1 comments about Ultimate Spider-Man(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. I bought this book hoping that it would help me find the hidden items that I just could not seem to find on my own and it did just that However when it started walking me through the races I discovered a problem. THIS BOOK IS INCOMPLETE!!!! All I needed was to beat Johnny Storm in the race around Manhattan and wouldn't you know it As far as this book is concerned that paticular race dosen't seem to exist. So if you are looking for 100% game completion don't bother with this book. However if all you want is the cheats and the location of all the bonus tokens by all means by this book.

2 comments about Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing.

1. Books on electronic gaming and video game culture predominantly concentrate on the history of the industry or on nostalgic returns to retro gaming, often punctuated with coloured photos and screenshots. Digital Play is one of the few books currently available that provides an insightful look into the social, cultural, and economic relationships between game players, and the engaging game texts, technologies, and market forces of the information age. As interactive gaming continues to establish itself as a major global media business, it becomes increasingly important for us to employ a critical perspective of the blossoming industry. Kline, Witheford, and Peuter's Digital Play couldn't have arrived at a better time.

   Digital Play is cleverly divided into three segments, each focusing on different bearings of interactive gaming but effectively converging into a single conclusive "coda." Discussion begins with a theoretical approach to analyzing gaming and its industry as it relates to circuits of interactivity including culture, technology, and marketing. Theoretical concepts collected from media theorists Marshall McLuhan and Raymond Williams, are successfully transferred to the medium of the videogame. What follows is a look at the existence of interactive gaming in a post-Fordist, and postmodern society of information technology and hyper-reality. This facilitates the understanding of historical circumstances of developing circuits of interactivity outlined in earlier chapters. While the first segment may seem theoretically and linguistically intense, it remains deeply involving and is ever mindful of the topic at hand: video games.

   The second segment of Digital Play covers the historical background of games from their early beginnings in the military-industrial complex to the relentless corporate firefight known to many as the "console wars." However, unlike previous electronic gaming texts, the historical accounts are retold stressing the importance of technology, culture, and marketing. Digital Play thus provides a fresh and extremely entertaining parade through electronic gaming's past. What readers may find most absorbing in this stretch are the political-economic struggles endured by the gaming companies (Atari for example) who pioneered the industry only to meet with fierce competition and an unstable market for interactive entertainment.

   The initial chapters of Digital Play concentrated on technology and communication studies, and the following chapters zeroed-in on history and marketing practices. However, this theoretical triad could not be complete without the presence of one more area of study: game culture as an industry and practice. In a chapter entitled "Workers and Warez" the authors examine gaming technologies on global levels of production and consumption, such as the exploitation of off-shore labourers and increasing levels of hacking, console "modding", and software piracy. Subsequent chapters provide studies in branding and licensing, violence and gender, and my personal favourite...political economy. Chapter 12 assembles the major themes of Digital Play, suggesting that Electronic Arts' best-selling game "The Sims" can be viewed as a microcosm of our own capitalist society, wrought with consumerist ideology. While we manipulate the digital Barbie dolls of our virtual technology, so too does a system of communication technologies, global enterprise, and postmodern digital culture manipulate our symbolic relationship with the logic of a capitalist system.

   I thoroughly enjoyed reading Digital Play and wouldn't hesitate to purchase any game-related books that any of the authors might publish in the future. Digital Play offers an engaging critical look at the gaming world's industry, technology, and culture, and should not be ignored by those looking to study interactive games from an academic viewpoint or by those simply looking for enjoyable reading.




2. "Digital Play" critically analyzes the video and computer game industry and theorizes about its significance in contemporary society. The book is somewhat unusual in that it is the collaborative product of three authors, but the writing seems to blend perfectly and makes for a consistent and high-quality read. The end product is an accessible and entertaining book that could serve to introduce a wide audience to critical postmodern analysis.

   Nick Dyer-Witheford of "Cyber-Marx" fame is one of the authors. Mr. Dyer-Witheford's influence is discernable in at least several sections where the post-Marxist themes of corporate control versus freedom that are evident in "Cyber-Marx" are used to very good effect. First, he deflates the wildly optimistic claims of techno-utopians such as Alvin Toffler, reminding us that technology remains in service to corporate profits and therefore narrows and limits the possibility of "choice, interactivity and empowerment" that digital games purportedly offer. Second, Mr. Dyer-Witheford points to piracy and hacking as evidence that freedom from corporate control and a return to "play" in its purest sense may yet remain possible.

   The authors contend that video games are worthy of serious study because they represent the "ideal-type" postmodern commodity. So whereas the automobile is closely associated with the "industrial capitalism" of the Fordist era, the video game embodies the "information capitalism" of today's "perpetual innovation" society.

