Product Description
Have you ever been at a loss as to how to butcher your prize game? This is the book for anyone who hunts, farms, or buys large quantities of meat. Mettler takes the mystery out of slaughtering and butchering everything from beef and veal, to venison, pork, and lamb. Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game tell you everything you need to know: at what age to butcher an animal, how to kill, skin, slaughter, butcher and how to dress out game in the field, salting, smoking, and preserving as well as tools, equipment and set up are reviewed. This book doesn't stop there. Also included are more than thirty recipes using all kinds of meat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls Mettler's book "a must-have book for anyone who is slaughtering." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Basic Butchering Review
Overall I found this book informative - particularily the chapter on beef. It appeared to me that the author had either lost interest or got tired doing the last half of the book. The content for the last half of the book seemed "thin" but then how many people have an interest in processing squirrels and racoons?

A book every home should have
Being raised in the city, I have no knowledge of how to butcher an animal other than chickens.
I felt I should learn how to prepare different animals in case I ever had to.
I now feel fairly confident I can do what is needed with out too many errors.
It is easy reading, clear and very informative. I would recommend this to any family who may someday face the need, either by choice of forced to not by choice.

NTMI (Not Too Much Information)
I ordered this with several other items so delivery came piece meal. It came well packaged in a timely fasion. The book needs a lot more illustrations/pictures. The drawing of the cuts of meat for a cow was way simplified. The author spent a lot of ink focused on butchering cows, hogs and recipes. Could have been a lot better. I guess that's why it title says basic.

Basic and Easy
This book is a classic. Very easy to understand. I am a complete novice with meats but I don't feel that way now. Step by step directions on everything. I bought it just for beef and chicken (what I primarily eat) but I have learned a ton about many other animals.

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
I purchased this book for my husband who is determined to master the skills of butchering processing and preserving meats.

Being from the city this book is a great help from the introduction the tool and equipment list, methods that's needed.The guideline is simple to follow the recipes or just wonderful to eat. What great illustration.

I recommend this book for anyone that's interested in learning these skills.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (59)

Embarrassment for Author & Insult to Reader
This was my first Iris Johansen book. I picked it up because it was on a library display shelf and the cover identified her as a NY #1 best-seller. I couldn't believe this book got published. There is no depth to any aspect of the book. If an author is going to use dialogue as the vehicle for character and plot development then it has to have substance. The dialogue reminded me of grade school: "I'm going to do X and it's really going to hurt you!" "Oh yeah then I'm going to do Y and what do you think about that!"I could go on but the bottom line is I would not recommend this book!

Great Author
I received book in good new condition, but haven't as of yet had the opportunity to read.
Had a couple of other books to read in between.Will be getting to this soon.

Slow
I've had this book for over a week and am about half way through. Too much backstory, too much psychic stuff, boring boring boring. I may never buy another Johansen book again...

A waste of a good tree
This book was a waste of money, paper, and a few hours that I will never get back.I really tried to suspend logical disbelief and accept the premise of the book.However, it was so poorly written that I was constantly noticing how stupid particular plot elements were.I forced myself to read the entire book in the misguided belief that there would be a spectacular ending to make up for the punishment I had already endured.Sadly, I was mistaken.The ending was just as awful as the rest of the book.I discarded my copy of the book in the seat back pocket of a KLM airplane.I should probably apologize to the poor, unsuspecting person who finds and reads it.

Good book...but lame on sub plots...
Five years ago, the author set up two books, Blind Alley and Stalemate setting up a grand romance for Jane McGuire and Mark Trevor. This relationship seems gone in the last several books, until a three sentence mention that Jane does not want a complicated relationship. Are you freaking kidding me? A three senetence mention is how Johansen wraps up a relationship so she can insert Seth Caleb into the mix...You spend two books setting these two up and then break them up because jane does not want to get emotionally involved? LAME! We deserved better. ... Read more

Product Description
Real people, real transformations!

"Absolutely amazing! It completely shifts your paradigm for life. One of the most wonderful things about it is that the results are immediate. My whole perception and relationship to money has undergone a major, substantial change."
—Chris Attwood, writer and teacher, California

"I've spent most of my life trying to figure out what's true and what's real. I have to say I now have a clear glimpse into what it really is."
—Tom Hill, Colorado

"Before Busting Loose from The Money Game, I was very unhappy and frustrated in my life. I was driven to find more ways to make money. I changed jobs, cities, countries, went back to school, read books. Financially, the stress was causing anxiety attacks and migraines so severe I stayed in bed. The joy I feel now is priceless. Money is there when I need it, in the amount that's needed, no matter what occurs (car repairs, unplanned trips, etc.). It's absolutely amazing!"
—Suresh Thakoor, Texas

"As a retired professor on a fixed and limited income, I always lived from a tight budget and felt compressed by it-especially at the end of the year. I don't use a budget anymore and have opened up new streams of income that were always closed to me in the past."
—Howard Rovics, Connecticut

"It opened a whole new dimension for me and shifted my perspective on life completely. I especially love how practical it is. The application is so simple, so effective . . . and fun!"
—Doris Kahle, Hagen, Germany

"I'd had a lot of success in the corporate arena, made a ridiculous amount of money and lost a ridiculous amount of money. But I was caught in a cycle of making it, losing it. I needed to break that cycle-for myself and my family-and this gave me the keys to do that. Busting Loose from The Money Game opened a window I had no clue even existed. This is very cutting-edge, a revolutionary approach to unwrapping yourself from limitations. If you're not satisfied with where you are financially and you're concerned about your future, get this book!"
—Ben Coleman, Texas ... Read more

Customer Reviews (176)

Most definitely "mind-blowing"!
This book had me picking it up, and throwing it down saying, "No way!" and then picking it back up over and over and over again. It was most definitely mind-blowing and I am still not quite sure if I "get it" yet. However, it did resonate with me and I am confident that it is just a matter of time and integration before I fully understand what it is about. I have tried the exercises for reclaiming my power, several times and for the most part they have been very empowering.I do recommend this book, but be prepared for a wild ride, a huge deal of confusion and a heck of a lot of thinking from it!

Transcending the Law of Attraction Exponentially
If you haven't already read (or heard about) Busting Loose From the Money Game - DO IT! I highly, highly recommend getting your hands on this book - the concepts the author conveys are absolutely paradigm shifting in transforming your relationship with money (and truly, anything else in your life) including all the belief systems you've ever been taught and held staunchly to (including for those trying to live 'The Law of Attraction') in this 'Game' called life. In my opinion it is by far, in terms of how you'd really like to experience your life, the most compelling and completely myth shattering material.

This book literally takes all you've ever learned about manifesting your desires, ie. attracting abundance, better jobs, loving
relationships, etc., to a whole new level - turning the whole 'Law of Attraction' principle literally, on its head. This, coming from one who has walked the 'Law of Attraction' on pretty much, a daily basis.

Maricel Piercey, Author of 'Complete' - A Tale of Awakening
[...]

Some parts excellent - others not my cup of tea
I almost didn't get the book due to the title. It didn't seem this was something I cared to read but my spiritual center was holding a class with the book as the tool for learning. I'm glad I decided to get over my own resistance as I did enjoy most of the book.

There's a lot about creating our own reality but I don't agree with all the author writes about this. The Hologram theory is good to a point. At least from my perspective.

I did enjoy the appreciation process as a way to stay focused on what is really worth appreciating.

This is an easy read and yet, there are parts that are somewhat confusing that required I reread sections.

The Three Haunting Questions in Chapter 2 are definitely worth considering.

Some parts are definitely excellent while others.... just not my cup of tea.

Give me money to tell you money doesn't matter.
How hilarious that this guy is selling a book for money that says money doesn't matter. What a supreme hypocrite.

It works?
I followed the advice and visualized a garbage can and by gosh there it was and the book quickly disappeared into it.This is the biggest piece of Crap that I have read.I was lucky that I payed a dollar for it at the Library sale- at least the dollar went to a good cause.

I am a very open minded person and have read many great books - Secret of The Ages, Vernon Howard - any of his books, Napoleon Hill, the Bible- the list goes on.A feel sorry for the author of this book as he is delusional and has watched to many SciFi movies.We are all ready a society that is with drawing from reality and this book takes you further down that path.

There are enough good wright-ups to give you the gist of the book - all I can say is save your money and don't waste the time reading it - it is time you will never get back! ... Read more

Product Description

Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or "Doc," as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include:

* On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot.
* Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives -- anger, fear, whining, and cheating -- do no good.
* Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself.
* It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt.

Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.Amazon.com Review
One of golf guru Jim Flick's mantras is that golf is 90percent mental, and the other 10 percent is mental, too. Dr. BobRotella, a noted sports psychologist and performance consultant, rootsaround the golfer's mind to expose--and analyze--the doubts, thefears, and the frustrations that haunt anyone who's ever picked up aclub and swung it. Through anecdote and aphorism he suggests how thesemental and emotional hazards can be played through, and, regardless ofskill level, how teeing off with a more positive and confident outlookwill translate into better performance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (92)

It is ok
Book is ok.Basically work on your confidence, mental conversations, fear control, practice short game......and 'viola', better golf....I'd recommend the Pelz 100 yard Bible if you are interested in taking the author's advise on short game.Great wedge system which gets better every year you practice and use it.....Oh, and buy a laser range finder for the practice sessions....

golf is not a game of perfect
As golfer with a 9.9 handicap, I found the bookextremely valuable. I will recommend itfirstto the young players of my Golf Club who desire to became a pro, second to some friend of mine who are striving to lower their handicap.

Just Buy It
I have a golf company Zoom Boom Golf and I tell everyone of my students there are two books you have to buy.They are Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect and Kathy Whitworth's Little Book of Golf Wisdom.

So, Just buy it.

