming (yes, audio compression uses these items, but no one writes their own audio compression codecs anymore, especially with good open-source alternatives available). Modern audio programming is all about taking advantage of hardware acceleration, and that means using APIs such as DirectX that can do this. The book is quite specialized, but digs into the APIs and gives a lot of good advice on practical implementation that you won't find anywhere else.

   It also contains a good deal of the meat and potatoes of game audio programming, such as developing and interactive music system, or creating compelling dynamic soundscapes. The APIs are a big part of that, but not the only part, as a good portion of the book is devoted to these higher-level programming concepts.

   I'd highly recommend this book to any game developer who needs to implement (or improve) an audio engine for their Windows PC game. It will give you a big head start, with lots of working source code to play with.

1 comments about Story and Simulations for Serious Games: Tales from the Trenches.

1. In this far-ranging investigation into narrative strategies and their applications for new interactive media, Iuppa and Borst offer several books in one. Foremost, they present a methodical guide to the use of story elements in videogame technologies, particularly as a means toward pedagogical goals ("serious games"). Also, they illustrate from various angles the mechanics of storymaking, how it can work from the creative standpoint as well as its benefits for engaging players on a more substantial level than they might experience in non-narrative games. And, not least, this book provokes us to consider the age-old human need for stories, which ultimately connect us to each other even as they educate and entertain us.
   
   The point of departure for the book is a series of case studies analyzing three projects that Hollywood creative teams, including the authors, developed for the United States Military in its training programs for various crisis situations. From there, subsequent sections branch out to cover all the inherent components of such virtual reality type of training, whatever the domain. In so doing, the discussion keeps an eye toward the most effective ways of involving participants, and seeks always how best to control a given simulation in meeting the desired pedagogical results while allowing for maximum freedom of choice in playing the game.
   
   Throughout, Iuppa and Borst master a wealth of technical details and prove well-informed about the latest software and hardware innovations that the prospective serious game developer might wish to draw on. And yet, despite very specific aims, their discussion is not weighed down by practical concerns. They manage to remind us, in spite of all, why writers will always be necessary: who else has so well learned somehow to keep nimble their narrative reflexes, to subvert expectations, to keep us guessing?

5 comments about Digital Game-Based Learning.

1. Always enjoyed the hardcoved edition (5 stars). Recently downloaded the Adobe Acrobat version and found it lacking the functions to efficiently read it on a mobile device with Acrobat Reader for Palm Devices. Publisher failed to tag the file to allow jumps from the Table of Contents to the referenced page. The pagination is also 18 pages off. I would not recommend the digital version if there are plans to read it with a mobile device.



2. This is a very timely book in my opinion. Prensky gives a reasonable overview of trends in games and several likely future developments. Copious lists of heuristics and tips are offered to the reader. Almost all the case studies have at least one useful insight - however many case studies drag on too long and are in need of substantial editing. Moreover, at least 50% of the case studies relate to corporate programmes which are not accessible to the general public - or the research community.

   Prensky's writing style is intensely personal and his judgements are often based on subjective assesments. Worst of all, he turns over large sections of the book to game designers that uncritically trumpet their products. There is still something of value here, once you read between the lines.

   In summation I found the reviews of trends and products useful. His explanation for what keeps a game's audience and market together (content) resonates with my own experiences. The book fell down by being mistitled. It is not about game based learning but about games and the opportunities for game based learning. Do no expect to build a 'learning' game from what is here - just not academic enough. The book has little if any information on existing game engines and how they might accommodate learning initiatives which is a major shortcoming. Secondly, many of the major points in the book flow from anecdotes and opinions. It is hard to assess their worth, but experience can be a better teacher on occasions than a library. Thirdly, the book plugs Prensky's own work fairly relentlessly. Good for him but it creates an imbalance in the presentation.

   Overall, I found much in the book that was interesting and useful to know. If the opinion pieces were supported by more complete referencing it would be an excellent text.




3. When I first got this book, I was hoping to find a much needed argument in favor of the learning and educational benefits of games. Instead I found a lackluster series of marketing-like evangelisms that have neither valid science nor learning theory to back them up. By using a sales-pitch approach in an attempt to convince the reader, this book can do more damage than good to the field of educational videogame design and research. If one really wants to find out about what games have to tell us about learning, I would recommend Jim Gee's What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy book instead.



4. Prensky's book had a great impact and have many good things in it, but one become annoyed by the lack of documentation, hype and comlete ignorance of much previous research. The subjectivity gives it a spark but in the (too) long book it becomes too much, getting in the way of solid arguments and evidence.



5. This book opened my eyes to the new requirements for the New/Next generation to be engaged and connected to learning. It contains great practical reference material too.

5 comments about Mechwarrior 3: By Blood Betrayed (Mechwarrior).

1. Actually, I had just read the previous book (by Pardoe), and found it pretty severely lacking. I was pleasantly surprised by (mos of) this one. Mel Odom's touch seemed to be a few early chapters where the characters were more developed than is typically found in these works. I enjoyed it greatly, and only wished other authors would follow in their footsteps and focused on weaving a REALISTIC world with REALISTIC characters... instead of cranking out page after page of "man-powered lightning"... "melting armor plates"...

   Oh, and have these people EVER played the (board)game? Nobody hits this much.




2. Mel Odom and Blaine Lee Pardoe are an outstanding pair together. They help to bring alive words, it is almost as if you were right their watching everything happen. I do not normally like reading sci-fi, but this type of book I just could not put down. I had to keep reading to see what happend next. Great plot and just a great over all story.



