4 comments about Assassin's Creed Limited Edition Art Book: Prima Official Game Guide (N/a) (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. I am an (allmost 60) year old lady , I have no man, BUT I've got the X-box.....playstation 2 and 3,... nintendo 64..., gamcube and the WII of course, I like action adventure en button-bashing in my games, a few years ago I played with my sons ( the parts I could't-do.... not quick enough)but they arn't living at home anymore (they are 30) so I have to try by myself......sigh... but with this book as clear as it is and beautifull pictures,!!! I am sure I can get a looooong way trough..



2. Cuando adquiri la edición de coleccionistas de Assassins Creed lo hice por el libro de arte que pense venia con el juego. Realmente venia tan solo un previo lo cual me decepciono bastante (aunque por el comic y la figurilla todavia vale la pena). Habia quedado con la curiosidad de ver todo ese trabajo detras del juego asi que decidi buscar el verdadero libro de Arte. Quede sorprendido por el nivel de detalle y buen trabajo que hicieron con el libro. Esta divido por secciones, tocando en cada segmento a personajes (principales y secundarios), escenarios, etc. Esta tan bien hecho que me parecio corto, queria mas, aun cuando son alrededor de 150 paginas dedicadas al arte de este juego. Si estudias ilustración, arte, amas los video juegos, este libro no puede faltar en tu coleccion. El juego no es perfecto, pero si es bastante bueno y entretenido. Si embargo todavia se queda corto tratando de reflejar todo el trabajo y estetica que los chicos de Ubi realizaron para llegar hasta ahi. En mi blog, camburpinton.tv le dedique un par de post a este excelente libro.



3. I haven't played Assassin's Creed, nor do I have a platform that supports it - I just wanted to mention that up front. I'm a fan and collector of conceptual art books, and after having seen the trailers and commercials for this game, I decided to go ahead and get this book. It's a nice book, certainly, chock-full of illustrations that helped in the conceptualization of the game, everything from the minutiae of the main character's costume, to various images of knights, peasants, etc. It's nicely produced, printed of good paper, and has a sturdy hardcover binding. I suppose why this book gets 3 stars is because there's nothing here that is especially eye-popping or earth-shattering here: while the art is well done, it's fairly ordinary and I wish there were more interesting designs, etc. Additionally, the commentary text seems to have been hurriedly edited, as I noted some typos, etc. I'd recommend this book for conceptual art collectors and, probably, diehard fans of the game.



4. Assassin's Creed limited Edition Artwork has a lot of production design into the riveting game by Ubisoft. You will be drawn into the production as these programmers and artist re-create the Holy Land of 1191. Actual city layouts are identical to the time period, masses of people move in and out and great care was taken in the design of their clothings, their look and their manners. All of this described in great detail in the pages of this book. One of the best how-it-was-made guides.

5 comments about The Art of World of Warcraft.

1. I've always been impressed with the artwork with Warcraft, so books like these are always a treat. Although this one didn't have as much artwork as the first artbook the released "the Art of Warcraft", it still made an impact.



2. Actually I had bought the first concept book from blizzard and loved it. And when I found that it was available through amazon I was relieved becuase it was part of limited edition package. But anyhow the delievery was quick and I am pleased with the art. Alot to look at and get inspired from.



3. The book I got was in excellent condition, and when I looked through it. Wow! I was blown away. It's extraordinary. Such and incredible piece of art! There is so much to learn from the artists in it, and it'll be such a great inspiration. One of the best books I have ever bought!



4. This book is a fantastic display of artwork. Anyone who enjoys conceptual artwork will enjoy this book. The hardback cover makes it a nice collectors item. The book itself has sketch work, as well as full color renderings, and everything in between. The amount of detail is amazing. The artists at Blizzard definately know their stuff, and it clearly shows in this book. A great gift for any fan of Warcraft or conceptual artwork in general.



5. I personally am a HUGE fan of video game art books. This book has over 200 pages of wonderful artwork. It exceeded all of my expectations. It has everything from in-game graphics, to rough sketches of weapons. Some images even have some amusing notes from the artists. Again, a most for any collection. Makes a great coffee table book.

No comments about Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

3 comments about NCAA Football 09: Prima Official Game Guide (Ncaa Football).