Very sound advice.
I enjoyed reading this book.I think most golfers could get very sound advice through this book.

Must Have Golf Book
This is the second copy that I have bought because the first one helped me out so much that I loaned it to a friend who was struggling with the game and didn't get it back. Dr. Rotella isn't reinventing the wheel here, he just helps realize why the wheel turns. He says in the book that the game of golf is played on a six inch piece of property between your ears and it is true. This book is easy to read andit helps big time. ... Read more

Product Description
In 2007, a stranger-than-fiction multibillion-dollar bidding war for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) erupted between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Atlanta’s IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). Zero-Sum Game: The Rise of the World’s Largest Derivatives Exchange takes readers behind the scenes of this battle to tell the gripping—and often comical—story of how the historic merger between CME and CBOT almost didn’t happen.

Author Erika S. Olson, a managing director at CBOT during the bidding war, delivers a blow-by-blow account of the fight for the world’s oldest futures exchange, taking you inside CBOT’s landmark Chicago Loop headquarters, onto the high-octane trading floor, and into executives’ offices.

Through the lens of the CME/CBOT deal, Zero-Sum Game:

• Introduces the colorful and outspoken personalities who call the shots in this close-knit and frequently misunderstood industry
• Details the reasons behind the recent, spectacular growth of a market that’s existed for over 160 years
• Explains how derivatives affect the lives of average consumers worldwide by influencing everything from interest rates on credit cards to the cost of a cheeseburger to the price of a gallon of gas
• Reveals the inner workings of futures exchanges, and differentiates the various types of derivatives that are routinely lumped together and vilified by the media

Erika S. Olson is a former managing director of the Chicago Board of Trade and spent over ten years working in and consulting to the financial services industry. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Amazon.com Exclusive: Q & A with Author Erika S. Olson

Author Erika S. Olson

When did you know that you wanted to write a book about your time at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)?
I remember the exact moment: just past noon on October 6, 2006. I’d only been at CBOT for five weeks, and was called into a secret meeting by our CEO, Bernie Dan, who went on to tell a subset of the management team that the company’s biggest rival, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), had made an $8 billion offer to buy CBOT.

I’d been through three other mergers prior to joining CBOT, and they were all filled with drama. So as I sat there listening to Bernie I thought, “These two exchanges have been fierce competitors for over 100 years… this has the makings of a great story.” I started taking notes that same day. And then, five months later, the much smaller IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) came out of nowhere with a $1 billion higher bid for CBOT and all hell broke loose. I, of course, was selfishly thrilled by this unexpected turn of events--Zero-Sum Game suddenly had a new second and third act.

A lot of books have come out recently that are set in the financial services industry.How is yours different?
The vast majority of recent books about the financial services industry deal with some aspect of the current economic crisis, and most were written by journalists. Whereas I am not a journalist, and my book doesn’t have anything to do with the financial crisis. I’d also like to believe that, overall, Zero-Sum Game is trying to convey a positive message about futures exchanges in this country and the people running them. Not everyone in the financial services industry is evil and out to screw over the general public! Shocking, I know. But seriously, I felt that I had an opportunity to give readers insight into an industry that is very private and close-knit, and that wields enormous power. And I thought I could do it in an entertaining way, through the story of the bidding war for CBOT.

I wanted to help people understand what derivatives are and how exchanges work at a very basic level, and I wanted to do it subtly, so that no one would feel like he was reading a textbook. That’s why I’m especially pleased when people tell me they found Zero-Sum Game to be surprisingly funny. I can’t really take too much credit for that, though--the people I worked with were hilarious, and in some cases, all I had to do was quote them.

Unlike many of the Wall Street banks, CME Group and ICE are not exactly household names. Why should anyone outside of the financial services industry care about them?
The great irony is that while a lot of people have never heard of CME Group or ICE and their only familiarity with the futures world is probably the movie Trading Places, the exchanges affect the daily lives of consumers around the world much more directly than do any of the big-name investment banks. That’s part of what I cover in Zero-Sum Game: how the futures contracts traded at places like CME Group and ICE provide a critical function that helps prices of items in grocery stores, for example, stay relatively stable day after day.

And although, as I said earlier, my book isn’t about the financial crisis, the companies and people that Zero-Sum Game revolves around are now being looked to by Washington to help prevent another crisis from happening. That was something I certainly didn’t foresee back in 2006 and 2007. But it makes sense. In the case of CME Group, it’s been around for over 100 years (150 if you count the history of CBOT), and it’s never experienced a customer default in its clearing house. So it’s obviously doing something right, and now the Dodd-Frank legislation is trying to bring that same stability to the over-the-counter derivatives market that caused problems for the likes of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and AIG. The Dodd-Frank act will force certain over-the-counter (meaning private and until now, unregulated) contracts through exchanges or clearing houses. So all of a sudden there’s this spotlight on CME Group and ICE—the very same companies who were fighting each other for CBOT back in early 2007. My book tells the fascinating histories of these companies and provides a behind-the-curtain look at the men currently in power. I think it’s important that people both inside and outside the banking world get a better understanding of what futures exchanges do and who’s running the show in this increasingly influential and important industry.

Product Description
The Great Game was the epic stand-off between the two superpowers of the nineteenth century--Victorian Britain and Czarist Russia--for the riches of India and the East. Based on meticulous scholarship and on-the-spot research, Peter Hopkirk's immensely readable account covers the history at the core of today's geopolitics. Photos and maps.Amazon.com Review
In a phrase coined by Captain Arthur Connolly of the EastIndia Company before he was beheaded in Bokhara for spying in 1842, a"Great Game" was played between Tsarist Russia and Victorian Englandfor supremacy in Central Asia. At stake was the security of India, keyto the wealth of the British Empire. When play began early in the 19thcentury, the frontiers of the two imperial powers lay two thousandmiles apart, across vast deserts and almost impassable mountainranges; by the end, only 20 miles separated the two rivals.

Peter Hopkirk, a former reporter for The Times of London withwide experience of the region, tells an extraordinary story ofambition, intrigue, and military adventure. His sensational narrativemoves at breakneck pace, yet even as he paints his colorfulcharacters--tribal chieftains, generals, spies, Queen Victoriaherself--he skillfully provides a clear overview of the geographicaland diplomatic framework. The Great Game was Russia's version ofAmerica's "Manifest Destiny" to dominate a continent, and Hopkirk iscareful to explain Russian viewpoints as fully as those of theBritish. The story ends with the fall of Tsarist Russia in 1917, butthe demise of the Soviet Empire (hastened by a decade of bloodyfighting in Afghanistan) gives it new relevance, as world peace andstability are again threatened by tensions in this volatile region ofgreat mineral wealth and strategic significance. --JohnStevenson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (106)

Excellent book
Absolutely fascinating account of the power struggle between Great Britain and Russia in Asia. What I loved the most is that author talks about the big picture through the small pictures of those who were participating in the Great Game and their fates.

Excellent Historical Account
"The Great Game" is a must read for anyone with a desire for understanding how events have unfolded over the past 200 years in Central Asia, a region which continues to make headlines and which looks to be in the news for the foreseeable future. The book is packed with information and Hopkirk's writing style will keep your eyes glued to the book right through to the end.

This book was of particular interest to me as I live in China and I've traveled to the far west of this country (Kashgar and the Silk Road which also figure in this book) and I wanted to know more of the historical background of this vast and puzzling region of the world. After reading this book, I'm sure most readers will have the urge to get up and travel to some of these exotic locales which have figured prominently in the shaping of foreign policies of some of the world's most powerful countries.

HIGH ADVENTURE SET SQUARELY IN HISTORY
IN THIS EXCELLENT WORK, PETER HOPKIRK TELLS THE STORY OF THE GREAT GAME, BY TELLING US THE INDIVIDUAL STORIES OF THOSE WHO "PLAYED" IT. I MUST ADMIT THAT I APPROACHED THIS BOOK WITH A BIT OF HESITANCY. THE SUBJECT OF THE 'GREAT GAME' SOUNDED A BIT TOO 'DUSTY' AND DETACHED, TO INTEREST ME. I EXPECTED THE BOOK TO BE AN OBTUSE RAMBLE ON THE POLITICAL DEALINGS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE 150 YEARS REMOVED FROM MY SPHERE OF INTEREST. ON ONE LEVEL, PERHAPS THE GREAT GAME ITSELF WAS THAT. NOT SO, HOWEVER, THIS BOOK. HOPKIRK'S TALE IS ONE OF AMAZING EXPLOITS AND INTRIGUE. IN READING IT, I WAS 'INTRIGUED' INDEED. HE TELLS OF GALLANT YOUNG BRITISH OFFICERS, OFTEN IN THEIR TWENTIES, WHO - EAGER FOR ACTION, AND LONGING TO LEAVE THE SWELTERING HEAT OF INDIA - VOLUNTEERED TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN LAND OF AFGHANISTAN. TO DO THIS, THEY TRAVELLED ALONE AND INCOGNITO; DISGUISED AS THE VERY AFGHANS AMONGST WHOM THEY WOULD LIVE, AND WHOM THEY SOUGHT TO DECEIVE. DISCOVERY OF THEIR TRUE IDENTITY OR PURPOSE COULD, AND NOT A FEW TIMES DID, MEAN DEATH (OFTEN OF A QUITE PAINFUL SORT). TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION, THESE INTREPID AGENTS KEPT UP THEIR RUSE FOR MONTHS, IN SOME CASES MORE THAN A YEAR, ALONE IN A TRULY FORBIDDING COUNTRY FILLED WITH `THE WORST SORTS' OF CHARACTERS.
IN ADDITION TO ITS 'ENTERTAINMENT' VALUE, THE BOOK ACQUAINTS THE READER WITH THE COUNTRY AND HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA, AND GIVES HIM OR HER A `FEEL' FOR THE PEOPLE AND CULTURE OF THAT PERIOD. SOME OF THIS APPLIES TODAY - AND MUCH OF IT IS VERY HELPFUL AS A CONTEXTUAL SETTING FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THIS STARKLY BEAUTIFUL, YET OFTEN DIFFICULT, COUNTRY. FINALLY, THE BOOK DOES DEAL WITH - YES - THE POLITICAL MACHINATIONS OF RUSSIA AND THE BRITISH DURING THE 1800'S. BUT IT DOES SO IN A PALATABLE AND SOMEWHAT INTERESTING FASHION.
ALL IN ALL, THIS BOOK WAS A SURPRISINGLY WORTHWHILE READ. IT WAS ALWAYS INTERESTING, GENERALLY FUN, AND SOMETIMES DISTRESSING. (MUCH LIKE, IT TURNS OUT, MY RECENT DEPLOYMENT TO THAT COUNTRY). I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HEARTILY TO THOSE WHO SEEK TO GO BEYOND THE PRESENT TO BETTER GRASP THE UNDERLYING INFLUENCES THAT SHAPE THE CURRENT SITUATION. IN SHORT, BY UNDERSTANDING WHAT AFGHANISTAN `WAS' - WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT AFGHANISTAN `IS' TODAY.

