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

5 comments about The Sims 2 FreeTime: Prima Official Game Guide.

1. This book is a must for anyone that plays Sims2. There is so much information & hints that it is well worth it.



2. The game guide is very helpful. We are always referring back to it for one thing or another. For me it's a must have item for the new EPs.



3. I figured out most of it before I got the book , but is helpful for different career . I like all of mt Prima books for my Sims games.The Sims 2: FreeTime



4. EA released a patch to fix this, but then recalled the patch with no word as to when (or if) it will be released again. Do not buy this until it has been confirmed that a new patch has been released, it is basically unplayable as is...



5. If you play Sims then consider adding this game.Freetime is a great way to keep your Sims happy and entertained.There are some surprises that are amusing.If you have never added a pack to your Sims this one would be a great addition! It takes a bit of time to see your Sim get to the max,but it is worth it!!!

5 comments about World of Warcraft Bestiary (Brady Games Official Strategy Guide) (Brady Games Official Strategy Guide) (Brady Games Official Strategy Guide).

1. Why do most folks want from a book like this? Well, you would expect to see a fairly comprehensive listing of the monsters that you meet in World of Warcraft, but you should get more. An effective book would not only provide very basic information, but indicate where these monsters roam and maybe a line or two of information about what/who they are. You won't find any of that extra information here and it is very disappointing. Thumbing through the book, you stumble upon interesting creatures and you wonder, "Hmmm where will I see this one?" yet the book provides zero information in this regard.
   
   The book's organization is rather odd, they don't put similar monsters together because they state that more significant mobs of that species deserve their own entry. Nice concept, but in the end that means there is zero reference that those other significant mobs exist if you only read the main entry for that species. To make matters worse, they have placed an index in the back of the book requiring you to look up mobs by other names that aren't indicated by those other names in the main listings.
   
   Part of the biggest attraction to Warcraft is the extensive lore, and Brady missed a large opportunity to provide fans with lore/context/history on all of these monsters. In the end, it is more of a pretty picture book with information that could have been gleaned online with much more detail. Brady Games really missed the point of a book like this and how valuable it could have been. It just leaves you wanting more than it offers and doing more research on WowHead or Thottbot to get that info. For that reason, the book loses two stars in my review. It might be better to pick up this one on the markdown table somewhere.
   
   One interesting item that it does show you is how often Blizzard utilizes the same character models with just a few different colors!



2. Excellent product and is a pretty good help for looking up beasts info in the game. It does help to let you know what you may be up against in a given area.



3. This book is purely academic, with no applicable use in the game. Yes, it gives you the stats, etc, but nothing else. If the book was going to be of any use, it needs to include the location of the mobs, what they drop, and any quests (if any) they're the target of.



4. I concur with the other reviews of this book. Without disclosing the actual location of NPC this book is not very useful. Considering the other Dungeon manuals also include the loot that drops from bosses this information could also have been included.
   
   Pass on this book and get the strategy guide or the dungeon guides instead.



5. When I heard Bradygames was making this guide, I was excited! Wow, comprehensive information about all the denizens of World of Warcraft in my lap! No more looking them up individually online!
   
   Sadly, this guide is woefully lacking such key information as:
   - Where they are located (even a general zone would've been helpful)
   - Immunities/weaknesses
   - Elite/Non-Elite
   
   Because of this, I find myself not looking anything up in this guide, and still go online for all of my bestiary needs.
   
   If you just want to know how many different creatures inhabit World of Warcraft, and want to see what so-and-so boss looks like, then this guide is an interesting read. If you need any crucial information to keep you alive in an encounter, or even just to FIND a creature, this guide is really no help at all.

5 comments about Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games.

1. Best book discussing online worlds that I've read.
   
   The author's background in economics makes for an interesting perspective. He goes to great lengths to point out where and how virtual worlds cross over into the "real" world.
   
   He doesn't, however, take things quite as far as I expected. For instance, he doesn't suggest that any interaction, social or otherwise, if conducted online might well be considered as having occurred in a virtual world. And he doesn't spend any effort exploring online to offline gestural equivalence.
   
   But I don't think he can be faulted. There's enough material in this area to fill several volumes. What he does cover, he makes accessible, interesting, and relevant.
   
   [...]



2. To be honest I was expecting more on this book.It didnt tell all the info I wanted to know and the author focus too much on 2D games like Everquest and not so much in 3D games like Second Life.In most of the book the author is a little superficial in his analysis,he could go deeper.However the book is good for people who wanna have a general idea about on line games,specially Everquest,World of Warcraft and Star Wars.



