5 comments about Mass Effect (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. This game is highly customizable. You can customize your background, psychological profile, and most notably, your appearance.
   
   Playing around with the various sliders in the appearance creation is so deep, you could spend hours messing around with that feature alone!
   
   The gameplay is awesome. It uses a 3rd person perspective, and plays like a 3rd person shooter, HOWEVER, you must open up menus mid-battle to select abilities that you can aim towards one enemy or more (with your squad). It definitely require brain-power and strategy during firefights. All of your weapons and upgrades make a big difference in battle, so you must be aware of all your items, and what would be most useful with what enemy type.
   
   The story is quite epic (and awesome). Your choices in dialog affect certain (not all) situations. There are 2 mission types: story, and side missions. The missions for the story are much longer, yet there are few of them, maybe 5. You can get through the main story in one weekend, but you need to do the side-missions to level up, and there's TONS of those.
   
   The missions are varied, though the indoor environments are not. This isn't really a big deal because it's still tons of fun to play. My first playthrough clocked in at 39 hours, and that was with 99% completion of all missions.
   
   If you own a 360, you like RPGs (NOT turn-based), and sci-fi interests you, then you MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST own this game.



2. I have to agree, this publication have typo errors, uneven sized fonts, unacceptable wrongly inserted words/phrases, missing sections etc.
   
   The reason I bought this was because they bundled it together with the art book (which would cost more if bought separately).
   
   Doing such sloppy work and knowing people will buy this because of the Mass Effect name, Prima should be ashamed of themselves (or is that a word not in their vocabulary)



3. This book has everything you need to save the universe from Saren. Everything. Walkthrough includes bot Paragon and Renagade choices. A must have really.



4. I dont understand why people waste their hard earned money on Game Guides...i mean not only can you find strategy on the internet but in the case of Mass Effect it is a pretty straight forward game. I've beaten the game on Hardcore mode and I'm working on Insanity and I have used no game guide at all. Stop wasting your money and just play the game



5. 
   You've seen all the reviews above. So I'll be brief. This is a guide on what all the who's and what's and fiddly bits are in the game. The 1st few chapters are a perfect primer for getting your head around the game mechanics and concepts. Especially if you are a person with a busy schedule (and or family) whom can't spend hours on end in front of the screen. You don't have to use the walk-through, but it's nice to get you out of sticky spots.
   
   Definitely recommend this as a buy!

5 comments about Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. Nothing long winded, Prima guides are great and so is this one. If you want to get the most out of your gameplay you can't go wrong with Prima. By the way, Super Smash Bros Brawl is so freakin' fun.



2. I bought this guide at my local gamestop for 19.95. Right when I got it, I tore open the packaging and read it from cover to back. I was happy and unhappy.
   
   I liked the fact that it gave you a heads-up on the items and assist trophies. It gave you some strategies and home-run and target strategies, also. This is almost the first half of the book! What they really didn't need, however, was a complete section for every sticker possible. That ticked me off.
   
   Now we get to the stage and character strategies. I really wanted a stage map of all the levels saying "hazard here" or "loose block here" or something. All we got were a few small photos and a layout of the level. It was kind of helpful but pretty much all it took into account for was the hazards an tiers.
   
   Charcter strategies, however, were spot on. I loved that section. It gave you a bio, their moveset, some strategies with them, their weight class and KO potential, and even what to expect when fighting against them. It rated the character on offense, defense, final smash, speed, throwing ability, and projectile. It also gave you an overall rating for them.
   
   In conclusion, I would buy this strategy guide for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I wouldn't, however, expect much from it or pay 20 bucks for this.



3. My grandson, for his 9th birthday, received a wide selection of gifts including new Wii games. But once he opened the Super Smash Bros. Brawl book he was totally involved. It was by far his #1 gift.



4. I don't buy guides that often, but this one was pretty cheap, and an official Nintendo product (well, it does have the official quality seal). Everything about the guide is very good, the quality of the paper, the high resolution pictures and everything is presented in a very beautifull way. The chapters aren't very structured, but everything you need to know about the game is there! Its a gorgeous collection of everything that's in the game. The only thing missing is the online strategies .... I would recommend it to all the Smash Bros or Nintendo fans!



5. Nintendo fans have been waiting for it for 7 years, and it finally was released: Super Smash Brothers Brawl! Along with the game, PrimaGames made a guide for the game, but Nintendo Power still does not appear with their guide for the game.
   
   Like all guides, this one starts out with the Controls and more basic stuff. This stuff is good for newcomers to the Smash Bros., series but really isn't of any use for veterans. Anyway, it's there.
   