Excellent narrative!
This book is an excellent and understandable narrative of the Great Game.The stories are told in a way that makes the important themes of this century-long conflict easily reachable despite the difficulty of that some may find in dealing with the plethora of names and locations in the region.Hopkirk seems to be largely unbiased in this account despite the self-confessed, one-sided nature of his sources due to the inaccessibility of Russian historical documents.I would highly recommend this approachable book for anyone (not just those in academia) who wants some of the most important history of the seemingly perennial Anglo-Afghan conflict.

Great Book, Great Writer
As most people pointed out, once you start reading this book, it's hard to put down. Not only is it fascinating material, but Hopkirk treats history with a sort of irreverence that makes it come alive and feel contemporary. If there were one common thread running through this book, it would be that history is better served by comedy than tragedy, and more often than not represents the bungling of those with little information, cultural sensitivity and an overblown sense of their own intelligence. Sound familiar? Another thing I found fascinating is how the global strategies of countries fundamentally changed after Napolean. The Great Game represents for the first time the use of armies to facilitate economic growth and prosperity by expanding markets. This is a fundamental shift from what Napolean was doing - even Hitler (who was a throwback to Napolean), and really represents the modern use of power as an extension of economic might that is still going on today - although a little less overtly. I plan on reading all of Hopkirk's books! ... Read more

Product Description
Fascinating, accessible introduction to enormously important intellectual system with numerous applications to social, economic, political problems. Newly revised edition offers overview of game theory, then lucid coverage of the two-person zero-sum game with equilibrium points; the general, two-person zero-sum game; utility theory; other topics. Problems at start of each chapter. Foreword to First Edition by Oskar Morgenstern. Bibliography.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Hit and miss
The chapter on Zero-Sum game is excellent.However, when it comes to non-zero-sum games, it becomes very confusing.The examples, and the characters in the examples are inconsistent and confusing.

Hubby is learning lots
Got this for hubby for his b-day off his wish list and well he loves it.Says he is learning a lot! Did tell me it was a tough read but still learning from it.

Optimax solution (for me)
This is my "Goldilocks/Babybear" game theory book.Not too hard, not to soft, just right.

Without calculus, Davis provides a complete introduction to an arcane but useful mathematical discipline.The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy by Williams was too soft.It used the simplest possible methods to address the concepts being discussed, and barely acknowledged some of the most interesting topics in game theory.Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey by Luce and Raiffa was good, up until you hit the calculus (pretty quickly in each chapter), after which I have no basis to form an opinion.

Davis hits all the important concepts of game theory without resorting to sigma notation or even more occult symbols (unlike Luce and Raiffa).He does, however, require a fairly solid understanding of algebra, (unlike Williams).With this fairly humble prerequisite knowledge, Davis takes the non-mathematician where he or she needs to go, and provides a fairly complete level of understanding.

I would recommend this one as a perfect sequel to Williams, should the reader not be challenged, or as a stand-alone for the marginally mathematically literate (such as myself) who need a practical understanding of mathematically grounded decision making.

E. M. Van Court

great
it was received in ample time for school and in great condition
a pleasure to work with
thanks so much

Good Entry point.Well Written.
The book is very well written, and surprisingly easy to read, considering how dry the subject matter can be at times.Gives a very nice introduction to the topic, and finishes off with a more formal discussion of some advanced topics.

If you are a mathematician, this book is probably excruciatingly easy for you, and probably has little academic value.But, if you are a layman, with an interest in systems and games, it really gives you a lot to think about, and a new way to think about it.It introduces a method of determining possible outcomes, as well as giving a nice overview of more sophisticated concepts, should you decide to explore the topic more fully.

Each chapter begins with some questions to consider while reading, and detailed answers to help at the back of each chapter.The only real issue I found with the book is that the questions are missing from chapter one, yet the answers are there.Odd. ... Read more

Product Description

The Game Makers Apprentice shows you how to create nine exciting games using the wildly popular Game Maker game creation tool. This book covers a range of genres, including action, adventure, and puzzle games complete with professional quality sound effects and visuals. It discusses game design theory and features practical examples of how this can be applied to making games that are more fun to play.

Game Maker allows games to be created using a simple drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to have any prior coding experience. It includes an optional programming language for adding advanced features to your games, when you feel ready to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting book.gamemaker.nl.

Customer Reviews (54)

Game Makers Apprentice
This book was an overall great buy. The tutorials were easy to follow. I'm still having a lot of fun with it. Thanks!

Disappointed - Mostly re-hash
I purchased this book years ago when I first heard of it. I was excited to get some more insight into the GML and game making with GM as I didn't know how to do coding for random things.I guess I read too much into the word "apprentice" in the books title.It mostly re-explains things that are already in the GM program manual and free tutorials on the Yo-yo site.

It is well written however, again, it taught me nothing new.

I was, and still am, hoping for a more comprehensive book that goes to the next level for people who are not already computer programmers. I would like to make some games that are not action, shoot-em-up kind of games and I require some understanding, coding and/or examples on how to have some random objects appear at the start of the game in random locations, containing random behaviors, for example.

If you are a complete-ist with money to spare, buy the book - it isn't bad for what it is.If you're a person who has the drive to make a computer game, then you most likely will not benefit from this book as you will already have used all the free, readily available tutorials online and in the program users manual.

The reason why my rating is so low is due to my belief that the writing of this book was reduntant and I think it's logical that a
customer would not expect that.I do feel a bit cheated.

Straordinario
Veramente esemplare come chiarezza e completezza. Introduce nel mondo della
programmazione per videogames in modo progressivo con un linguaggio accessibile ma professionale e con tantissimi
esempi. Veramente ottimo.
Lo raccomando a tutti

Great for kids and adults
Explanations are easy to read and well illustrated. I use it with my computer students (6th-8th grades). With a little introductory help, they often can move on by themselves. I have the sequel on order. The sprites and other resources on the CD are well worth the price of the book. It comes with the instructions and resources to make several games, as well as completed versions of each game. It has been a lot of fun for me and for the kids.

Rookie Designer / Pro Game Player
This is a good start on learning how to design and create video games. I love to play them, now I get a chance to make them. I have only completed the first game example in the book and I am very pleased with the results. ... Read more

Product Description
By the best-selling co-author of Inner Tennis, here's a book designed to helpmusicians overcome obstacles, help improveconcentration, and reduce nervousness, allowing them toreach new levels of performing excellence andmusical artistry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Excellent For Intermediate or Adult Musicians
15 chapters
225 pages

Barry Green's book is based on Gallwey's quite successful title, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance. What is striking and admirable is that Green didn't just write a knockoff cribbed from Gallwey's book. After meeting with Gallwey about the project, they decided Green should live with (and teach) the principles and then write the book. Three years later, Green was ready and this book is the result.

As you might guess, the book is about how to think about- and approach playing music and music practice. There is a lot of useful information in this little book, and it's clear that Green-a professional symphonic bass player and university teacher-knows what he's talking about and writes clearly about it.

He starts with an overview of Gallwey's approach, namely using the "Self 1 and "Self 2 aspects of our thinking. Green immediately points out that this doesn't necessarily conform to the popular "left-brain/right-brain," and other ideas from psychology (for more on this, read Pinker's good book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future). S1 and S2 are simply a conceptual tool to help "describe the ways in which the incredibly complex human being is `wired and programmed.'" (p. 17). Self 1 is the rational, analytical, judgmental self, while self 2 is more holistic, body-centered and emotive. Green shows how both selves are essential, but each has its place and role. Our culture focuses much more on S1, and Green takes us through ways to bring out the strengths inherent in S2. The first part of the book introduces us to "Inner Game" principles and how he's applied them to music.

One of the most valuable parts of the book for me was the advice throughout the book on awareness. Awareness not only as a musician, but especially as a teacher (Chapter 10), and the teacher's role in evoking deep awareness in students by avoiding the "Do this" approach and adopting the "Be aware of..." approach .Other valuable chapters for me were CH11: The Inner Game Listener; CH8: Coping with Obstacles; CH9: Improving the Quality of Musical Experience; and CH7: Letting Go.

The weaknesses of the book lie in its classically oriented, Western-art-music-is-best approach, though this is a minor concern as most of the principles in the book can be applied to any type of music. To be fair, this bias is, I think, not a result of any overt agenda on Green's part, and I'd bet his musical tastes are far-ranging and varied, but because of his own immersion in that tradition, his writing is bound to come off with a bit of this flavor. I found value in all but one of the chapters, CH 15: Improvisation, Composition, and Creativity, which gave shallow treatments of each subject. Putting all three of these complex and useful musical tools into one chapter does a disservice to the topics and the thoroughness of the rest of the book. In fact, each topic could easily support an entire chapter (or book!) of its own.