3. Were this book explicitly a marketing tool for virtual worlds, I would say job well done. But as a work of scholarship, it is downright embarrassing. The only thing I have to say for it is that the economic analysis in part II does not seem patently ridiculous, but the same cannot be said about the political analysis, and both are predicated on the validity of part I's predictions of the growth and impact of virtual worlds. His logic explaining this predicted growth can only be referred to as spurious.
   
   Published in 2006, this book is already dated, and in ways relevant to the author's predictions. His prediction that passive TV watching will decline in favor of virtual worlds is only half-true: instead, we have a flourishing YouTube where people interact with passive media by creating more passive media. The niche of on-line communication medium has been filled by social networking sites. The author predicts that people who grow up with technology will be drawn to virtual worlds, but this has not been the case. The adoption rate of virtual worlds among teenagers pales in comparison to the use of text messaging, social network sites, and other available technologies. This comes as a surprise given how inherently compelling he portrays these virtual worlds.
   
   Castronova does not seem to take into consideration the reality of differing preferences. He claims the "natural" place for getting together is cyberspace, and there's no reason to type when you can talk. This kind of thinking permeates his discussion of the future growth of synthetic worlds. Because they can offer, for a certain value of "offer", interaction with a potentially more pleasant world, this does not mean that everyone down on their luck will flock to them-- regardless of how realistic the worlds may get. I think it would be difficult to argue that even enough of a critical mass for the phenomena he describes in part II has the right kind of inclinations to "live" completely in virtual worlds.
   
   Castronova frequently employs the rhetorical device of referring to these worlds and everything about them as "real". Certainly, they are "real" in the sense that they are something that people occupy their actual time with, but this does not make them "real" in the sense of an equal alternative to actual life. Throughout the book he uses terminology to blur the line between the two meanings of "real", presumably with the goal of validating his claims about the importance of virtual worlds. He talks about it as a "way of life", about the players as "migrants", and that they have the "potential to become permanent homes for the conscious self" (p. 238). He claims game makers should allow avatars to have all the same human rights in-game as their players do in the real world. It's an argument that only makes sense if you accept that there's no fundamental difference between virtual worlds and the real worlds, and that's a claim that has a much higher burden of proof than his tricky rhetoric can meet.
   
   Virtual worlds are a hot topic, and the buzz surrounding them has allowed a scholar to put out absolute crap, assured that the audience will call it "stimulating", "important" and "insightful". If you're going to read this book, cut through the hype and read with an eye towards the logic of his argument. But other than as a first-hand view of the type of faulty reasoning used to convince people that virtual worlds are the Next Big Thing, it's not worth the read.



4. It is impossible to change the address when you first have placed the purchase. It makes it difficult when you the moment you buy the book discover that you made an error (wrong address), and then it is already to late to change the address. What can you do? Probably nothing, other than accept that you lost your money, and buy the book elsewhere.



5. This book was written for people who have heard about online "synthetic" (the author avoids using the over-hyped term "virtual") online worlds such as "World of Warcraft" or "Second Life", and are curious, but assume it's just some nerds in basements, not tens of millions of "ordinary" people engaged in near-billion dollar economies.
   
   If you already have a rough idea of what's going on (you don't need to be an active "citizen" in any of these worlds for that), then the book doesn't have all that much to offer, though there is a great chapter on economics that discusses strategies for avoiding inflation ("MUDflation"), and the chapter on politics may stimulate some thoughts.
   
   The book could have been more interesting if the author had been able to go into more detail and compare different online economies, and get an insider's perspective on why it is that things are the way the are (incl. failed experiments etc). I'd also have liked to see a less shallow discussion of the psychology behind all of this -- is the reason people kill each other online when they can just because that's the nature of humans, and is the reason South Koreans are way ahead online simply down to bandwidth rather than cultural differences?
   
   The book is also (inevitably) a bit outdated. The author frequently mentions how virtual items are traded on Ebay; Ebay prohibited sales of items from World of Warcraft and EverQuest beginning of 2007. There is no mention of the "farming" phenomenon. And I was surprised that the book didn't mention Second Life (which I'd imagine should be more interesting than most fantasy worlds from an economist's point of view) much except in passing.

5 comments about Fire Emblem (Wii): Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. it helped
   
   the end
   
   
   
   GOOD GAME!!!