   Finally, we get to the real guide. There are strategies for Home-Run Contest, as well as Target Test. Up next are Stage Strategies, which really just detailed overviews.
   
   Next up is the guide for the Events, as well as Classic Mode. Then we get to the guide for Subspace Emissary. This brings the guide down slightly. Barely any screenshots for the levels and short strrategy. Don't forget that there's no maps whatsoever.
   
   After that is the Character Guide. This is where the guide really stands out. The guide rates characters 1-10 on 6 categories, and then Overall. It lists theie Special Moves and Final Smash, but sadly not full movesets. Then there's strategies for the character, KO Potential and their weight, and even strategies for fighting against them!
   
   Finally, the last two pages support secrets of the game. The writing is small, but at least it's there!
   
   Overall, the guide is very unorganized and would have gotten a 3/5 from me, but the Character Guide gets it up to a 4/5.

5 comments about World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Official Strategy Guide (World of Warcraft).

1. This book follows a great wealth of wow books yet this one doesnt really help you much with the expansion, save your money.



2. I only paid about one quarter of the price all the stores were asking for this item. It was shiped quickly, and was shrinkwrapped and brand new. Couldn't ask for a better deal.



3. I got this guide because I was having difficulty figuring out where certain places were and where the Horde villages were. This guide was definitely helpful there. Unfortunately, it didn't really give too much more information than that. At least nothing that you couldn't get on some of the websites there are. It does not elaborate on any quest information or give you any intel on the dungeons. I would recommend this to anyone looking for information on who is in what village and what sort of besties are where. But other than that, just go to one of the many websites that are out there for WoW.



4. i got for uh, bathroom reading, but this guide doesn't really tell you much. 1/2 the guide is like... weapon / armor listings, which are way outdated & kinda pointless.



5. Again Bardy Games has brought us another helpful guide. As the people of Blizzard have again constructed another series of complex worlds to explore it is great to have a guide.
   So many places, quests and NPC's it is nice to have the guide to turn to.
   Keep up the good work and thank you.

5 comments about Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life.

1. I got quite alot out of this book. There are a lot of resources that you wont find in world. Templates, textures, tutorials, and advice. All of it good. I just wish that there was a little bit more detail. It seems that no matter how much I learn from books, websites and in world I am always still behind the eight ball. So buy it YES for sure but be prepared to go right back to your search for more knowledge. Hopefully someone will write a tome on just the art of building and designing Structures someday soon.



2. Finally, a one stop book that tells me everything I need to know to improve and expand my experience with Second Life. While the Second Life tutorials online are okay this books clearly explains both the simple and complex options for customizability and expansion with excellent examples and sample code that is effective and clearly stated. If you are looking for the ideal reference for beginners and experienced users you can't get much better than this book.



3. This is a very useful book for people who have gotten used to the basics of Second Life. It gives helpful information on a variety of areas. I have recommended it personally to a number of people and am about to buy a second copy for my office.



4. Got to admit this one is a whole lot better then the first. Pass on the first and buy this one



5. If your into Building Things, Aimee Weber's "Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life" would be a good choice. She and her co authors reaquaint you with the Editing box and have a breif introduction to Scripting. There are numerous tutorials and links to cool things others have done. The book comes with a free CD with the Tutorials and some extras but some of the contents match that of Second Life:The User's Guide.
   
   I found the tutorials very easy to use and learn.

2 comments about THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. I love having lists of items for RPGs and this guide provides plenty. Details for clothing and buttons are very well laid out. The guide also provides a walkthrough for hte game but I have not used that enough to give a good opinion. If you like having details for items in RPGs then this is a great accessory to a terrific game.



2. The guide is decent and helps you get through the game The World Ends With You. Includes an easy to follow walk-through as well as appendices to useful information about Threads, Noise database, Pin guide. Gives you information about the extra missions after you clear the game. I found the Pin guide most useful.
   
   This guide is not with out a few flaws such as incorrect information about pin evolutions and stating repeatedly that certain pins come from "big" noise when it should have said "pig". Not a big deal though the guide in it's entirety is helpful and the flaws are easily spotted and don't affect your ability to play the game well.
   
   I should also mention that the walk-through is only partially spoiler free. There are a few times when reading the walk-through will spoil a few story elements but it does keep some of the more important spoilers a secret.

5 comments about Halo 3: The Official Strategy Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. Very detailed strategy guide. The artwork is awesome and the level of explanation from the writers is incredible. A must have for any Halo fan.



2. There are some good tips and advice in the pages of this guide for legendary which I beat, but I was disappointed that they did not show the location of the skulls. It is fun to read through the guide to find some interesting advice. Its worth buying for this price. Enjoy



3. This is very helpful for game play.I would greatly encourage the xbox live gamer to get it because it tells the respawn times for the weapons on each multiplayer map.