Despite these minor flaws, it's a great read for anyone interested in playing music, or anyone with a child interested in music. The book is rarely dry or pedantic and makes frequent use of real-world anecdotes to illustrate points. Using examples like this make the book an enjoyable read and may help the reader to apply these principles and philosophies to his or her own situation.The book has something for everyone: players of any level,parents of players, and teachers at any level. Highly recommended.
Have fun, and good luck with your practice!

Useful for Musicians, Parents, Teachers
The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green, with Timothy Gallwey

15 chapters
225 pages

This book is based on Gallwey's quite successful title, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance. What is striking and admirable is that Green didn't just write a knockoff cribbed from Gallwey's book. After meeting with Gallwey about the project, they decided Green should live with (and teach) the principles and then write the book. Three years later, Green was ready and this book is the result.

As you might guess, the book is about how to think about- and approach playing music and music practice. There is a lot of useful information in this little book, and it's clear that Green--a professional symphonic bass player and university teacher--knows what he's talking about and writes clearly about it.

He starts with an overview of Gallwey's approach, namely using the "Self 1" and "Self 2" aspects of our thinking. Green immediately points out that this doesn't necessarily conform to the popular "left-brain/right-brain," and other ideas from psychology (for more on this, read Pinker's good book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future). S1 and S2 are simply a conceptual tool to help "describe the ways in which the incredibly complex human being is 'wired and programmed.'" (p. 17). Self 1 is the rational, analytical, judgmental self, while self 2 is more holistic, body-centered and emotive. Green shows how both selves are essential, but each has its place and role. Our culture focuses much more on S1, and Green takes us through ways to bring out the strengths inherent in S2. The first part of the book introduces us to "Inner Game" principles and how he's applied them to music.

One of the most valuable parts of the book for me was the advice throughout the book on awareness. Awareness not only as a musician, but especially as a teacher (Chapter 10), and the teacher's role in evoking deep awareness in students by avoiding the "Do this" approach and adopting the "Be aware of..." approach .Other valuable chapters for me were CH11: The Inner Game Listener; CH8: Coping with Obstacles; CH9: Improving the Quality of Musical Experience; and CH7: Letting Go.

The weaknesses of the book lie in its classically oriented, Western-art-music-is-best approach, though this is a minor concern as most of the principles in the book can be applied to any type of music. To be fair, this bias is, I think, not a result of any overt agenda on Green's part, and I'd bet his musical tastes are far-ranging and varied, but because of his own immersion in that tradition, his writing is bound to come off with a bit of this flavor. I found value in all but one of the chapters, CH 15: Improvisation, Composition, and Creativity, which gave shallow treatments of each subject. Putting all three of these complex and useful musical tools into one chapter does a disservice to the topics and the thoroughness of the rest of the book. In fact, each topic could easily support an entire chapter (or book!) of its own.

Despite these minor flaws, it's a great read for anyone interested in playing music, or anyone with a child interested in music. The book is rarely dry or pedantic and makes frequent use of real-world anecdotes to illustrate points. Using examples like this make the book an enjoyable read and may help the reader to apply these principles and philosophies to his or her own situation.The book has something for everyone: players of any level,parents of players, and teachers at any level. Highly recommended.

Have fun, and good luck with your practice!

One of those books that everyone should read.
This book helps to quiet that voice in your head which makes it hard to focus and concentrate. If you want to be a pro at anything, read this book; then read it again a year later after experiencing some of these techniques in action.

Completely changed my playing
I purchased the 'Inner Game of Music'some time ago, after my husband raved about 'The Inner Game of Golf'.It completely changed my playing and my confidence level soared. Any level of musician should read and will gain by reading the book.

Must read
This is a must read book for any aspiring music student or professional.It follows the same thoughts that you'll find in the innter game of tennis...but then that is where the author came upon the idea of applying those concepts to music...there are some excellent thoughts and exercises....I found it very useful...in the way that I approach how I practice...and how I enjoy those practice sessions. ... Read more

Product Description
For more than eighty years, The New Yorker has been home to some of the toughest, wisest, funniest, and most moving sportswriting around. Featuring brilliant reportage and analysis, profound profiles of pros, and tributes to the amateur in all of us, The Only Game in Town is a classic collection from a magazine with a deep bench.

Including such authors as Roger Angell and John Updike, both of them synonymous with New Yorker sportswriting, The Only Game in Town also features greats like John McPhee and Don DeLillo. Hall of Famer Ring Lardner is here, bemoaning the lowering of standards for baseball achievement—in 1930. A. J. Liebling inimitably portrays the 1955 Rocky Marciano–Archie Moore bout as “Ahab and Nemesis . . . man against history,” and John Cheever pens a story about a boy’s troubled relationship with his father and “The National Pastime.”

From Tiger Woods to bullfighter Sidney Franklin, from the Chinese Olympics to the U.S. Open, the greatest plays and players, past and present, are all covered in The Only Game in Town. At The New Yorker, it’s not whether you win or lose—it’s how you write about the game. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

$9.99 boycott
I know many readers here do not like reviews like this. I so want to read this book, but not at the price listed by the publisher.Get this publisher to reduce the price to $9.99 like most Kindle books are now.

I will wait until the library here gets this book before paying only $3.00 less than the DTB.

Steven
Oregon

Sports fans will no doubt welcom this edition into their library
Some amazing writers from various disciplines have contributed to the pages of The New Yorker in the magazine's 80-plus-year history. More than 30 of them are included in this wonderful anthology of the best from the world of sports, in itself a competition of sorts.

One would not find these pieces in the back pages of a local newspaper. These are thoughtful, long pieces that go beyond the box score and records, or the simple accomplishments on the various fields of play. Some --- like "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," John Updike's chronicle of Ted Williams's final game --- have become part of the larger time capsule of sports' legendary figures, both subject and author (a 50th anniversary edition of "Hub Fans" was published earlier this year by the Library of America). Others --- such as Lillian Ross's "El Unico Matador," perhaps the only profile ever written about a gay Jewish-American bullfighter --- offer people, places and events they otherwise would never discover.

It is fitting that New Yorker staple Roger Angell "leads off" the collection with his famous report of a classic 1-0 extra-inning 1981 college contest between Frank Viola of St. John's and Ron Darling of Yale. (And if you want to know the details, in the words of the eminent baseball philosopher Casey Stengel, "you could look it up.") Adding to the enjoyment of Angell's tale: the presence and commentary of "Smoky Joe" Wood, a standout of the early 1900s and later a college coach himself. Other notable writers include John Cheever on fathers, sons and baseball; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on Michael Jordan; A. J. Liebling on the 1955 Marciano-Moore fight; and John McPhee on Princeton basketball star (and later U.S. senator) Bill Bradley.

But is good writing on its own enough of a draw? While there are five essays on baseball, it seems editor David Remnick tries perhaps a bit too hard to be democratic as he includes so many sports/games/activities. Maybe that's the point. In what other mainstream publication would you find so much thoughtful prose on such diverse topics as surfing (William Finnegan), snowmobiling (Calvin Trillin), dog sledding (Susan Orlean), ping-pong (Nancy Franklin), and parkour (Alec Wilkinson; parkour is a jumping "sport" that seems more applicable to cinematic stunt work than athletics). Oddity for oddity's sake? Or is it perhaps a "snob factor" the historic magazine is after?

Regardless, sports fans who hold The New Yorker in the same regard as The Sporting News or Sports Illustrated will no doubt welcome this edition into their library.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan

A great read
Terrific stories from best writers at the New Yorker. Well chosen, introduced me to some writers I was not familiar with, and provided several great moments. One of a series of compiliations along a theme. Highly recommended.

Great selections of great writing
For instance,

"It may be that, compared to managers' dreams such as Joe DeMaggio and the always helpful Stan Musial, Williams is an icy star. But of all team sports, baseball, with its grateful intermittences of action, its immense and tranquil field sparsely settled with poised men in white, its dispassionate mathematics, seems to me best suited to accommodate, and be ornamented by, a loner. It is an essentially lonely game. No other played visible in my generation has concentrated within himself so much of the sport's poignance, has so assiduously refined his natural skills, has so consistently bought to the plate that intensity of competence that crowds the throat with joy."

from Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu
by John Updike ... Read more

Product Description
The third and most explosive installment of the groundbreaking True to the Game trilogy will take you on a marathon race through the mean streets of Philly. Starting off where the second installment's dramatic cliffhanger left us, True III will finally reveal Gena's mysterious stalker and savior, as well as introduce a new killer so vicious, so cunning, so ruthless, he'll have you looking over your shoulder with each turn of the page.


The crooked cops are searching for the money, Gena's family members are now the target for Gena who's hiding from everything and everyone, as the race is on for Gena's survival. Will she manage to keep the money, can she get out of town and make a new life for herself, and will her family survive the maniacal killer that is hell bent on tracking her down? Will Gena stay, True to the Game? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (111)

Some doors where left open,the story ran out of gas
All books must come to an end is the best way to describe "True To The Game 3" The story picks up where part 2 ended,it was a little hard for me to get into this book in the beginning because of the way Quadir was brought back into this story and Genas life.It was somewhat unbeleivable the way Teri Woods brings Quadir back into this story.This book at certain times is Quadirs side of the story as it relates to what Gena was going through at the same time in part 2.You learn that Quadir was watching over,looking out & trying to protect Gena like a guardian angel.

