Game Studies Books

My 7-year-old grandson uses this book to create various Lincoln Logs structures. The instructions just visual so you don't need to be able to read to use the book, and it comes with a CD-ROM so you can print out instructions if you want or need to. Some of the structures are kind of basic, like the tower (well, duh, you just stack the logs) but overall, the book is worth having just to keep the Logs interesting. If you have a kid who is kind of technical and enjoys figuring things out and putting puzzles together and the like, this is a great book for them. Also good for parents who aren't that good at building things with Lincoln Logs!

I love to build the lincoln log sets with my kids,This is a fun book to use up some of the extra pieces that come with all the sets we have, and it has given use some new idea's, I never thought of building a coverd bridge or a Light house before! I Recommend this book for the Lincoln Log Enthusiast!

My 6 yr. old son loves any kind of building toy - Lincoln Logs, K'Nex, Kid K'Nex, Magna Tiles, Legos, Magnetix. He also loves following picture plans for building so this is a great book for him. He likes building open-ended things, but when he wants to build something by a plan this book has many he can choose from. Lincoln Logs haven't been played a lot with yet by him (but that may be because he has so many other things to play with), but when he does he has fun building things from this book.

These are great cards and we've learnt quite a bit. It is limited however. I wish they would bring out more cards. The CD was great because the people were actually french speakers so the accent was particularly good. I would still recommend these to anyone. The only disappointment we had was that there was no instructions on how to play the games. Apparently there is meant to be but in the ones we got it was missing (the pack was sealed). I did contact the company that makes them, but didn't get a reply. Would have been a lot more fun had we had the game instructions.

I have used this great product for years in my French teaching. Manipulating basic verbs expressing needs, wants & duties paired with situations is a great way to gain fluency quickly.

I bought this to help my children (and myself) learn some basic french. I've learned more from playing these games then we have from "learn french" cd programs that teach grammar, etc. It's wonderful for picking up basic phrases that you can use around the house. It's NOT a complete learning course, but it is definately a good introduction to pronunciation (a good supplement)!

It is a complicated and unpredictable universe out there. Chance and chaos seem to rule much of everything, and even when we think we have control, we often fool ourselves into thinking we really have more than we do, or that we have any at all. The feeling of being in control, however illusory, is what has been harnessed by magical beliefs that have been found in all societies. In _The Magical Universe: Everyday Ritual and Magic in Pre-Modern Europe_ (Hambledon and London), Stephen Wilson, a British historian, has compiled a monumental collection of magical beliefs and practices that shows how they affected almost all aspects of society, including doctrinal religion. Every page is filled with odd practices that some community has at some time thought would decrease the chaos in the world.

Wilson has tried to lay out his encyclopedic work in logical fashion, with one chapter on livestock, another on conception and pregnancy, another on illness, and so on. Within each chapter, though, is a grab-bag of folk belief, with every page having its share of surprising beliefs. Take sex, for instance. Sex had plenty of its own associated magic, as can be imagined when people understood nothing about genetics and about the menstrual cycle. Impotence was often addressed by magic means because it was so frequently imposed on men by witches. The witches' main time of instilling such a curse was at the wedding itself, perhaps by secretly tying knots which symbolized sexual frustration. The prevention of such curses was commonsensical: the couples would deliberately avoid them by having sex before the wedding. In parts of France, if the impotence took hold, the couple would be put into a barn, striped naked, tied to a post and whipped. Having enjoyed this frolic, the "therapists" would untie them, given them food, and leave them to enjoy the night. Standing stones from prehistoric societies were found all over Europe, and were, by the descendants of those who had erected them, thought to be fertility aids. Women touched, bestrode, and rubbed on them, sometimes in groups as a pilgrimage. When such stones were incorporated into the architecture of churches, their function as fertility talismans continued, to the distress of some clergy. The cult of St. Leonard flourished in Limoges, and focused on a large bolt ("the bolt of St. Leonard") in the church door there. A woman would move the bolt in and out to banish sterility.

These descriptions show a theme that rises throughout this book. Wilson did not set out to write a comparative study of superstition and religion, but the two are interconnected in every chapter. While the organized church often tried to keep separate from magical practices, or to suppress them, the two spheres eased the same doubts and engendered the same feeling of control. Many priests frankly practiced magic and spells, and did ritual healings. The host was treated with utmost care, but it could be cheeked and furtively removed from the church for magic purposes, such as helping in battles or detecting an unfaithful spouse. It is no wonder that magic and religion were inextricably linked.