4. I am not a "gamer" This was a purchase for my grandson at christmas. I am able to relate to his delight. Further, I feel that as intense as this game is the guide book was a good thing to include with the X-box and Halo game.Jamie says it is "way cool" with real great tips and tricks. I bet that you did not think that it was possible to get a big old bear hug from a 13 year old boy in front of his friends.



5. i just bought this iteam.i love halo...i also just orderd halo3 ...i was wondering what is the content of the guid...help would be great

5 comments about Lost Odyssey: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. Really helps with hidden treasures etc. Sometimes I wish it was a little clearer but all in all a great help.



2. Very complete guide, easy to follow and very usefull maps. it may need a little more follow up with some of the items of the game, since there is an achievement for this task. Nevertheless they are listed and it`s easy to know how to get them.



3. This guide is actually very good, it can really get you to acomplish 100% achivements. Recomended.



4. My favorites games are Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, VII, Xenogears and Vagrant Story. If you share my taste maybe enjoy this one. Good story and the main character (Kaim) it's great.



5. well the game is ok not the best rpg i have played. will sell this on ebay

5 comments about Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. My 9-year-old grandson received the guide and the game for Christmas. He used the guide often and found it to be helpful and easy to use. It provides good definitions and directions. It helped him find treasure chest items that he otherwise would not have found. He found some information to be confusing, for example: at the end of the fire temple, it was hard to defeat the boss because the directions were not clear. In spite of this, he loved the guidebook.



2. I recieved The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for my DS lite on Christmas. After that, I searched for the matching Guidebook, since I like being 'complete' and guide books point out all the secrets & bonuses in a game that you'd probably never find otherwise. As a rule, I normally only purchase the Official Nintendo Power Strategy guides, but due to nintendo power's hiatus and changing the writers of nintendo power magazine, I soon found out that there was no official nintendo power guide for phantom hourglass .. and normally I don't like third party guides or third party merchandise. But since I needed a guide and this was basically the 'official' one, I bought it while I was in canada (it came to about CAD $27.) I have since beaten the game, with only 2 treasure maps and a bunch of ship parts to find. So, I bought prima's paper-back 'Premiere' Guide. (There was also the Hardcover guide which came with a bunch of stuff, but I liked this one more, plus, that one was more expensive.)
   
   However .. there are a few gripes about this guide, even though it is well laid out, for the most part, well written, well designed, comes with a poster and a checklist, etc .. and those are:
   
   a few spelling/grammar errors
   some things aren't as clear as they could be
   a checklist for the different kinds of fish would have been nice
   
   Now, for a established company that produces game guides, I would expect them to at least proof read or spell check their guides before actually printing and selling them. It doesn't feel too great when you purchase something for this amount and the company didn't even take the time to spell check for any errors.
   
   Other then that, the checklist was handy and the poster was nice. The guide is actually VERY thick and heavy, and it has a extensive part on battle mode.
   
   Imo, Nintendo Guides are usually the best.



3. Has everything you could possible think of or need to help you with the game. Very illustrative too, pictures for everything demonstrating their techniques.



4. This game is incredible. The clarity on the Nintendo DS and the gameplay is Awesome. Highly recommend this game if you are a Zelda fan. And purchasing from Amazon.com has always been a pleasure! I have not been let down yet.



5. Most of the info in the book seems to be accurate. There are a couple spots in the game that I had to look some manuevers up online because the book either wasn't clear or omitted certain instructions. Again, for the most part the book is a lifesaver! :-)

5 comments about Beginning XNA 2.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Game Programming).

1. well,this book is not for just anyone, i guess it will only help those that are half way there. i was lost in the first step. coz all they want you to do is copy the codes and run then and then make you think that you did it.i recomend this book for anyone who alread knows what they are doing.



2. First off, I will say that of the 4 XNA books I own, this one is easily of the best quality. It covers a substantial amount of material but manages to maintain only a small code-base, which is excellent for learning purposes and maintenance.
   
   If you are looking to not only understand 2D and 3D games, but also Live integration, networking, scene management, audio processing and overall project management, it's in here. Really. Some of it is slipped in so subtly that you won't notice you learned it until after the fact. Kudos to the authors.
   
   If you don't know C#, I would highly recommend you go learn a bit about it (particularly in ASP .NET 2.0 or higher, due to the use of generics.) If you don't know the language this uses, you will indeed be lost. Otherwise this is an excellent introduction to the topic, and building your own network-enabled 2D game or your own 3rd-person, Gears of War-style shooter is quite empowering.
   