We are introduced to a new character by the name of Terrell,who is the twin brother of Jerrell Jackson.Terrell is a demonized head case out to avenge the murder of his brother.He's on a mission to find,torture,kill & destroy Gena because he beleives she has something to do with Jerrells murder.Terrell leaves a trail of death & destruction trying to locate Gena.Those dirty cops are back,all of them trying to get there greedy hands on Genas fortune.Another new character by the name of Dr.Amelia Hopkins comes on board & fills a temporary void left by Gena,it was her who saves Quadirs life & gets him back up on his feet.Amelia is a very unique character in this book,more attention should have been given to her.

This book does have some weak points & there where some doors left wide open.For example we dont know what happens to Amelia after Quadir leaves her house to seach for Gena,her involvement in this story ends right there.Another example is when Quadir & Gena are running for ther lives trying to avoid being captured by the police in the Self Storage building.We never find out what they did to get away or what happened to them the year after.The end of this book will leave you feeling like this story & Teri Woods simply ran out of gas.

Very Disappointed
I was very disappointed - I so anticipated on reading the third book because I wanted to know was Qua really alive - Gena was seriously dumb and clueless; every character did a 360.

TOPS THEM ALL
I DIDN'T THINK IT COULD GET ANY BETTER THAN THE FIRST TWO, BUT I ENJOYED READING THIS ONE TOO. MY JAW DROPPED THE WHOLE TIME I READ THIS BOOK AND COULDN'T BELIEVE THE OUTCOME AND SO WILL YOU!

It was alright. Too much time spent on things that didn't matter
It was alright. I think True to the Game II was the best one if you ask me. Now that the secret is out we all know Quadir is alive & kickin which is great. Mainly why I wanted to read part 3. Then I find out about all this bull of him & doctor doolittle. Anyways, overall it was alright. I'd recommend it if you absolutely need to know what happens to them. *SPOILER ALERT* They get married in the end. Everything works out just fine! Not much drama in between, except a few crooked cops.

A HAPPY ENDING
OMG, I LOVED THE ENDING TO THIS BOOK. I WAS SO HAPPY THAT QUADIR AND GENA WAS ABLE TO BE TOGETHER AT THE END. GENA HAD BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH SINCE THE DEATH OF QUADIR, HER FAMILY BEING TORTURED BY A MAD MAN, THE CROOKED COPS ON HER TRAIL,AND LOSING A FEW FRIENDS, TO THE CRAZY STREET WAR. WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS BOOK WAS LOVE CONQUERS ALL. ... Read more

Product Description

How do you make a flip from a flop? Obviously, by changing the i to an o. This is how you play Word Morph. At each step, you can change one letter to form a new word. The task is to transform the starting word one letter at a time until you spell the ending word.

Customer Reviews (16)

No instructions makes for much frustration
This is my first Kindle game. I understand the mechanics of the game, but there are no instructions and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to enter my new words. All i can manage is to create a note - which does nothing. And I'm a professional software developer! How is the average person supposed to figure this out? (Kindle DX)

This is another easy to use free word game
It is easy for people who love word games to use and enjoy this free kindle game. In fact, the instructions on this page show how to use the game. There are several stages in the game: novice, beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert. The system allows the user to move to any of these sages by pressing the right part of the kindle without needing to go through the earlier stages. The object of the game is to change one letter of the starting word at a time until you reach the final word. For example, if the first word is FLIP, it can changed to FLOP by changing the I to an O. A harder one, four stages is EAST, PAST, PEST, WEST. Sometimes the sequence may be a dozen words long. There are several possible solutions and the game gives three of them.

Middle schoolers like these!
I put these on the board at the end of the day to occupy my 8th graders during dismissal.They enjoy the challenge!

Not Interactive at all!!
As shuffle word was so much fun, I was looking forward to other interactive Kindle games... this is NOT one of them. Apparently, you are meant to use the note feature!! That isn't a game, that is a book you are scribbling on!

DUMB!
Sorry, but I just can't come up with a more appropriate title.As another reviewer observes, it is not interactive at all.All I can get from it on my Kindle is the two words, to use the example,

east
west

And that's all!I have opened up my notes window and typed words but there's no point to it.

Good thing it was free.It's all it's worth. ... Read more

Product Description
Harness the power of games to create extraordinary customer engagement with Game-Based Marketing.

Gamification is revolutionizing the web and mobile apps.

Innovative startups like Foursquare and Swoopo, growth companies like Gilt and Groupon and established brands like United Airlines and Nike all agree: the most powerful way to create and engage a vibrant community is with game mechanics. By leveraging points, levels, badges, challenges, rewards and leaderboards – these innovators are dramatically lowering their customer acquisition costs, increasing engagement and building sustainable, viral communities.

Game-Based Marketing unlocks the design secrets of mega-successful games like Zynga’s Farmville, World of Warcraft, Bejeweled and Project Runway to give you the power to create winning game-like experiences on your site/apps. Avoid obvious pitfalls and learn from the masters with key insights, such as:

• Why good leaderboards shouldn’t feature the Top 10 players.
• Most games are played as an excuse to socialize, not to achieve.
• Status is worth 10x more than cash to most consumers.
• Badges are not enough: but they are important.
• You don’t need to offer real-world prizing to run a blockbuster sweepstakes.

And learn even more:

• How to architect a point system that works
• Designing the funware loop: the basics of points, badges, levels, leaderboards and challenges
• Maximizing the value and impact of badges
• Future-proofing your design
• Challenging users without distraction

Based on the groundbreaking work of game expert and successful entrepreneur Gabe Zichermann, Game-Based Marketing brings together the game mechanics expertise of a decade’s worth of research. Driven equally by big companies, startups, 40-year-old men and tween girls, the world is becoming increasingly more fun.

Are you ready to play?Amazon.com Review
Advertising is dead. You may not realize it, but you and everyone you know engages, possibly unsuspectingly, in some form of a game multitasking as an ingenious marketing device. Game-Based Marketing illustrates the pervasiveness of games today in business marketing, and how to better use them to create an engaged and loyal customer base. Game-Based Marketing will:

• Explain the growing phenomenon of game-based marketing and how it works
• Show marketers how to develop games to incorporate into their marketing strategy
• Share fascinating examples of marketing games already in play including Jigsaw.com; Chase Picks Up The Tab; the iconic McDonald’s Monopoly Game that reportedly generates nearly one-hundred million dollars in incremental revenue per year; and United Airlines Mileage Plus where team pint competitions and real-world scavenger hunts for miles accrue millions annually.

Provocative and instructive, Game-Based Marketing’s message is clear: Use the tools in this book to put games in your marketing mix now… or you’ll be out of the game altogether.

Top 5 Ways to Gameify Your Business

From Foursquare on the iPhone to an online game of Farmville, not to mention the frequent fliers popularized in the Academy Award nominated film, Up in the Air, playing "everyday games" has become nothing short of a pop culture obsession. Driving unprecedented consumer engagement to smart brands like Chase and the US Army, loyalty programs and marketing games are marketing’s best bet for the future of advertising.

It’s easier than you think to bring the power of games to your business. Using the breakthrough lessons in Game-Based Marketing, you can start adding game mechanics to your marketing mix in 5 easy steps:

1. What consumer behavior are you trying to drive? Don’t just think about broad or bottom line objectives (“more engagement”, “greater brand exposure”) when considering ways in which you’d like to effect the behavior of your consumer base, but instead, focus in on easy-to-achieve activities that will have an overall impact on your bottom line. For example: incentivize the sending of product endorsements to friends. The more specific you can be, the easier it is to build game mechanics around. Some behaviors are best left un-incentivized, however, a topic we cover closely in Chapters 1 & 2.

2. Assign points to those behaviors. Think about how much value each of the behaviors has to your business and assign points to each action accordingly. Points should be weighed relatively, so if opening a new account is ten times more valuable than clicking on an advertiser’s link, make sure the point system reflects that reality. Want to learn more about just how point systems function? Check out Chapters 3 & 4.

3. Create a leaderboard to display points. Just like the Employee of the Month plaques at restaurants, create a socially-networked leaderboard that allows users to feel like they are accomplishing something relative to their friends and peers—A little encouragement goes a long way. You’ll find a plethora of leaderboard dos & don’ts in Chapter 4.

4. Develop challenges and message them. Just like Frequent Flyer promotions, creating simple challenges can have a profound effect on user behavior once they are connected to your community. Keep your challenges fresh and topical by knowing your players – Chapter 7 gives you riveting insight on exactly who is playing.

5. Make “fun” your goal! Whether your business is finance or funerary, making fun a principal objective will substantially increase consumer engagement and generate remarkable new revenue opportunities. Chapter 8 shows you the future and how Generation G – today’s tweens – are driving ‘funnovation’ in every industry.

There are plenty more tips in store – from why cash, or even real-world prizes just don’t matter as much as you think, to how you can compete against well-funded incumbents without much capital.Buy Game-Based Marketing today and learn the key secrets of leading-edge marketers - and how you can harness the power of games in your mix to create, engage, and excite your customers.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

A great book to start
The book is full of well-explained great examples that most business savvy people have encountered one way or another. The conclusions are easy to get and full of common sense. I was so convinced that we have implemented a simple game-based loyalty program to develop smart expert contributions on our international wiki org chart web site a few weeks ago.

Just the basics
I agree with Susan Diamond and 'The big shmoo' in that this book just touches the basics and is quite repetitive in using Frequent Flyer Programs as the perfect example of game-based marketing. I'm now reading 'The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses' by Jesse Schell and although it's a much tougher note to crack it is waaaay better in giving you inspiration in using games for marketing or communities.

If you decide to do anything with games you need a more in depth book anyway, so you might as well skip this book because the contents will be covered in the first chapter of every book about games.