This impressive book is crammed with facts, many of them amusing. The author, however, has the view that such magical thinking is no longer part of our modern world, and this is simply not true. One can turn on Pray TV to see preachers casting out devils and doing healings. The head of the PTL club thinks he can divert hurricanes. We have Viagra now to help with erectile dysfunction, but the Web and newspapers are full of ads for herbal remedies for the problem. Thousands of people believe they are regularly abducted by flying saucers. We may no longer think that a baby's intelligence can be improved by application of blood or spittle, but we just know that Einstein had more brain cells in his mathematical area, and every now and then the newspapers have a story about the gene that carries genius. This book wonderfully illustrates the magical universe of the past, but we have not taken ourselves from it yet.

The world is a strange and terrifying place in which arbitrary events often determine our happiness and even survival. While modern medicine, adequate food supplies and stable governments have done much to decrease random pain and suffering in this era, it was not always so. This book details medieval man and woman's attempts to control the forces of nature that acted on and in their everyday lives.

The book catalogues the magical practices and beliefs of the unpriveleged classes. Ritual magic of the more scholarly kind, a la Nostradamus, is mostly untouched. We are instead treated to an exhaustive treatment of the folk magic and religious beliefs which governed every aspect of lower class lives. The five sections of the book deal with agriculture, the human life cycle from conception to death, disease and healing, divination and signs and finally magical elements. The latter two sections are fairly brief while the bulk of the book treats the human life cycle.

My primary complaint about the book is that the author injects very little in the way of analysis. Instead a long list of detailed practices related to a given topic - for example christening - is presented. While the lack of analysis prevents the book from becoming a controversial diatribe, it also makes it read like one long review paper and leaves more questions than answers. Why, for example, did certain places seem plagued by werewolves, while others had witches or vampires as boogie men? What are the origins of the lucky numbers 3 and 7? How are ancient religious ideas (Roman, Celtic, Norse) involved in folk magic? This concentration on factual detail - the myriad ways of avoiding the evil eye, for example - leaves a very erudite book feeling just a little shallow. It's as if the author spent his whole life collecting anecdotes but never looked for overarching themes.

That said, I would strongly recommend this book as a scholarly resource for sociologic studies of medieval thought. It contains extensive reference notes and a very deep bibliography as well as a fine index. The enormous depth of detail might also be useful to those interested in the history of medicine or the medieval church. Finally, the book's wealth of anecdotes is a treasure trove for those who like to go to dinner parties and drop lines like "Did you know that the fifth consecutive child of the same sex was considered a werewolf in medieval Portugal."

I fascinating study of premodern European folk traditions. The author avoids the all to common tendancy to fill his descriptions of folk practices with modern polemics. The author has no political ax to grind, other than reintroducing us to our ancestors. One comes away with a sense of how far we have come in the modern world, and also a sense of sadness at how much we have given up.

25%: review of early days of videogames. including a lengthy foreword by ralph baer where he greedily stakes out his portion of the 'inventor of videogames' title. this part is largely dismissable and you can get better info off of a few google searches

5%: talking about status of videogame as art, and trying to legitimize videogame theory as academic pursuit. also worthless

10%: basic technical talk about how games work. useful information, for the uninitiated

60%: good solid talk about games. including a crazy taxonomization of games based on space/time/narrative/genre, 4 separate analyses each of which errs on presenting *too* many categories, which i found to really stretch the mind even if some of them are a little implausable. it is original and interesting. tho this was written a few years ago, it still contains gems that haven't entered the mainstream dialogue, so well worth reading. also a nice essay on the psychology of archetypes in games.

it is interesting too because it is somewhat out of date. you can feel how different the world of gamethought is today than it was in 2001. they use a lot of examples of old games, which is good grounding for younger gamers. curious that the author uses the same examples over and over again (such as the Spy vs Spy game, which is repeatedly mentioned -- why this game?)

The Medium of the Video Game is an anthology edited by Mark J. P. Wolf. However, to say that Wolf is only the editor is really an understatement, Medium of the Video Game is really his baby. Of the nine essays in this book, five of them are his.