3. I enjoyed the laster one of Blaine Lee Pardoe's books (Roar of Honor) but I found it a little slow at times. Not so with this one, which I enjoyed all the way through. It was wonderfully realistic. The writing was outstanding and the story itself, while a bit guessable, was very well done. I've read this several times, enjoying it each one.



4. Particle projection cannons streaking past smoking wreckage of downed 60 ton machines. Explosions tearing apart living mechs. this book is a great book, but I would not reccomend it for young children. this is because it contains fighting sequences and mild gore(knife fights,toxic poisoning) This book, however is a wonderful new series based on the Mechwarrior computer games. I started it a little while ago, and I couldn't put it down! I highly reccommend to anyone who likes action, adventure, and mystery to at least look into this book.



5. Blaine Lee Pardoe hits us again with another great book. Even though the title gives away part of the story line, you never truley expect the way this book turns out and the main character is another one that people can relate to. I recomend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi, action adventure, or just a good plot.

No comments about Cold Fear(tm) Official Strategy Guide.

1 comments about Spartan(tm): Total Warrior Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. This is a strategy guide. It helps guide you with strategy to play the game. If you like it then I think you ought to buy it. If you don't like it then you'd probably better not buy it. I hope this review helped.

5 comments about Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. It would be charitable to say that the book had more than twenty pages of useful information. Most of the materiol is taking the information within the games own rather good help files and rewriting them, and the tips they give are excrutiatingly obvious.

   Just don't bother.




2. This SG's maps are hard too read, and the stratageys are dumb. it is not good at all, although it does have cool discriptions of the techs. bottom line; unless you are a billionair, dont buy this



3. Go to ZDNet: GameSpot: Game Guides for a free, downloadable and far superior guide to SMAC. We're (the reviewers) mostly in agreement here that this guide doesn't do enough "right" (like faction strategies, unit design, etc.) and does too much "wrong" (like trivial descriptions of already available game info with little or no explanations of how a player might best make use of the info). I would have appreciated a book half as thick but with opinions on the how and why for designing well-equipped armed forces, choosing government types, allocating research, and so on.



4. The official strategy guide to SMAC was a disappointment. In retrospect, I realize I should have heeded the warnings in the other reviews. The beginning is good, with nice tips on general gameplay and the various victory types, but then it reverts to nothing more than a rewrite of the game manual and online help.

   The Alpha Centauri strategy guide pales in comparison with the corresponding book for Civilization II, which is required reading for any Civ2 fan.




5. The book is a good reference when playing the game. The information in the strategy guide contains more information than the game's on-line help. The strategy guide has a cross reference to easily find information in the guide and in the software manual. For me, the quick reference makes the game play more enjoyable.

   I particularly liked Appendix C, which gives insight on how to modify the game play. Alpha Centauri has seven players. The computer players have certain personalities. Quite frankly, there is one personality I do not like to play with. By changing a file, I was able to change offending personality.

5 comments about Indigo Prophecy (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. There are two problems with Indigo prophecy. The first is that you may suddenly lose the game with nary a hint of why. This is because some of the events and conversations have unexpected dependencies. And second, you can also win the game in a very short time with nary a clue what you did right, or what you missed in the process. So without a game guide, odds are very good that you will find the game unsatisfactory for one reason or another.
   
   That being said, this guide fills a very important role - it greatly increases the players enjoyment of the game. And it does so in a very plain spoken and straightforward manner. It is a walkthrough with pictures and not frills. Unfortunately, the text has a habit of referring to the pictures, especially when the picture is really to muddy to quite make out. This can get on your nerves quickly.
   
   Still, it's the only guide for this game there is, although you might want to look at some of the on-line walkthroughs before upping the cash for this. For some reason, Prima seems to specialize in game guides that are cheaply made and the same prices as the slick guides. But if you want to get the full 40 hours of play that Indigo Prophecy provides this is probably the best answer.



2. This guide uses a step-by-step walkthrough that is seldom seen in strategy guides nowadays, but credit to Prima for doing something that will appeal to people who really need to use a guide. It's like reading the Zelda: A Link to the Past again with the leading-you-by-the-hand approach. Then again, I guess this is the only way to present the walkthrough for this game.
   
   For an official guide, however, it isn't exactly complete in its research for actions that may increase or decrease your character's stress levels. Some events are missing, which is not what you'd expect for an official guide. The frequent references to the screenshots are also somewhat unhelpful due to the poor quality of images.
   
   Still, what this book does is that it provides an adequate amount of information for a player to go through the game at their own pace (providing said player can perform those button-pressing sequences correctly!). At least it tries to make things easier for the players by guiding them by the step. Overall, a fair effort that could be made better with a more detailed list of actions and sharper screenshots.



3. Upon buying the Fahrenheit game, I guessed that a strategy guide would be necessary, and I was correct. Luckily, this strategy guide is everything you'll ever need and more. You'll probably want to play the game through without consulting the guide, but when you do get stuck the guide offers invaluable advice without spoiling the plot, which is vital in a game such as this. The book itself is also a highly enjoyable read and is recommended for any lover of videogames. This guide, and comprehensively the game, is a must-have for gamers of any type.



4. This game itself is very confusing. The guide is very helpful in directing you through the game. I would probably waste mindless hours trying to "figure" everything out w/o it.



5. EXCELLENT STRATEGY GUIDE FOR THIS CRIME MYSTERY GAME.WELL WORTH PURCHASING AND A VERY GOOD GAME.