Games Books

An excellent book that gives the reader a fantastic insight into what makes Lou tick and how to succeed in both sport and life. Filled with humour it is easy to reaad and very informative.

Lou Holtz, currently the head football coach at the University of South Carolina, has written one of the best, and most enjoyable leadership books I have ever read. His game plan for success was largely told through his gridiron experiences, but this plan is about much more than just football-it is a proven, common-sense guide for succeeding in the game of life.

What makes Holtz's life and leadership insights so compelling and believable are his dynamic life experiences and his incredible list of accomplishments: parents were divorced; fiance' broke off their engagement, but they later married and remain so after 40 years; only coach to lead 4 different programs to top-20 finishes and 6 different programs to bowl games (William and Mary, N.C. State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina); 23 of 32 college teams he coached have received bowl bids, with 18 top-25 finishes, 8 top-10 finishes, and one undefeated national championship; 3rd winningest active coach and 7th place all-time with 243 victories; wife's heroic battle with throat cancer; fired or let go as assistant coach more than once; polled as the best motivational speaker in the country two years in a row, and his motivational video "Do Right!" is the all-time best-seller; guest speaker at most Fortune 500 companies; and was invited to the Oval Office by four different presidents.

Holtz's game plan consists of ten steps. Each step is explored in detail in its own chapter. The colorful, real-world stories and humorous anecdotes Holtz used to present the steps' lessons perfectly complemented his conversational writing style. The final chapter is considered the "end-zone" of success-where you can be if you have the courage, desire, and character to apply the lessons described within the plan's steps.

The book is jammed full of common-sense, spiritual, philosophical, and motivational life and leadership perspectives. The most memorable passages for me as a father, leader, and follower were Holtz's thoughts about discipline:

"For me, a disciplinarian is someone who requires that people understand the consequences of their decisions. You use discipline to reinforce choices. Our athletes and my children knew that if they chose to misbehave, they were also choosing to pay the consequences...In each case, I never punished anyone; the offenders chose the punishment themselves by their actions."

He illustrated his commitment to being a disciplinarian by describing the circumstances that led to him suspending his top three Arkansas players before the 1977 Orange Bowl (against Oklahoma), and to suspending two of his best players before his top-ranked Notre Dame team played the second-ranked University of Southern California in 1988:

"[They] recklessly violated our Do Right rule, which governs personal conduct...These were not bad guys; they simply made a bad decision...I didn't want the keys to our offense to miss our biggest game of the year, but when they decided to break our rules, they also decided to miss the game. Now I had to support that choice."

Holtz is a master motivator and a proven true winner in football and life. My highest recommendation for this book is best captured by Holtz himself when he wrote, "As you know, the only things that will change you from where you are today to where you want to be five years from now are the books you read and the people you meet." I hope I someday get a chance to meet Lou Holtz and thank him for his outstanding book on life and leadership.

If you are looking for pure Lou Holtz motivation, you will not be disappointed. There are no "silver bullets" here, but the book will do a good job of reinforcing some great principles for creating a successful team or organization.

I happened to notice this book one day when I took my daughter to the library. A friend of mine is a personal acquaintance of Lou's so I decided to see what 'Ol Lou is all about for myself.

This is a book of (mostly humorous) stories that makes it a fun, easy read. At the same time, each story has powerful success principles and truths embedded within.

If you want to see powerful leadership in action, this is a great book.

If you want to get more from your interactions and relationships with people in every area of your life, this is a great book.

If you find yourself doubting your abilities and potential, this is a great book.

If you want to be able to learn from someone who started out as a nobody with nothing and ended up as somebody who had something, this is a great book.

If you weren't fortunate enough to have a parent or adult-figure who taught you how to win at the game of life, then I heartily recommend this book to help fill in that void.

If you don't see yourself in the preceding statements, or, if you have read all the success books and you are looking for something brand-new that you have never heard of before, then this probably isn't the book for you.

When you read the reviews here, you'd think this guy could walk on water, but this book is long on motivation and short on application. Now, if you want something that will blow the concepts and information in this book right out of the water and, at the same time, get rid of the "Big Daddy" syndrome which this book fosters too, read SUCCESS CYBERNETICS by Uell S. Andersen - a book that's never been out of print since it first appeared in 1966! SUCCESS CYBERNETICS is available from amazon.com too, go see the reviews and get it. Forget the "Raw Raw Raw, Sis Boom Bah" approach that this one contains.

I've been developping applications and amateur games for a few years using C++... I bought this book along with the Director Bible... And guess what? I made a shoot'em up game in a couple of days - with the help of my brother (graphic designer - thanks for your beautiful sprites, dud! ;) )... Director + Lingo are the best way for quick games... and this book just show me how!!!
Thanks!

Gary has done the Lingo community an amazing service. With code and logic examples that illustrate nearly every variety of game you can create to be played on a computer, this book is an incredible resource.