Saying in a Book What Could be Said in an Article
I was all gung-ho to learn about game-based marketing. It's a deceiving title. This repetitive book kept talking about frequent flyer programs and fictional campaigns advertisers coulda-shoulda done. Technically, is this game-based marketing? Yes. But it's not relevant to what's really going on with games and apps like Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Good, But Not Great
Although Gabe Zichermann and Joselin Linder have a very well written and polished book, I can't say that they have fully convinced me of there thesis. Game Based Marketing definitely has its place, but I would hate to think the Frequent Flier Miles programs are an ideal embodiment. The book talks about the low redemption rate of flier miles and how this is a huge plus for the program. Maybe I am naive, but, isn't one of the reasons for low redemption, very simple. People who travel as part of their job, might not be as inclined to travel on their days off? (Think about it.) If 80% of airline miles accumulation comes from the 20% who fly as part of their job, that explain the low redemption rate.

I think that Gabe and Joselin lost focus on the most important thing, the customer. A customer, in any marketing program wants to feel valued and appreciated. More importantly the customer wants to feel like they are getting fair value for their time and money. Most of us DO NOT thrive on trying to accumulate points on a leader board. We DO thrive on trying to get something for nothing, or stretch our dollar as fast as possible.

One of the fundamental reasons that a form of game based marketing, such as MacDonald's Monopoly promotion, has any success, is the notion that by participating, the player can have a life changing event. The player is led to believe that by collecting game pieces, the player can have a shot a $1 million dollars. It is the same reason a player puts in $1.00 into a progressive slot machine. It is for the thrill of getting a life changing moment. The author's clearly missed this.

Games can be fun. Games can be a great way to promote a program. But DO NOT take your loyal customer base, such as a frequent flier program, and turn it into something where you stop rewarding them for good customer behavior. We live in cost cutting times. We are in a recession. If you want to inspire customer loyalty here is the tried and true method to achieve it:

a) Listen to your customers
b) Go amongst your customers. Send somebody high in the food chain to talk to them
c) Appreciate your customers -- say thank you. Call them, and say thank you. At random, have the CEO write them a hand written thank you note!
d) Offer them fair value for their money
e) Offer an outstanding product that your customers will evangelize to other customers
f) Be better than average. Be better than good. Be exceptional in whatever you do.
g) Reward your customers in ways that benefit them. If a customer makes a lot of purchases, reward this behavior by giving them discounts, special sales, access to premiums, extended store hours, etc. Do anything possible to make your customer desire to purchase more.

Unfortunately, none of the items I listed above are a game. More importantly, I have a long list of companies who did not follow that list who are now either second tier in their industry, or out of business. The only game here is that one these so-called experts would like to play on a company's most valuable resource: Its loyal repeat customers.

The new rules of marketing and product development
A must read for entrepreneurs, marketers and engineers alike.The next 3-5 years is going to be a race for merging gaming fundamentals and business models.You are either in or out.Game-Based Marketing serves as the foundation for anybody who wants to join the race. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

No Strings Included
No strings included, only book received. I ordered this book for my granddaughter after reading other buyers reviews. Other buyers state they received either one or three strings that were included inside the book. The book sent to my granddaughter did not have any strings. The write up that amazon has does not state that the book comes with strings, but amazon does not always have complete descriptions of a product and I assumed this was one of their oversights in their description. If anyone else received strings with the book, I sure would like to know why they were not included with the book sent to my granddaughter. Very disappointed.

Pretty advanced--non-traditional
This book is okay, but it does not contain many of the traditional cats cradle games that I remember from childhood.Many of the games described are fairly advanced & complicated.Would be great for preteens who already know a few games, but not so great for younger kids who are just beginning

Too difficult for 8 year old
Maybe a good book for someone older, but way to difficult for an 8 year old.

Very Confusing
This book is so complicated! The illustrations are OK, but the text is terrible. My daughter (11) ordered this for herself and was excited to get the book. She has a Klutz book on string games that she loved (and played with for months!), so she thought this would be perfect to further her skills. She was very disappointed in this book. Here is an example of the text on page 15... "Hook index fingers down over the upper far thumb string, then down on the far side and back up on the near side of the two lower far thumb strings. Catch the lower thumb strings and extend index fingers." This step is from one of the figures classified as "Easy" and is the first string figure in the book.

Difficult, FUN
My daughter has grown up playing string games so we thought this book would be perfect for her. The book was very good with a lot of different string games. (They have been listed by another reviewer so I won't list them out.)

My daughter was 7 when we bought this book. She was able to do some of the easier string games without a lot of help. Some of the more difficult ones she needed help with and was unable to do them by herself.

This is the kind of book where you learn one trick, work for a while to master it, then go back and try another one. If you try to sit and just work your way through the book all at once, I think you might find it moves in difficulty much faster thanyou might like.

Well worth the money.
Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
The New York Times bestseller: “Hilarious. No mushy tribute to the joys of fatherhood, Lewis’ book addresses the good, the bad, and the merely baffling about having kids.”—Boston GlobeWhen Michael Lewis became a father, he decided to keep a written record of what actually happened immediately after the birth of each of his three children. This book is that record. But it is also something else: maybe the funniest, most unsparing account of ordinary daily household life ever recorded, from the point of view of the man inside. The remarkable thing about this story isn’t that Lewis is so unusual. It’s that he is so typical. The only wonder is that his wife has allowed him to publish it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (62)

Great book
Michael Lewis has been known as a great author due to his other works (e.g., moneyball, blindside), where he writes about non-fiction in a captivating and often humorous way.In this book, he shows writing an autobiography is not much different.He is able to write in a way that makes the book hard to put down, in part due to his incredible honesty with the audience.

Greatest book i've read in a long time...
I've probably purchased 25+ copies of this book now and I've been sending it to friends, relatives, and colleagues who have children, are having children, or who just might appreciate a good laugh about fatherhood.It's an easy read and very entertaining.But it also hits on a lot of the joy and angst father's feel before and after having children.

Men, Welcome to Reality
Granted, this isn't Mr. Lewis' best work, but it's still darn entertaining. I found myself reading excerpts to my two, tween sons as well as my wife. There are plenty of laughs in this easy, short, self-deprecating read. It was very reassuring to read the same thoughts that ran through my head when my boys were infants. Mr. Lewis focuses on the first year of each of his three kids and what he was feeling during the ordeals. The memoir concludes with him having a vasectomy. It seemed a fitting end. If you are an involved father, you're life as you knew it before kids will only be a distant, fond memory. The author points out some of the rewards of caring for others, but mostly the book is a pity party. Any man who is or may someday be a father will get a reality check with this honest portrayal of fatherhood. The book will probably scare the bejesus out of a few men contemplating parenthood.

Finally a Dad's perspective on fatherhood
I absolutely LOVED this book. It reminded me alot of Erma Bombeck in it's humor. I read Bill Cosby's FATHERHOOD book, and ejoyed that. I enjoyed this author's style of writing much more. If you know a Father who enjoys reading AND has a sense of humor, get him this book!

Even you have no experience with kids
Michael Lewis is a good story teller. He makes exaggeration sound believable and sarcasms natural. It is actually the same old story: a you little bastard who tortures me, exploit me and never pay back or even say thank you but I still love you kind of story. The problems for him are nothing new, even for a 22 year college student who probably won't have anything to do with babies in 10 years and have never had a younger sibling or any babysitting experience. Yes, the baby cries; the baby swears; the baby gets sick. Don't they all do? Well, you took your kid gambling, big deal? My parents got me drunk when I was three and they found it joke. My dad put me on backseat of his bike when he was drunk and even better, he was riding on road with ice and snow. How does that sound? Vasectomy is not that a big deal either. He sounds like he never masturbates before. But the idea of doing that in a parking lot ever coming to his mind is quite astonishing. At the part, I think he tried to hard to be funny. Well, to conclude, nothing much new about the new parents' story, told in a humorous way, but trying to hard sometimes. But if you are parents, you probably will not find out. You all exaggerate, right? ... Read more

Product Description
Now available in paperback--the book that has, since 1992, become the primer for open-book management, a new method based on the concept of democracy, the spirit of sports, and the reality of numbers. Includes a "user's guide" and a discussion guide created especially for this edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Common Sense and Transparency
Interesting book which takes common sense ideas and shows how converting them into common practice can boost profitability, improve employee engagement and strengthen communities.Worth a read since it turns so many business tenets on their head!

PROFIT!
As a General Manager faced with conducting turnarounds of struggling divisions of a Fortune 500 Corporation, this was my PROFIT bible! Now, as the founder of an investment company faced with resolving complex cash issues at our client companies, it is equally relevant.If you have a business of greater than 10 employees and over $1 MM in revenue, you will find the approaches inside extremely helpful in achieving your financial goals for the business.

Jack Stack takes a practical, implementable approach to Open Book Management.In a nutshell, the theory is that if employees understand the numeric goals of a business, and how their own measurables contribute to those goals in a fun, competitive environment -- they will find new, creative ways to assist management in cranking out profit, additional sales revenue, and free cash flow.Having personalized this approach and implemented it myself in a number of organizations, I can vouch that this is absolutely the best way to improve the numbers that are so critical to your business success.Get your team involved -- Roll out the Great Game of Business TODAY!

Excellent book for a business owner
I have gotten a lot of good information from this book in building my consulting business. The author discusses his own experiences on building a business and how things might not go exactly the way we want them to if they do at all. In the world of business, nothing is a guarantee but what can be a guarantee is to wake up in the morning and tell yourself, "I can do what it takes to make it happen!" Just saying that will get you through the day because you are not opening yourself to high expectations. It is important to remember, when having high expectations they may not always be there and that will cause a downward spiral that just damages everything you have worked so hard to build. This book is what you need to get you through the day of building your business one step at a time.

Obama-Style Leadership Inherent in Bo 7 Jack's approach
Glowing here in Chicago after six months of work on the Obama campaign I believe that the lynchpin to Obama's success is reflected in Jack Stack and Bo Burlington's approach.Obama's approach to Obama Team was to ensure that each of us understood how our work supported the larger whole.