   Face it, game development is a difficult task that encompasses many areas of required expertise. You can't get a book to help you much more than this one does.



3. You should understand C# code before diving into this book. I tried online tutorials and nothing comes close to just reading and using this book! Although there were a few places where I had to use an online resource to figure out exactly what the author was talking about, it still supasses any other online XNA intro.



4. This is a great book to help you get started with XNA. I like the fact that it's straight and to the point with no fluff. Covers 2D and 3D game programming including skeletal animation. All sample code compiles and runs as advertised and is explained in detail. I had a bad experience with another XNA book so I'm glad I found this one.



5. This book doesn't beat around the bush, which can be a good thing for an already experienced developer. However if you aren't experienced it could easily leave you lost. If you are a "novice" like the book claims to cater too you'll probably never get to them without further reading from other materials.
   
   The QC for this book was very poorly done. There are tons of errors in the spelling and in the code. They completely forgot to explain certain things and then expect you to have figured them out on your own later.
   
   The book covers a decent amount of useful information, but it seems like they just pushed it out a bit too soon. If they had gone through the tutorials and tried them out and made sure all the steps were covered, it would have been a lot nicer to learn with. Instead the tutorials left me lost most of the time. I spent hours trying to figure out what steps they forgot to include.
   
   I think this book could be quite a useful tool if you are already well versed in the .net C# environment. However I would recommend a different approach if you have little C# experience.

5 comments about World of Warcraft Strategy Collection 2008.

1. Order this if it's cheaper than getting the strategy guide and the dungeon companion separately. The Atlas is a waste, but the other two books will help out. The strategy guide is an excellent bathroom read. The dungeon companion is great when you need to head straight for the bosses in any of the instances.



2. I doubt it's possible for a new player to be competitive without these guides or their web-based equivalent. Since you're reading this on Amazon, it seems likely that you have a computer but want a book. These will do the job. Statistics, strategy, tactics, and a complete inventory of everything that can be inventoried: it's all here. Without reading these guides I would have been clueless about the subtle balance of abilities and equipment that make up a good fighter or a good team. The section on etiquette is an especially nice touch: Warcraft is not just for keyboard bullies.
   
   The writing style is friendly but businesslike and the authors never lose sight of the ultimate goal: to have fun. One star off for cheesy proofreading and type so small (especially the glossary) that it almost requires a magnifying glass to read.
   
   For all but the most casual player, this is a no-brainer. Buy it or get hammered by the guys that did.



3. This is a great collection for someone brand new to the game. The Atlas is exactly that, it is a map book... the detailed maps of the various towns were very helpful for finding specific characters that you need to interact with,but there really are no specifics on the world maps. The Master Strategy Guide is extremely general, it gives a general overview of how to approach the game, but NO specifics. The book has a nice breakdown of what classes work best so that you can pick one that matches your style. What is MOST helpful (to me) is a list of almost all of the quests available, organized by location. There are hundreds of quests available in the game, it is really nice to be able to reference them, and see what the rewards are (for people with short memories, checking them off as you go). The last book is the BEST in my opinion, the Dungeon Companion is an awesome guide for instances (dungeons). There are decent maps, and a good breakdown of what type of enemies you'll encounter, and how to handle them. The smartest part of the Dungeon Companion is that it lists each quest that is related to the Dungeon. This is great for new players otherwise you'll get a quest, go through the entire instance, then find out that there is another quest you need to complete so you have to go through the whole dungeon again. Instead, using the Dungeon Companion, you figure out which quests you need, sign up for them all ahead of time, and you are ready to go!
   Experienced players will get almost no use out of the atlas and Master Guide, and very little use out of the Dungeon Companion, and yes, most of the information found in these books is available online, but for someone BRAND new to WoW like myself, i found these books to be invaluable, and getting all three for a discounted price was an awesome deal.
   Please note, this set was created before the Burning Crusades expansion, so there are NO details on the stuff that was added for that. If you are going to jump into WoW headfirst like i did... get this set, get the Burning Crusades expansion, and get the Burning Crusades Strategy guide. By the time you get wow,BC,the strategy pack, and the BC Strategy guide, you will be into it for over $100, but you will have a very strong understanding of the game, and you will avoid a lot of 'newb' errors.



4. This has been a great help in learning the game. The atlas alone has helped me check that I've covered all of a new area, and taken advantage of available quests. Organizes information better than the websites do.
   
   --aw



5. As said in the title, this product contains information that is easily accessed for free over the internet. The only exclusive features it truly has are the Penny Arcade comics. If you value your money, then use Google, not Brady.