2. I strongly discourage the purchase of this guide. Prima demonstrates in this guide that, yet again, if you can't play the game their way, you can't play it at all. The guide is set up in a step-by-step format, telling you specifically what characters to be used, and when they are to be used, turn-by-turn. Because of Fire Emblem's chanciness, the advice offered by this guide is just short of absolutely useless. Utter garbage. Its sole saving grace is the art featured throughout the book.



3. The stategies offer is so-so.
   Too little artworks.
   Flaws and inaccuracy in the data section.



4. This book is a great help for beginners and helps you reveal secret items around every corner within the game. But if you're planning not to spoil yourself like I myself. My words to you would be, not to buy it and experience all the action without the unnecessary spoilers for upcoming battles.



5. When people buy strategy guides there are looking for a collection of facts that will allow them to develop a better strategy. This "guide" is little more than the author's turn-by-turn diary of the way he played the game. The enemy locations and stats are often wrong and only offered for Normal Mode, so if you're playing easy of hard mode you're on your own. The maps are often too dark or too small to get a good idea of how to approach the chapter (especially the one with the bridge). There is hardly any artwork, just screen shots of the game Dan Birlew (author) played. Its almost as if Prima new this guide sucked when they released it with the name premiere edition, certainly suggesting it wouldn't be the only edition. I really wish Nintendo Power would make their own (instead of teaming up with Prima) because their efforts on previous fire emblem game guides were far superior.

4 comments about Devil May Cry 4: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. The guide helped me alot and especially the hidden orbs which helped me level up alot. Definitely recommend the guide.



2. I have the game know i have the guide book its handy when your playing the game it tells you how to get more orbs and teaches you more techneqies. A helpfull book and the game is great to great book and great game.



3. THIS GAME GUIDE WAS GOOD. IT IS EASY TO FIND THE ITEMS AND SOLVE THE MISSIONS. ALSO THIS GAME GUIDE WAS DESCRIBE WELL THE STORY LINE. I LIKE IT.



4. This book helped with the game. I am the wrong market for the book.

5 comments about Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. If you're knee-deep into Dragon Quest and you're thinking about buying this strategy guide, don't hesitate. This is the most well constructed guide I have ever used. There weren't any big spoilers and there wasn't a 'take you by the hand because you don't know how to play games' walkthrough section.
   
   This is a great guide. It has all of the items, most of the chest locations, extensive bestiary, great alchemy info that you can easily cross reference with other sections, and pages on the different locations with recommended level info. The illustrations are beautiful, and the format is well presented. I find myself constantly using this guide while, at the same time, feeling like I am figuring out the game for myself. People who didn't like this guide were probably looking for a little more 'hand holding.' Nothing wrong with that, but I preferred this format.



2. This guide does have great info and it's huge has lots of maps but it doesn't hold your hand and tell ya how to get from point A to B. Doesn't give away any story but there's alot of missing infomation i was more frustrated because the lack of info. It give's info on some aspects of the game while others just non-existent. This is more of a game atlas then a game guide with some side information i suggest gamefaqs or other online sites be better if you really want to have a guide then i suggest getting the piggyback uk version of the guide be bit more expensive but has full info and walkthrough i got mine at amazon.co.uk i give the piggyback version 5 stars but this guides just falls quite bit short as a game guide.



3. The good about this guide is that it is NOT a walkthrough, is a GUIDE, meaning that you don't get spoilers of any kind, just a guide to optional interesting items, a bestiary, treasure chest locations and maps of cities, a guide, if you want someone to tell you where to move the cursor you are probably better off with some IGN text one. To me this is a good thing because you still have the story to look forward to and don't have to worry about impossible mazes or whatever, and it is fair.



4. This is useful to use along with online walkthroughs. A detailed walkthrough, with specific strategy suggestions for each boss, would require a book much longer than this one. This book does give a primer on how to begin and then goes on to describe the various battle skills and spells, as well as handy descriptions and recipes of armor and weapons and items. The maps are nice also. This book has enough information to play the game, even without the walkthroughs. The walkthroughs, though, give some protection from the trauma of being beaten in battle and their suggestions can get you through parts of the game more speedily.



5. Was delivered in perfect condition and very quickly. A must for anyone who wants to have 100% completion of the game.

2 comments about God of War: Chains of Olympus Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides) (Bradygames Official Strategy Guides).

1. This guide is well laid out. The bestiary, photos, and campaign walkthrough are top notch. I really liked the sections that explained the Greek myths, which provided extra background info about the characters in the game. It was definitely an abbreviated history lesson. The guide also contains lots of concept art in the back. You also get a nice rundown of all the hitpoints for all the enemies. All the combos are explained. If you are a fan of the series, you can't go wrong with this little guide.