Wolf is coming from a film theory perspective. Hence he is emphasizing the video part of the term videogame (a notion I disagree with. I feel the fact that they are games is more important than the fact that they are video).
More than this, however, Wolf is concerned with categorization. He lists eleven different types of spacial structures and forty-two different videogame genres. One of the problems with this is that some of his categories are questionable. Amongst his genres he lists diagnostics, demos and utilities. While it may be argued that demos are a distinct genre as they are trying to make you buy the full game (an argument I do not buy), I fail to see how diagnostics or utilities can be classified as genres of games of any sort. His rational seems to be that they come in cartridges or CD-ROM's like games and some game collectors collect them too, so they are the same as games. If you do a web search for his name and the book title you will find this chapter online, so you can make up your own mind about this issue.

There is one section that I do think deserves praise, the appendix. In the appendix, Wolf has has collected a fairly large listing of resources for video game research. He lists websites, books, and periodical articles as well as emulators. It is a valuable resource. However, I did not find the rest of the book as usefull and cannot really recommend buying it.

Mark Wolf presents a ground breaking and thorough examination of the video game as artistic medium, cultural phenomena, and a meaningful portal for understanding the context of what has become our new digital lifestyle.

A "Popular Electronics" January 1975 cover picture of the Altair computer kit prompted the founding of the Homebrew Computer Club, another milestone in history as we know it, which preceded the surge of features and utilities that characterized personal computers with recordable cassette tape drives in the late '70s and early '80s such as Atari, Apple and Commodore. Thus making it relatively easier for individuals to expand creative boundaries, soon to be seen as an inescapable irony allowing some early dark shadows such as "Custer's Revenge" and "FireBug", beginning a long list of collateral, ghastly underworld currents there are now. While we can trust our emerging philosophical inquiries will, in good conscience, examine the pressure to balance those freedoms with responsibility, our generation may so far have not completely charted moral consequences for a healthy society. Obviously video games are not just a fantasy theater, as some might fear, for the furious expression of male adolescent rage fueling new ideologies of terror, misogyny and brutalization throughout the modern world. "First person shooters" can visually and mentally exercise ethnic biases and assorted prejudices that assault human sensibilities and continually challenge the boundaries of those creative freedoms. And we cannot ignore some underground travesties that mimic other "unthinkables" like Columbine, Oklahoma City and Ground Zero.

Now, some groundbreaking museum venues are beginning to provide a quiet, safe harbor for contemplating and celebrating the best of this new American media, even while acknowledging the fears emanating from among its dark shadows that can be millions of times more [exponentially] powerful than the limitations we've known of the Gutenberg effect. For example, the chapter "Hot Circuits: A Video Arcade" by Rochelle Slovin, longtime creative spirit and Director of the American Museum of the Moving Image, presents insightful path markers while continuing in celebrating the best in American media history. AMMI's brilliant series begins with "Hot Circuits: A Video Arcade" 1989, distinguished by its marvelous gallery (and online, ammi.org) presentations continuing through "Expanded Entertainment" 1996, "Computer Space" 1998, and " Digital Media" 2002, marking a significant place on an historic trail of kinetic luminism preceded by other remarkable mile markers such as Wilfred's "Lumia Suite" at MOMA in the '60s, and Nam June Paik's debut at NYC's New School in the early '60s (foretelling his magnificent AMMI installation today). The history of man's cultural kinetic lightworks and precursors harkens back even to the to the magic lantern Phantasmagoria of the Renaissance and the Shadow Puppetry Theatre in Bali 1000 years earlier. As signaled in the AMMI companion essay here by poet and critic Charles Bernstein "video games are the purest manifestation of our computer consciousness", and with their engagingly playful and peculiar allure, "We've started using them as culture" observes Ms. Slovin.

The reader may find additional perspectives by looking at "Video Games: A popular Culture Phenomenon" by Berger, 2002 for a social context of sexuality, and at the "Ultimate History of Video Games" by Kent, 2001 for putting David Grossman's fiery challenge to video game violence (Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill) into an expanded context.