The examples in this book made it possible to deliver a game-rich CD project with an incredibly tight timeline.

Thanks Gary!

I have a programming background and am learning Director to make professional CD products. Gary has taught me how to do this with his Using Director 8.5 book and this Advanced Lingo for Games book. He writes very well, doesn't treat you like an idiot, and is very practical. Well done Gary and I recommend this book to all people who really want to make interactive games using Director.

I am a Lingo programmer for 4 years and this book helped me advance to the next level in Lingo Programming. Using this book helped me to understand writing my own 'behaviors' and took my understanding of 'lists' to a higher level. I owe alot of my success to this book.

Rich
Multimedia Programmer
Motorola

I've been writing Lingo for some time now, and I probably own upwards of 15 books on the subject. Of all of those books, the two that I find the most helpful every step of the way are undoubtedly Gary's most recent 2 books (this one and "Director 8.5 Special Edition"). Lots of Lingo authors know Director inside and out, but what sets Gary's books on the subject apart is his colorful writing style and an uncanny ability to break down ultra-complex scripts into palatable bite-sized chunks that even a newbie will understand. Highly recommended!

Cute book about a father dancing with his baby girl. The text rhymes, which makes it easy to read --- almost like a song.

My daughter loved this book as a baby. We had it out of the library so many times, I bought it when she was 10 months old. Her 3 year old brother and I both learnt it by heart from singing it to her every night. She still really likes it at 21 months old, though now we don't read it every night. I love the illustrations that show the real movement of the baby up and down, round and round, and of course that one can sing the whole book.

I love the artwork and I love that the dad is the main character along with his daughter. Wonderful read for your newbor and infant!

This book is so lovely and my 5 month old daughter beamed the first time she saw it. The poem is simple and the pictures are so sweet. The daddy swings the baby girl all around as her tears turn into laughter. It reminds me of how my daughter and my husband play together....maybe it reminds my daughter of her daddy too! Love it!

My daughter, nearly three, picked Baby Dance out of the library on her own. She has insisted on having it sung to her every night for the past three weeks. She's at the "why" stage of life -- so rather than just enjoy the pictures, she's also questioning the plot: why is the baby sad (at the beginning)? and observing "look, the mama's awake! (at the end). The book is a really sweet take on something all too familiar -- a baby's distress that mama's not always available -- but with a lovely message that dada can make baby smile, too!

I love this book and have bought it for several of my coaching friends. Full of great info from one of the best. Good diagrams and great instruction on how to implement multiple offenses and defenses. One of my favorite coaching books (and I have a ton). A great higher-level resource.

I have read this book over and over again. It has been a useful tool is my basketball coaching.

This book is page after page of super basketball information. It goes into great detail offenses and defenses from simple to complex. But best of all, it is written with an emphasis on the fundamentals, which will make any team better. I really recommend this book for any coach, beginner to seasoned veteran, there is a wealth of valuable information from cover to cover.

This is an awesome book. A lot of useful information for students, professionals and athletes.

I coached a camp this past summer in which a few coaches were discussing this book and referred to it as "The Holy Grail" of basketball books. To any coach looking for new perspectives and strategies, I would strongly recommend this book. You may not be able to use everything, and some of the information is a bit dated, but it prompted a million ideas of my own, and helped me plan out some fresh drills, plays, and defenses for my team.

It was in very good condition, came in a quick amount of time and Was very cheap about half off the retail price, while in the same condition you would find it, in any book store. I was very pleased with the order and if the seller has anything else in future, I would buy from him and suggest to others to buy from this seller.

BESM (Besm): How do I put this? This book is anything every GM, DM, Storyteller, or player could hope for. This book makes any storyline possible, any ability ever imagined can be done, this book is as limitless as the genre its about. Keep in mind this comes at a minor price. This is really not a beginners book into role-playing. Although it does give you a grasp of role playing if you are not used to complicated rolling procedures it shouldnt be used as a game book. If that is the case, it still makes a great resource book for comming up with stories. If you wish to put the time into it to make it your primary book it can be most worth it.

I liked the book it makes it easy to create a rpg based of any kinda anime. The ruels are easy and simple. I've even started applying the weapon flaw rules to my D20 games

Big Eyes Small Mouth has gotten even better.

For those who enjoyed the tweaks made to the 2nd edition, these words may be hard to believe, but trust me, it's true. With the newest edition of their anime-inspired role-playing game system, Mark C. MacKinnon and David Pulver have created what is at once both an incredibly streamlined, simple, and fun game, and also a deeply complex, customizable, and rich gaming experience.

First, the TriStat system, what the original BESM was built on (using the three stats of Body, Mind, and Soul to build a character and make rolls) has been changed to a roll-high rather than roll-low system. Instead of trying to roll under a number, you're now trying roll above it, making the game more intuitive and accessable for afficionados of other games like D&D and GURPS. Most everything else will be similar however. You still get a set number of points with which to buy your stats, collect Attributes and Skills (which have now been more integrated, nixing the need to load up on 6 levels of Highly Skilled in order to have a competent character), and get bonus points with Defects.