2. The GoW guides are some of the best out there because the include every tiny bit on what you have to do in the game. I also liked that the Bestilery has improved and is a lot more clear. The only problem I have with this is that it doesnt show you the bonus costumes that you unlock as Kratos. So overall this is a very good guide and it comes in handy a lot.

3 comments about God of War II Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series).

1. My son loved the book. It arrived in a very timely manner and has been very helpful for his video game.



2. This Book is Great for me and my son we are having a great time with the hint to use when we both get stuck



3. This is a great strategy guide to have if you do not log in as many hours playing like you would like to and tend to get lost where you are at once you start to play again. The maps and the written walk through is absolutely needed for a fan of this series.

5 comments about The Physics of Star Trek.

1. I really enjoyed this book, it really went in depth on how or if certain technologies of Trek work or don't. Be warned, that it can get very scientific, and to the untrained eye may appear to use more techno-babble then trek itself. However, it is laid out in a very concise manner, with several diagrams as well.



2. Some things in the 'Startrek Physics' are possible..
   
   Maybe not as denoted in the series/movies but in some fashion.
   Let me list items that could be considered TREK technology.
   
   
   1. Cellphones (though more in style/form that fact).
   2. Visor (the visor used in STNG) is real today.
   Certain kinds of blindness can see 2d B&W with this visor.
   ITs been around for years.
   3. Pc's ... in a way the original STartrek could have had todays pc's or similar ...
   
   4. Some of our medical technology is a direct cause from the original startrek in that the major inventor of much of our medical stuff in ER is from a person who watched startrek as a kid and grewup specifically to invent as much ST stuff as he could.
   
   Yes many things in SCIFI are not possible, but much of it is in some fashion.
   
   Besides, often what is impossible today, is often possible tomorrow.
   
   Remember these comments:
   1. We wont need more than 5 computers in the whole world.
   IBM (I think).
   2. We will never need more than 640k (BILL Gates, confirmed).
   3. We might as well shutdown the office, everything that can
   be invented, has been invented. (Patent office I belive).
   
   AMong others,
   Myself, I bet my best friend in 1976, that some variation of computers like starttrek would be around in less than 5 years.
   Two years later, he paid up, as I began using computers that could be linked up to be exactly that. (Slower obviously but there).



3. This a not-so technical book that many Star Trek fans will love. Of course it requires a previous knowledge of general physics but it is very good. I enjoyed reading it and of course I have to have a college physics book by my side to get the most of it.



4. Chances are that if you consider a complicated and thought-provoking series like Star Trek to be entertaining, then you'll find Lawrence Krauss's discussions of scientific realities and almost realities to be similarly enthralling, especially when he throws some good discourse on ethics into the mix. I am not a science person by any stretch of the imagination. Math hurts my brain, 10th grade Chemistry bored me silly, and I'm relatively comfortable in trusting that Geordi LaForge knows what he's talking about when he reels off explanations of matter/anti-matter mixing, force field frequencies, and inertial dampeners. Yet Krauss masters a balance between complexity and accessibility in his book, making everything easily understandable even while helping you to comprehend the basics of cutting edge physical laws and theories. This guy should be everyone's first science teacher.
   
   Krauss' exploration is just fascinating, whether in discussing how transporters might work (do you actually transmit the atoms or simply destroy the original person and clone them on the other end? How are consciousness, memory, and the soul transmitted?), or the problems involved with faster than light speed travel and time relativity. Krauss isn't just some holier than thou critic who seeks to tear apart the science of Star Trek, either. Instead, he offers possible explanations for how much of the technology might actually be able to work, all while pointing out that, a decade and a half later, many of the imaginary scientific concepts used in these shows have turned out to be more accurate than not.
   
   This is a book written for those of us that enjoy the scientific and ethical aspects of Star Trek (and this book focuses primarily on Next Generation). If that's the case for you, then "The Physics of Star Trek" is the logical next step. It's far more accessible than the Next Generation Technical Manual, and it's far more rewarding, as well.
   
   **Note: This review was based upon the original 1995 printing of "The Physics of Star Trek." Amazon is selling a version that was last revised in 2007. Twelve years of cutting edge science have, no doubt, had a transforming impact upon the book since then.



5. Need a crash course in how to create your own warp drive (hint, bend spacetime behind so that it moves away and in front so that they move closer)? Or perhaps want to know what Star Trek writers got right (and horribly wrong)? Well then this is a book for you. Not terribly technical, Krauss does an excellent job of explaining complicated theories so a dummy like me can comprehend them and with a joke.