In talking with each other, each of usfelt well-used because we knew that we played a specific, valuable part in the campaign - and knew what our main goal was towards the larger, main goal.Stack's goal was the same, "Knowledge of how your business operates will allow them to make the right decisions in the best financial interest of their organization."

In an increasingly, transient, information-glutted and time-starved country, people are hungry for connection to a larger goal and to be valued for their high-performing work towards that goal.That's why Marcus Buckingham and Jack Stack's approach and books will be perennial best-sellers.They are practical and have wide-spread application.

A Wonderful Lesson for the Doubters
This is a great story for everyone in your organization whose response to innovation is - "Well, sure it worked at that company, but it could never work here."Jack Stack took a "get your hands dirty," product line and turned it into one of the more innovative companies in the U.S.The numeric examples are a bit dated at this point, but the philosophy is as strong as ever. ... Read more

Product Description

"One of the best books I've ever read about American sports!"
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

Available for the first time in years, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been National Basketball Association champions.

As Halberstam follows this collection of men through the months, through the losing streaks and occasional victories, the endless trips and the brutal schedules, we come to know them and their world--the other players, coaches, and owners; the competition, drafts, trades, and traditions; the wives, the fans, the media connections--a world of grand dreams, impossible expectations, and bracing realities.

The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled.Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed. It's about the influence of big media, the fans and the hype they subsist on, the clash of ethics, the terrible physical demands of modern sports (from drugs to body size), the unreal salaries, the conflicts of race and class, and the consequences of sport converted into mass entertainment and athletes transformed into superstars--all presented in a way that puts the reader in the room and on the court, and The Breaks of the Game in a league of its own.

Customer Reviews (19)

Half way through
Very engrossing book.Found myself reading it when I should have been cranking out some emails on my laptop on a layover at the airport.

Deserving of its classic status
I read this book nearly 30 years ago when it was originally published in 1981 and I just recently re-read it.It is very deserving of its classic status.Not only is it one of the best basketball books, it's one of the best sports books.

In Breaks of the Game, Halberstam follows the Portland Trailblazers through the 1979-80 season. The Trailblazers, who won the 1976-77 NBA championship, are without Bill Walton, who was traded to San Diego Clippers after suffering an injury and a broken foot.Walton sued the Trailblazers and team doctors, alleging malpractice.

Although Walton is no longer a Trailblazer, Halberstam writes a lot about him (all of it interesting) and his impact on the Portland club and the NBA.

Halberstam takes a social, racial and economic view of the NBA.He traces the impact of television on the NBA, the escalating salaries and the impact of black players on the league and the style of play.From the late 1960s to the mid-70s, thanks in large part to the fledgling ABA, the average salary in the NBA increased from $75,000 to $500,000 to $600,000.This decreased the influence of the coaches and increased the influence of the players.

After reading this book, you'll probably never think of a basketball team in the same way.It is much more complex, more fragmented and fragile than you think.Halberstam offers rich profiles of the players, coaches and owners, including Coach Jack Ramsay, coach Stu Inman, owner Lester Weinberg, Lionel Hollins, Maurice Lucas, Kermit Washington, Larry Steele, Bobby Gross, Dave Twardzik, Billy Ray Bates and others.

While this book is essentially about the Portland Trailblazers, it virtually touches every important NBA development.And, always with Halberstam's unmatched insight.

A great writer, Halberstam seems to effortlessly bring everything together in an extremely interesting manner.A minor complaint, however, is that the book has no chapters or index.

book review
I puchased for my son's birthday. He lives in alabama now but is a die hard Blazer fan.He raved about the book and loaned it to me while I was visiting.It is a compelling read. It should have 100 stars.

SO Disappointed!
I knew the book was used, but I didn't expect it to be so old,ripped and written on that I couldn't give it as a gift.When I tried to return it, noone was able to help me.It's the first time I was disappointed with an Amazon purchase!

Another Halberstam Classic
David Halberstam was one of the most astute observers of American culture of the past century. His skill as a reporter was not only in his meticulous accumulation of facts and his canny ability to piece them together into a coherent historical perspective. His true genius was the realization that history is driven by people, not events, and his consumate skill in making individuals come alive on the printed page.Whether he dealt with Korean war figures, Viet Nam era politicians or famous professional athletes, the reader was made to understand how and why these men behaved as they did in times of duress.
I had overlooked this book for some reason despite being an aficionado of both Mr Halberstam and basketball. It proved to be a history of the changing face of American sports and the metamorphasis of the sport of basketball from one era into another.Along the way we are introduced to and come to understand and care about characters as disparate as Jack Ramsay the Trailblazers driven coach, Bill Walton, his flawed superstar, Larry Weinberg, Portland's Jewish businessman owner, and Billy Ray Bates, a black sharecroppers's son. My only mild criticism is that Halberstam tended to become so enamored of peripheral characters in the basketball world in which he traveled that he wandered down long circuitous pathways which contributed little to the overall premise of his book. But, oh, what interesting pathways, and what an astute guide for the fortunate reader. ... Read more

Product Description
Entrepreneurs who dream of building the next Amazon, Facebook, or Google have the opportunity to take advantage of one of the most powerful economic engines the world has ever known: venture capital. To do that, you need to woo, impress, and persuade venture capitalists to back your endeavor. That task alone is a challenge. But finding and choosing the right investor can be harder still. Even if you manage to get backing, you want your VC to be a partner, not some dictator who will undermine your vision and take control of your life's work.

Jeffrey Bussgang is one of a very few people who have played on both sides of this high-stakes game. By his early thirties, he had helped build two successful start-ups-one went public, the other was acquired. Now he uses his experience and unique perspective on "the other side" as a venture capitalist helping entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition.

In the book, Bussgang offers high-level insights, colorful stories, and practical advice gathered from his own experience as well as from interviews with dozens of the most successful players on both sides of the game, including Twitter's Jack Dorsey and LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman. He reveals how to get noticed, perfect a pitch, and negotiate a partnership that works for everyone.

An insider's guide to the secrets of the world venture capital, Mastering the VC Game will prove invaluable for entrepreneurs seeking capital and successful partnerships.

To learn more, visit JeffBussgang.com. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (66)

Good content, easy read, pleasant surprise
In addition to being well-written, Mastering the VC Game combines the right mix of facts, advice, people and stories. The author provides a fresh perspective to the different challenges of starting and running a company. He takes his readers through the fundamentals of a venture capital firm - from the structure, the funds, the roles and the business model. His passion for venture investing ("America's greatest export") shows through. He discusses how to make a successful VC pitch, drawing on not just his own perspective from sitting on both sides of the table, but also integrating the experiences of notable entrepreneurs.

When I put the book down, I couldn't help but wonder: why hadn't someone written this book sooner?

I put a complete review at [...]

Great Potential, Poor Execution
This book could have been a definitive work but it misses the mark on it's title promise, "Mastering the VC Game".It should have been titled, "A general introduction to venture capital." The table of contents laid out a wonderful road map that promised answers on what we entrepreneurs care about most.But when you get into the book, it was unsatisfying and provided fewer answers than what could be found in a cursory blog search.Specifically, the book seemed mostly focused on reconciling the underlying motivations for VCs and Entrepreneurs.The motivations for Entrepreneurs was interesting but, given the likely reader of this book, ran long.The motivations for VCs was more enlightening, especially around deal terms, but was presented too generally to be truly valuable.You can't fault the author here because frankly all VCs are different.

Where the book really missed out on great opportunities to help entrepreneurs "Master the VC game" is the discussions around actually raising the money.Here too, he speaks in anecdotes and generalities, and doesn't share any real best practices.

For example, on pitching: He does a great job of highlighting the importance of finding the right person where you feel your idea is in their sweet spot. But what goes into a pitch?What should you focus on most in your first meeting?How do you create and deliver a compelling story? What are common pitching pitfalls?These questions have good answers but none of these were explored much and instead he provides general thoughts on being passionate and prepared.Good answers to these some of these questions are covered in Jerry Weissman's Presenting to Win.

Another example of an important missed on opportunity is on how much money to raise.A critical decision that very few people have good grasp on.It is skimmed over here and presented as a trade off between capital and exit options.A valid and valuable lesson.But there are a few important nuances not covered.First, how the capital you raise actually impacts your pre-money valuation for many firms which means that your dilution is not linear depending on how much you raise.Nor is there any mention of what investors may look for at different stages of investment.To be fair, these are REALLY hard issues to be declarative on but there should have been an exploration of them.

And what about actually playing the VC game?How do you manage the process?Do you hit 30 all at once?Do you start with a few throw aways and then work your way up to the big boys?Do you get one going and then leverage him to speed up or pressure others?How long should we expect to be raising?When should we step back and reevaluate?When and how should you re-approach someone who said no?

A bright spot in the book was discussion around terms.He gave a good breakdown and made the most important recommendation-- get a good lawyer.But even here, most of the content could be easily found on VC blogs.

Overall, well written and a good intro to the world of VC.But this book is not an entrepreneur's guide to Mastering the VC game.

Excellent book for the novice entrepreneur
A year ago I had decided to pursue a dream and build a company that will change the world. It is my first attempt at entrepreneurship and the journey is not linear to say the least. The effort, skills and commitment are something I never experiences, but mostly - it is a lonely journey of a single person's passion and dreams.

I met Jeff at a NY tech meetup where he discussed the book and bought the copy that day. Always eager to learn from the experience of others who have walked the path and powered by the motivation to get a sneak peak into the mind of the VC. What I found is an very well written book the flows like a story (a story/movie is something that Jeff discusses several times in the book BTW). The arrangement is natural and I feel I have gained clarity about who the VCs are and what the game really is.