So, "what-if" my new digital appliance today is one thousand times more powerful, at the same price, than my PC ten years ago -- and then my next digital tool ten years from now is again one thousand times more powerful than today, at the same price ...will that million times more powerful tool routinely do things not previously thought of? What-if kids were to spend more time on their computers than watching TV? What-if "...the first primitive versions of the next PC interface have already been delivered ...and they're called video games." What-if we "put more computing power in a video game at the finger tips of a 9-year-old kid than NASA used to put a man on the moon"? What-if that 9-year-old kid in 20 years, comfortably uses a personal digital tool that is yet again a million times more...? Our new digital lifestyle is no more unnatural or less humanistic than book reading of the "Gutenberg Effect" has been. As presented here in "The Medium of the Video Game", AMMI's "Hot Circuits" and sequels elegantly mark a new path for those of us whose lifetime understanding of present reality would have more nearly fitted a society of thirty, forty or fifty years ago. Our historic environmedia landscape and our culture have shifted beneath our feet.

Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 3 (Mensa)

I like to think of myself as a sudoku whiz and this book has me humbled. It's difficult but not impossible. It's a matter of patience and logic that will win the day against these absolutely nasty puzzles.

I finally found some really difficult sudoku - they take time! But from the write-up I was expecting to get some explanations on how to solve using the more complicated techniques. It would also be nice if the answers included reference to which of the more difficult techniques were used to solve them.

I finally found a sudoku puzzle that can't be done in an hour. An awesome book.

While I'm not a "crafter," I do enjoy some of the great items and techniques that many crafts offer. I bought this more in the hopes of finding a nice jumping off point for getting into some areas of crafting. I found that and MORE! This book has not only many different types of crafts, there are also several projects for each type that walk you through them, step-by-step. Additionally, there is discussion of different techniques and tools used in each of the crafts.

Lastly, the very best part of the book are the short photo galleries at the end of every chapter showing other projects that have been done using the techniques from the book. This is a fabulous resource for creative ideas!

While the book as a whole may be a a bit rudimentary for a regular crafter, if you are just getting started and want a great reference tool along with some well photographed inspiration... THIS is the book for you!

This is a beautiful book to page through. The pictures and techniques described are extremely inspiring. The only issue I have with the book is that it's very wordy in some places. I would like to see more pictures of each step, instead of paragraphs explaining what to do, with only the final product to look at. A very small quibble, though. This is an excellent book, and I definitely recommend it.

This is a solid book with great crafting ideas. It's ideal for someone who may want to learn a new craft. There are lots of ideas and instructions for a variety of crafting topics. There are also variations on the ideas that they give you. Some topics are candlemaking, soapmaking, mosaics, jewelry making and lots more. I'm a little surprised that currently Amazon is not offering the book at a cheaper price as that's why I usually buy my books on Amazon. But at least you get $25 worth of tips and ideas. Although my favorite crafts are scrapbooking, cross stitch, wreath making and home decor, I'm always looking for that something extra to learn about. This book is a great all around craft book. Enjoy.

This is the first deck with which I learned to do readings - and it is still my deck of choice. The meanings and illustrations provide more room for intuition and personal interpretation than traditional decks. It also gives Native American views, teachings, and history. If you feel drawn to the Native American way of life (Shamanism, animal teachings, etc) or are looking for other interpretations for traditional tarot cards, this is the deck for you. The companion book will offer even more information and insight.

I've used this deck for years and love its multi-tribal themes, its colorful artwork, and the intuition with which it was designed. Better balance of feminine and masculine images than the Rider-Waite.

This deck is good once a person has some experience. I collect Tarot decks and books, and do professional readings. This deck is better left for those with more background kowledge. The artwork and colors are terrific and true to the Native American themes of the various tribes.

Painting the Digital River takes a view of art by comparing digital art and classic art. Author James Faure Walker makes many points as he gives value to both art forms, discarding neither as less legitimate than the other. Himself an artist, Walker knows that many artists are confused as to what it means to be an artist and expert at what they do. He says that artists must know about painting, its past and its present, and possess some knowledge of the digital form.

Walker discusses the classical way of learning to draw and paint, and then looks at the tools available for artists today. Just as canvas, brush and pigment all come in many qualities; the digital world offers a variety of hardware and software to enhance the finished product of the artist's vision.