   The ideal-type commodity does not mean that it avoids crisis, however. The authors posit that the accelerating "circuits" of technology, culture and marketing that drive postmodern society in general and the video game business in particular "can be broken or come into contradiction" in numerous ways. The authors go on to critique each of these three circuits and produce many pages of very thoughtful analysis.

   For example, an interesting aspect of the industry that is often overlooked is manufacturing and the international division of labor. Electronic game equipment is often produced by proletariat labor in the poor countries of the South for the benefit of relatively wealthy consumers in the North. The authors point out that the game industry, like most capitalist enterprises that exploit the so-called free trade system in search of higher profits, will find it difficult to develop new markets for its products until it is willing to pay its third-world factory workers enough money to stimulate demand. In fact, the authors state that corporate managers should not be too surprised when intellectual property gets pirated by people who feel that they have been cheated by the economic system.

   But probably the most stinging criticism concerns the close connection of games with Cold War research and development. The "militarized masculinity" that characterizes so many games originated here and has been perpetuated by corporate marketing in pursuit of profits. But the authors point out that if the industry fails to find successful alternative game genres and graphic violence continues to escalate, future interest in gaming may be jeopardized even as the potential damage to children exposed to such psychic intensity remains unknown.

   In short, "Digital Play" is highly recommended to everyone interested in deconstructing the multi-faceted and increasingly fantastical world that has been brought to us by the "military and entertainment" complex.

1 comments about Far Cry Official Strategy Guide.

1. Not being a gaming fanatic, this guide has lessened the frustration of advancing in Far Cry - which is a great FPS game!

1 comments about Heroes of Mana Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides) (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. Excellent guide. Very complete and with full diagrams of each level, as well as monster and item description. Simply amazing. Even if the game is not the best out there, at least the guide respects it and shows all there is to know about it.

2 comments about Betrayal at Krondor: The Official Strategy Guide (Secrets of the games).

1. Raymond E. Feist makes a triumphant return to the world of the Riftwar in this book adaptation of the best-selling PC game Betrayal at Krondor. The plot centers around a coming invasion of Moredhel from the north and the quests of James , Locklear , Pug , Owyn , a dropout from Stardock , Gorath , a renegade Moredhel chieftan . and Patrus , the addle brained wizard from Northwarden. It is a classic talke in its own day , and is a satisfying read.



2. A GREAT GUIDE! If you get stuck, this book will get you through the game. The maps are awsome. Love the chapter quick run throughs and the indepth details of each sub-quest. The cheat code is a good tool to help out someone who has painted themself into a corner. Its too bad this game can't run on WIN '98. The sequal Return to Krondor works on WIN '98 but isn't as much fun.

5 comments about The Sims Box Set 1 thru 5 (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. Ok, the bad stuff first - which has been mentioned a lot here. The books are shrunk down to a much smaller size than your average strategy guide, so the pictures and illustrations are really difficult to see. Second, the first half of each book is the same in all five - just basic info about the Sims. So there is a lot of wasted space and material you have to skip over to get the new information on whatever expansion pack the book is for.

   The books small size makes them easier to store though, they can even sit on a bookshelf in front of all the other strategy guide since they are so much smaller. They also come in a sleeve so that they all stay together nicely. While most of the information is repeated in each book, there is a good amount of new information that is really useful - even for long-time Sims players. Every time I open up the books I learn something new, and I've been playing the Sims for several years now.

   Overall, for the price I can't complain too much. The good stuff is better than the bad, by far. Definitely would recommend to any Sims addict looking to learn some new tips and tricks.




2. the info give is ok. Nothing to reveling, but the examples given in picture are impossible to read. they could have made a single book instead of 5 if they had just made the book larger and pictures more readable.

   Only buy this book if you can not figure out how the game works. otherwise save your money




3. Really unnecessary. The game is the easiest to play in the world. There is no end to the game hence no need for strategy.



4. Don't buy this.

   There is no reason you need to buy these books.
   Any information you need is online and cost you nothing.

   On all of the books, the 1st half is devoted to The Sims (the original game itself that you need in order to add any of the expansion packages).

   If you need any information on game play with any of the expansions then go online.
   The Official Sims Website is one place to start.
   That is not to mention all of the other Fan webistes that you can go to. (Devoted to The Sims and there are a lot)

   They are for the most part free and you don't have the books taking up room.