1. This is a very informative book, but it's mainly geared for the Xbox 360 and PS3 games. There is some good info for the PS2 and Wii games.
   It gives good explanations on gameplay and the different formations and plays for both offense and defense. It explains what formations and plays are good for certain situations.
   The book breaks down all 120 FBS teams, offenses, defenses, formations used, favored plays, and impact players. It doesn't have the players names.
   It's a good reference for the questions asked in the Campus Legend mode exams. Mascot names, team nicknames,trophies, etc.
   Something like this in condensed form, and specific for each game console, should have been included in each game package.
   It's not a must have, just a decent supplement for the serious NCAA Football game series fan.



2. This is the first time I have ever purchased a game guide; I always felt like they were a rip off in some sense. However, our family has been playing NCAA Football on the XBOX for years and only recently started getting into the Dynasty mode and other in-depth features of the game.
   
   The booklet that comes with the game itself doesn't explain at all how to best utilize this and other advanced features, and we originally perused the internet for more information. Last year, we found one well-written FAQ on how to properly recruit, etc. However, when we purchased the '09 version, this was a recommended add-on and I decided we should give it a try. For anyone who has not utilized the extended features of the NCAA Football games, I highly recommend that you purchase this book if you want to greatly enhance and extend your playing time.



3. Good quality Prima guide. Very informative guide. Great pictures and info on top schools and small schools as well. Tendencies shown are nice. Good info on different modes.

No comments about Secret Codes 2008 (Secret Codes).

5 comments about World of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide.

1. It has everything you need to understand how to start a new character and get around the world of Azeroth. There were lots of good pointers on how to play the different races, the different classes and what servers would be best for your gameplaying style.



2. The guide is a good start for someone who has no idea about WOW. It gives details about what you should do as a beginner.
   
   For those who are already familiar with the basic stuff, this is still good as you can take this as a reference guide and use it whenver you need it.



3. For first time players you should invest in this book. It was a world of help to me. Have fun!



4. If you're very new to World of Warcraft, and have no access (or awareness) of the multiple websites that provide a lot of info and other guides to playing the game, this book would be useful for you. There are maps of most of the original WoW (not expansion) areas, as well as names, level info, and quest info. There's also some information on each class and race (again, not expansion).
   
   Again, there are websites that has every bit of info that this book has, and in a more updated state, but this book still is a good adjunct to that.
   
   Of course, if you haven't bought anything yet, I strongly recommend buying the battlechestWorld of Warcraft Battlechest, since you get this book, as well as 2 games, and the expansion guide with it. Just realize that I don't care for the expansion guide, but since anyone buying this guide is likely new to WoW, by the time they get to the expansion, they won't need the expansion guide anyway.



5. This is a great book for telling you who is in what village and that besties there are in what area. But that is where it ends. It does give information on the races, classes, and professions, but it is nothing that you couldn't get for free on the many websites out there for WoW.

2 comments about Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Media Consumers in a Digital Age.

1. Henry Jenkins provides an excellent step away from our normal expectations of media philosophers. Coming in between the doom-and-gloom media affect tradition and the corporate schlock Jenkins writes (and speaks!) for the fans.
   
   The book is a collection of articles set in three chapters: In the first, Jenkins lets us into the world of fandom (if you aren't there already) and more specifically his early focus- that of science fan-fiction. The second chapter, Going Digital, co-incides with his other 2006 book "Convergence Culture" in its mapping the flow of information and analyis of everyday Americans' change in their day-to-day. Finally, Columbine and Beyond (my favorite) looks at, esentially, the fear our elders have of new media and youth culture.



2. This was a case of looking at the title rather then the book. I picked it up thinking it would be about games and blogging. It does talk about it but more in a study of participatory culture.
   
   The book is a compendium of Professor Jenkins articles through the years.
   
   It's not bad if you are studying this topic.
   
   The first chapter I didn't care about and in fact skipped it. But I should say that is me as I really don't care to read excerpts of an interview. In this case it was Matt Hill interviewing Jenkins.
   
   There were articles about the culture of Star Trek and the efforts of the Gay community to get a gay character on the show. Interesting if you hadn't heard about it but I had known about the effort and even remember some of the shows mentioned.
   
   There are articles about violence and video games especially after the Columbine affair. Jenkins made some rather valid points about the perception of violence and the fact that often overlooked is the amount of teenagers that play video games versus those that actually commit violence. The fact that the violence in Saving Private Ryan is ok but the fantasy sequence in Basketball Diaries is not. The notorious Grand Theft Auto 3 is mentioned as well. I found it interesting that he was ambushed by Phil Donahue in the manner of Fox News. As Jenkins mentioned Phil turned to the Dark Side of broadcasting.
   
   The final chapter involved and analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer between Jenkins and his son. It bored me but that is because this was not something I was expecting to read.
   