He describes a variety of activities illustrating different forms of digital art and tries to answer many of the questions faced by artists of today, lovers of art, and the museums and galleries that display the new art forms. The author covers some of the work - both classical and modern that he has viewed - finding some of it a waste of time and others breathtaking.

Where the author finally reconciles the different forms of art is in the mind of the painter, the inspiration, the idea from which his work flows. Whether with brush on canvas or printmaking using computer graphics, the painter's talent most affects the quality of the art. Still, he adds, "that for all its faults, digital art has a life of its own."

This book starts and ends with the metaphor of the river (Walker works overlooking the Thames); the river changes, it flows this way and that. Painting, like the river, follows a winding course and has quirky ways.

This book is timely as many people are confused by all of the digital art and are trying to put it in perspective - is it art? Is it the only art (from now on)? The author tries to sort out and help understand what painting is and that there is good and bad art in the new digital world just as there always has been with ink and paint. He does a good job reviewing art history and providing technical insight. Painters, art historians, those who appreciate what they see, as well as those interested in the technology that produces digital paintings should find the book worth exploring.

This book is not just about painting, although painting is probably the most visible and best example of the world James Faure Walker explores: a world where all too often traditional artists, confronted by new technologies, either embrace the new completely or shun it totally. Faure Walker admits he fell in love with computers, but he understands the criticism from the more reactionary camp and this book goes a long way to creating a much-needed dialogue between the two opinions.

I will not repeat what other reviewers have said (Meryl Evans' review on this page is a particularly good summary), but I will try to add a personal opinion. This is not about a journey "From Traditional to Digital Painting". This book is about finding a place between the two where the artist can be happy, and hopefully this book will also help carve them out a niche in which they can be accepted for doing what they love. It is also a call to artists everywhere to push the boundaries, to stop creating second-rate digital art and finally do something extraordinary with it.

As a student of animation I've read a great deal about computer graphics and their relation to art, but this book is the best I've found. Faure Walker comprehensively grapples with the question of why digital or analogue matters artistically, and his conclusions are important to both artists and digital developers. If you have ever tried to wrap your head around any kind of digital art, if you care about where painting is going, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

James Faure Walker's PAINTING THE DIGITAL RIVER is also a top pick for art libraries, coming from an artist's viewpoint and exploring James walker's personal journey from traditional to digital painting. Walker learned to paint with the computer only after overcoming software problems and misunderstandings: he's now both an artist and a computer enthusiast and here provides both a memoir of his transition to the digital realm and back and a survey of tools, models, and designs. His outstanding coverage will appeal to both artists and computer users who would blend art with digital processing.

Probably better for large crowds & ways to enliven training seminars - you could add a little twist & make the activities "educational." This probably wouldn't go over well with a small crowd.

This book helps you organize, plan and execute a function while keeping it fun for yourself as well as your guests. It is a well thought out plan of action that encourages you to just plain have fun.

Entertaining is an art that, once learned, will make your parties a hit and the subject of your friend's conversations for weeks. An experienced hostess, Andrea Campbell knows the ins and outs of what it takes to plan a successful party. She shares all of her insider's tips and secrets in her latest book, "Perfect Party Games".

A successful party appears to come off effortlessly. Campbell shows you how to plan everything from invitations to a graceful way to bid lingering guests "Goodnight". Games create a relaxed atmosphere. Campbell offers a variety of choices from "Icebreakers" like "Who Am I Tonight" to help people relax and get to know each other to more challenging games like "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute" to bring out the competitive spirit amongst teams.

This well organized party tool includes a party planner by age and a guide for choosing games by type, number of players, time requirements and age as well as a preparation and budget list. Campbell literally tutors her readers on the art of party entertaining.

Campbell's earlier book, "Great Games For Great Parties" has helped people worldwide plan their parties for years. "Perfect Party Games" continues with this tradition, offering new tips and plenty of new games.

This is a nice, simple, easy to read book on different types of clouds and weather conditions. Fast reference when you need 'em!

This is an extremely handy book for making super quick predictions on the skies. Shows all sorts of different cloud formations and what they're bringing with them. Also nice photos of thunderstorms, lightning, etc. Good one to pick up just because.

This book is a great beginners book. The text is easy to read and the pictures are beautiful. It came in particularly handy for my cloud physics class in which I had to keep a cloud journal.