5. First, a note: I am not actually under 13--I'm 15, actually--but I was too lazy to create my own bn.com account or wait for my mom to come home so I could use hers. But anyway.
   In general, the Prima strategy guides are excellent--they are thorough, humorous, and well-written, with aesthetically appealing layouts and screenshots. So having five half-sized strategy guides for the approximate price of one sounds like the perfect deal, right?
   You'd think that...
   While these guides are excellent, I think that Prima made a mistake in making these books so small. Although I am fortunate enough to have, for the moment, very good eyesight (from years of reading under the covers, I suppose), I still found these books very hard to read. I can only imagine the difficulty for someone who already has a vision problem.
   In short, these discounted guidebooks are worth the price only if your eyesight is excellent. In general, I'd recommend buying the normal-sized guides. While more expensive, they are at least legible.

3 comments about Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Official Strategy Guide.

1. I admit, I am one of those people who is always buying the guides for games. I get easily frustrated when I can't figure something out, so if I can't beat a mission on the first or second try, I cheat or use a guide to help. I was having issues with some of the missions while I was playing the Frozen Throne campaign and I finally got the guide. I only use it for the chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of the campaign for assistance during the particularly rough missions. It was incredibly useful, very detailed - everything I expected from a strategy guide. It had all the information I wanted, plus a heck of a lot more - but it was easy to navigate through and find exactly the mission I was having trouble with and find the solution to my problem. I highly recommend this guide!



2. The Strategy Guide helps you out on the Campagin. Nothing more, but what you learn there you may bring over to Multiplayer or battles later on after the campagin, note that there are many patches created after this book.



3. her my worring the legend of doom the demond is come and un old enimey of death is retern the doom of human orc and elf is comeing and the way to stop them is to gather our powar agine the war is caming bewere my worring.....

2 comments about Shenmue II: Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. Having trouble with Shenmue II for XBOX or deciding to play through it again to see the things you may have missed the first time around? If this is the case, I'd recommend this strategy guide. It does a good job of detailing the various events and side-quests that may not be immediately obvious when you play through the game yourself.

   Where this guide loses points is that it does not compare to the phenomenal Prima guide that was published for the previous game in the series (Shenmue 1 for the Sega Dreamcast). That guide was ultra detailed, packed with photos and bios for EVERY single character. While Shenmue II is a much larger game, for whatever reason there are only character bios for the main characters, no photos of the special items, and some pretty sparse details as far as fighting moves and how to beat some of the tougher bosses are concerned. While this may not be a big deal for gamers who just want to finish the game, many Shenmue fans will be turned off as this is a VERY deep series with many complex plot developments and interesting characters.

   While it isn't the guide I had initially hoped for, I would still recommend it as the authors do a good job of breaking the game down chapter by chapter and also offer some helpful strategies that will help you maximize the money you earn in the game and so on. Seeing how this is the only guide for Shenmue II, there really is no other choice.




2. Pretty good. I dont think its as good as the Shenmue 1 book, but still good enough. Gots all the tips and side events in it. All you could want to know and beat the game! Very good and recommended. Worth the buy.

2 comments about Impossible Su Doku.

1. Most sudoku books have a lot of very easy and boring puzzles in them. This book is uniformly strong. It's not impossible at all. I never had much trouble solving any of the puzzles, but they are all pretty challenging. A typical puzzle in this book required me to take one guess, and be ready to erase everything after the guess, if necessary, and go back and follow the other route. This book is exactly what it claims to be, if you change the word "impossible" to "interesting". It's a lot better than most other sudoku books out there because they are just too damn easy.



2. Seems like all the books claim to be impossible and I bought the "Mensa" book for my wife and she just laughed at it. With this book, you don't have to skip to the back to get to the good ones. From puzzle one we were happy and the only let down is knowing that when you finish this book, you may be out of luck on finding one to compare. As others have mentioned at first you might need to make one guess to solve the puzzles.

1 comments about Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The Official Strategy Guide from Nintendo Power.

1. Sometimes when a strategy guide claims it does give you all the help you get in a video game, it really doesn't seem to have it. Unless, it is directly from the company that has conjured the video game, than that definitely is the another story. That does seem to be the case with Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Nintendo Gamecube. The guide is accuarately helpful, with the addition of helpful hints and fields to unlock characters and hidden carts to the mix, as well as statistics for all of the characters from Luigi and Mario, to new additions to the Mario Kart categories like Birdo, Waluigi, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, King Boo from Luigi's Mansion, Petey Piranha from Super Mario Sunshine, and a whole lot more. Although the guide may not be much help, considering the game itself is straight forward. Still, it does help for all players of the race alike. If you have Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Nintendo Gamecube, this guide is the one for you.