   Overall, it's not a bad book if you are into this type of study. It really didn't interest me overall. But, as I mentioned I was not expecting to read this type of topic.

No comments about 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds.

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 Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy Guide.

1. For an "official strategy guide", this book is very short on strategy.
   
   Apparently, the idea with this book was to make it more interactive. It frequently points you to an official Square company website and has you use keywords to find the information you need. "For more strategies against this boss, or to find a special treasure in that room, go to the site and input such-and-such keyword!" Interesting idea in theory. Very bad in practice.
   
   First of all, how many people have the time to leap up to their computers in the middle of the game and hit a website? It can be done, but that is so annoying. The point of having a dead-tree guide is to have the info at your finger tips when you need it. But a huge chunk of the info can't be found in the book. Useless.
   
   And just to add insult to injury, the website is barely functional. If you actually do go there and input a keyword from the guide, there's a good chance that you'll get back an error message telling you the page you want doesn't exist. Gee, how wonderful that the main feature of this interactive strategy guide **frequently doesn't work**. Of course, you may be spared the annoyance of the website not working, because instead you'll suffer from the annoyance of not even being able to find it. While it is still up, it is no longer at the playonline URL included in the book and is not easy to find.
   
   Now, the actual book-portion of the guide does have some good info that you don't have to coerce the website into giving up. For instance, in the book there are tables of all the learnable abilities, organized by which characters can learn them, complete with which items the character can learn them from. That is quite handy if, for some reason, you're hunting down a specific ability for a specific character. There is also an appendix of info about the monsters. This beastiary really is quite complete and, from what I've been able to see, quite accurate. Though, again, a fair amount of info about each monster has been redacted from the book and can only be found on the website.
   
   But the lion's share of the book (the walk through, side-quest info, and treasure hunting) is abysmally lacking. So no, this guide isn't completely useless, but it is mostly useless. Don't waste your money on this rip-off. Web-surf to a Final Fantasy IX fan site or to Gamefaqs instead. It's free and their strategy guides are much more informative.
   
   
   Pros:
   
   + Good info on abilities and monsters.
   
   
   Cons:
   
   - No info on pretty much everything else.
   - Partner website is hard to find and almost non-functional.
   - Complete waste of money.



2. This guide depends on the Final Fantasy IX online site to function. THIS SITE HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN. THIS BOOK IS NOW NON-FUNCTIONAL. DO NOT BUY.



3. Totally worthless. All of the in depth info that I buy strategy guides for is missing, with "Go to playonline for more information" tags everywhere. It's more worthwhile to just print out a guide from Gamefaqs.



4. Every page of this strategy guide says (at least once, often 2 or 3 times) "...and to find out EXACTLY how to do this or find that, visit our website!"...what a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE idea for a strategy guide, and for one of the greatest RPGs ever made too! A real shame.



5. This Brady Games official strategy guide has the potential for all the right stuff, it's just too bad it had to be half baked. Let's start off by giving the authors and illustrators some overdo credit. Dan Birlew lays it all out nicely and concisely. The illustrations and maps look great too. Your guaranteed a "walkthrough" of this game...untill you require specific details in regards to stats and numbers. That's when the editors and publishers take over and ruin the guide's quality. Instead of taking the extra time to present a few extra pages full of stats and simple charts, your given an advertisement with a cheesy code to look on Square enix's official playonline websight. Now to be fair, most of the "playonline" bull rubbish consists of enhanced or finer details that in the end, don't really detract from gameplay. We don't NEED to know what range of stats Zidane's weapons might provide as it's usually best to get ALL the gear you can in this game anyways...they play a role in character development. You can compare and contrast on your own as the guide will at least detail item locations. As I mentioned before, Dan Birlew is not to be blamed. He does his job of providing a competent walkthrough that will never leave you confused and guide you all the way to the end of the game. It's the editor's fault for requiring that the guide be written this way. There is no excuse to have a consumer pay the typical 14.99$ USD price point for a thin and meager guide lacking in it's finer details. Espescially when all the other Brady Games Final Fantasy guides cost around the same price but do a better job. The guide serves more as an advertisement for Square Enix's benefit. And just when you thought this guide couldn't be worse than it already is, just try following it's advise to go to playonline these days...Final Fantasy IX support has been taken off the site completely and replaced with Final Fantasy XI online content. Brady Games has never published anything this bad before and i've seen bad trust me! Pass this train wreck up and either look for an english translated import FFIX guide, or go to Gamefaqs.