One of the direct results are being able to discuss matters with VCs at their terms on their field. The first time I took action on this new knowledge, I ended up with a 45m conversation with a leading VCs in NYC where 5 other people are listening intensely.

I read the reviews here, specifically the more critical one(s). I understand how entrepreneurs who have been around may find this too basic. For me it had hit the spot. I think a follow up book, that gets into more details about the term sheet, negotiations, IP and other 'technical' issues can be useful.

If you are a first time entrepreneur I think this book will serve you well and provide you with tools to better understand this game and come out as a winner.

Demystifying the VC world
Jeff Bussgang sets out to share his entrepreneurial and VC experience with a lofty objective ... "demystify the VC world for entrepreneurs" ... and it works.Jeff shares important insights gleaned from both sides of the table, and as a student of business, not mere homilies but cases that describe successful bids to raise money and, more importantly, forge partnerships with the investor.Using your investor's network, Jeff asserts clearly, will enable you to achieve your dreams and achieve the "audacious belief" that VCs seek to find.He also advises "don't hide what you're doing" and "be honest about the risk" (since savvy VCs will discover them anyway!), and offers up "killer questions" with a bold warning, too -- anticipate them!Plus, Jeff demystifies the VC jargon that has bamboozled many a budding entrepreneur, including "carry" and "inside round", essential tutorials. Often Jeff implores the entrepreneur to "ask for advice", and mine is "buy this, read this, heed this, and you'll be on your way!"

Insightful, Interesting and Useful!
Mastering the VC Game is a great read for any entrepreneur raising money or simply looking to start up their business. It does well to help the reader wrap their arms around the way VC's and other entrepreneurs think about and communicate their vision and ultimately cash in on big ideas. I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more about both sides of the table, but I particularly recommend it to any business owner looking to take their business to thenext level or any want-to-be's ready to take the plunge. Overall, great read. ... Read more

Product Description
• Authors are top game designers
• Aspiring game writers and designers must have this complete bible

There are other books about creating video games out there. Sure, they cover the basics. But The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design goes way beyond the basics. The authors, top game designers, focus on creating games that are an involving, emotional experience for the gamer. Topics include integrating story into the game, writing the game script, putting together the game bible, creating the design document, and working on original intellectual property versus working with licenses. Finally, there’s complete information on how to present a visionary new idea to developers and publishers. Got game? Get The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Interessante
Entra in profondità nei meccanismi tecnico-psicologici della programmazione di videogames.
Scritto con molta professionalità

Excellent Book
The book is an excellent introduction to the subject of video game writing.And with there being no intermediate or advanced book on the topic, this book is the best on this topic.As some other reviewers pointed out, there is not much about game design in here.So don't be misled by the title.

The Best Book Out There on the Subject!
I'm not on Skip's payroll, but I can verify this book is the best I've ever read on Game Writing and Design (and I've read a lot, and taught Game Writing and Design a lot, and written a million-seller game)

If anyone here is keen to take a crack at either adapting your film project to a game, or writing an original IP game, I would seriously read this book first.

Also, examples are so important, and The Game Concept at the back of the book struck me as the greatest Survival Horror game concept I've ever seen, too. Scared the be-whillikers outta me just reading it, and as a horror writer, I don't scare easy...

I was also fortunate in working with John and Flint on the "Space Chimps" game, when I was the Senior Game Designer at RedTribe, when we did that... (and I'm not even on THEIR payroll, either, but John and Flint have been doing what they do for so long, they're experts)

I worked with Ernest W Adams too, ([...]) and he was sensational too, (so are his books on Games) but, whenever I give talks on Game Writing, Skip's (and John and Flint's) book is the one I hold up first.

For sheer coolism, it can't be beat.

When a book is this good you can't help gushing about it. And it's that good.



Joe Velikovsky (no relation)

Game Designer & Writer

[...]

Very basic
I don't know why they decided to go with "The Ultimate Guide..." rather than "A Basic Introduction to..."

There are really no advanced ideas in this book. Descriptions of the creative process are presented in an imprecise, unhelpful way. The following is an exaggeration and not a direct quote, but this is how the book felt to me:

"First, think about what type of game you want to make. Next, make something that resembles what you were thinking. Finally, change it until it is more like what you want. Take into consideration that your game will change as you make it."

Maybe there is some use here for other people, but I found absolutely no practical advice anywhere in the book. I do not recommend this.

The title is misleading.
The title of this book is misleading. Its true this book dose gives you a lot of insight on how to write a game, in fact it gives you everything you need to know on how wright a great game. But as far as design goes.... well... it really doesn't help much. I bought this book under false pretense, I thought this book will help you how to program and create games.In fact at the being of the first few pages of the introduction it clearly says;

"This book is not a comtemplative work that is meticulously structured and certain of its conclusions. There is to much flux in the video games industry for that."

This book is mostly based on for people that already work in a gaming industry, and that you're leading a team to make games.

Flint Dille and John Zuur made a real great book, its well laid out and a breeze to read and understand. And I think that game developers like Ed Boon should buy this book. I just think they should have been more specific on the title. This book just wasn't what I was looking for. ... Read more

Product Description

iPhone games are hot! Just look at the numbers. Games make up over 25 percent of total apps and over 70 percent of the most popular apps. Surprised? Of course not! Most of us have filled our iPhone or iPod touch with games, and many of us hope to develop the next best-selling, most talked-about game.

You’ve probably already read and mastered Beginning iPhone 3 Development; Exploring the iPhone SDK, the best-selling, the second edition of Apress’s highly acclaimed introduction to the iPhone and iPod touch by developers Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche. This book is the game-specific equivalent, providing you with the same easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach, more deep technical insights, and that familiar friendly style.

While games are all about fun, at the same time, they’re serious business. With this book, you’re going to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with some hardcore coding. While you may have written games before, this book will take you further, immersing you in the following topics:

• Game graphics and animation with UIKit, Quartz, Core Animation, and OpenGL ES
• Game audio with OpenAL, MediaPlayer Framework, AV Foundation, and AudioSession
• Game networking with GameKit, Bonjour, and Internet sharing

You’ll learn:

• Efficient methods for drawing in 2D and 3D to the iPhone screen
• Game-specific animation techniques with Core Animation
• To use OpenGL ES for more complex and realistic gaming backgrounds and action
• Numerous ways to add music to enhance the gaming experience
• How to give your users access to their iPhone libraries from within games
• The tools and techniques of 3D audio for creating even more realistic gaming experiences
• How to do networking right, including two-player games over Bluetooth and multiplayer games over Wi-Fi

Who is this book for?

Customer Reviews (16)

Great book, don't believe the hype
Gets you up and coding quickly. I went through the Apple Dev tutorials but was put off by the huge amount of code to produce such little results there. This book satisfies your instant gratification by letting you jump in get results quickly. You'll have the first sample game done in a couple of hours, which is fun and encouraging. This book also covers OpenGL extensively, so it's great if you're interested in making 3D games.

For all the people complaining about typos, yes there are a few, but they're not so rampant as some reviews here make it seem. But the author has a full list of errata at [...] and an active support forum, so it's totally irrelevant. Spend 10 minutes to look up the errata and mark the changes, and your book is now totally error-free.

Price for Kindle version higher than paperback!?
I was thinking to buy the kindle version of this book but then I saw that it is priced much higher than the paperback edition. How is that? If anything it should be cheaper not more expensive.

Mostly Okay
The authors of the book has neglected one vital area:actually working through the projects in each chapter to make sure that they work.Then having someone else work through the evolving projects to verify they actually work.

So expect a level of frustration.

One may consider such an egregious oversight to warrant rating this book a 1 star, instead of a 4 star.But the exercise of trying to figure out what went wrong, and why, is itself quite valuable to the learning process.

In its domain of beginning game design for the iPhone, this book is currently the best one out there.

Prerequisites:
+ some basic knowledge of Objective-C and Cocoa (or CocoaTouch)
+ a Macintosh capable of running Xcode
+ Xcode

Optional:
+ registered iPhone developer with Apple
+ an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad

If you know a different programming language and other frameworks, and are not afraid of jumping in, that will likely be adequate.If you do not know how to program at all, this book assumes a level of programming familiarity.There are several introductory books on Objective-C and Cocoa to bring someone up to speed.

Great for novice game developers
Developing productivity apps is my comfort zone, but occasionally, I tinker with the idea of creating a game. But game programming requires quite a different set of skills. If you're an iOS developer interested in making games, this book is a great place to start! This massive 700+ page guide touches upon all the key ingredients you'd want to learn to produce game logic, animation (Quartz 2D, Core Animation, OpenGL ES), music and sounds (Core Audio, AudioAL, AVFoundation), and networking (Bonjour, GameKit). As a fellow Apress author, I'm admittedly biased toward Apress books, but I only recommend the ones that I truly love. I personally learned a lot from this book and feel it's a very worthy read for any beginning iOS game developer.

Good introduction book to game development
This hefty book does a good job at introducing game development on the iPhone.
Though the title does have the word "beginning" in it, some of the topics could
be a little advanced for someone who is truly a beginner programmer.

There are really three main sections in the book (i.e., graphics, audio, and
networking) where several chapters are dedicated for each section.No single book
can provide all the information to satisfy every reader, but this book covers a broad
list of topics that gives an understanding of what is involved in making a game.

An avid learner is resourceful enough (and expected) to seek information from
sources/references (e.g., other books, websites, forums, on-line help, etc.) outside
the book to help fill in the gaps that may be missing or unclear.

I agree with the other reviews about the uneven tone, the lack of depth in
explaining the "why" of some topics, and the errors encountered in the book (there
is an errata page for the book on the web, though), but no book is perfect.

If you wanted to learn how a game can be developed, this book certainly will
show you how.Taking it beyond what is covered in the book is up to the reader. ... Read more