The changes made to these standbys are mostly "more of everything." You start out with more points than ever before, so most things cost more. However, you also have a broader spectrum of powerful attributes from which to choose, with effects that you can either customize (creating anything from a powerful magic artifact to a highly-evolved AI in your spy gear) or can leave completely alone if you don't want to fuss with the rules. Constant notes (titled "Keep it Simple") are made throughout the book of ways to streamline the experience to make it less complicated, even allowing for near-diceless playing (by "taking 6" instead of actually rolling).

Combat has been expanded as well, with more Armour options (including expanded Shield mechanics for defense), more information on performing wild stunts (in or out of vehicles), and several tactical options like going all defensive (to gain a bonus by not attacking) or holding your action until triggered by your enemy (allowing you break their stride during an attack). Many elements that used to be seperated are now combined to allow for less confusion (Kensei and Gun Bunny are now all "Combat Techniques," so you Munchkins don't have to spend twice the points to be able to wield both two swords AND two guns), and features like "Targeted" abilities allow you to gain bonuses when facing certain foes with certain weapons.

Magic has also recived an overhaul, with powers being divided into Dynamic Powers or bought individually as abilites (Flight, Mind Control, etc.), or even created using customizable attributes with enhancements, defects, and even some spell and spellcaster templates (Want a targeted beam of holy destruction to smite your enemies? You got it, and if you don't like the example in the book, make up your own).

Additionally, there are more options than ever for items, character classes and races (more than 40 templates are provided for classes and races in 3rd Edition like Half-Orcs, cat-girl Nekojin, Mercenaries, Students, and Demon Hunters), and, most importantly, setting.

Skills now have even more genre options (new examples include Historical: Steampunk, Modern Day: Superhero, and Historical: Ancient Greece/Rome) leading to even more options for customizing the setting of your game. In addition, BESM now has an official setting - the Anime Multiverse, seven interconnected worlds linked by the Cosmic Web and joined by World Gates. Earth is joined by the demon world Bazaroth, the high-fantasy Ikaris, the space-operatic Cathedral, and several others. You could start as a highschool studen on earth and end up as a space pirate rebelling against the Galatic Trade Authority in the Interstellar Diaspora.

Game Masters and players can either absorb all of this information for vast and almost-endlessly complex world-hopping adventures using loosely-canonized plot elements, or can just roll up a few basic characters for a simple game, or literally anything in-between. With BESM 3e, the creators have literally placed all of the power to create as complex or as simple a game in your hands, all using the same intuitive and easy-to learn mechanics and loveable style that made BESM a hit years ago.

So what are you waiting for? There's whole worlds out there to discover.

What can I say Big Eyes, Small mouth was like a gift from the gods. I was over at my brothers place for a weekend and he told me about this game. At that moment I made it my quest to get this book. You see I am a huge Otaku (Anime Fan). Well a roleplaying game that you get to roleplay an anime character well how could I not want to get it. I am also a very big person in RPGs as well I have been role playing for 12 years. Played Vampire, D&D 2ed & 3rd, Kindred of the east, Chtulhu, and others not going to name them all. But this RPG I now love more then all the others. The types of Genres and settings are limitless and the only limit you have is your own imagination. You can play anything from Big giant Mecha battles like you see in Robotech, Macross, and VOLTRON!! All the way to your supernatural horrors to even your fantasy worlds like D&D you could even have a game like Vampire. The Characters aren't limited to Races or classes like most games are. Its a very wonderful game. I recommend anyone who is creative and who loves anime to purchase this book. I even have people who hate anime interested in this game and they enjoy playing it. So buy a copy of this book you won't be disappointed.

I got a belated birthday present from a friend last week, Between Friends by Charlotte Lyons. What a wonderful surprise. Charlotte Lyons has made several craft books on different topics. This one is about projects you can share with friends. What about starting a craft group with some good friends or giving away a small hand made gift when you go for a visit or enclosing some fabric in a letter for a dear friend. The book gives alot of creative and great suggestions.

I have done all this, and still do. As a matter of fact, the friend who gave me the book and I have shared so many crafty projects over the years. There really are no limits in what you can do. And as it's said on the cover of the book - in an era when women set aside very little leisure time for themselves, let alone for their friends, Between Friends provides the perfect excuse to invite the girls over.

The great thing about this book is that Charlotte Lyons has collected so many different things you can do, and put them together in a charming and quite whimsical way. Don't start reading the book late in the night. You will never be able to go to bed then untill you have started a new project, phoned a friend to discuss some new yarn you saw in town earlier that day, or written a letter to a pinpal with pictures of some of your latest quilts.

The book will be a favorite of mine for years to come, and I know it will inspire me to make wonderful gifts for and with my friends from all over the world. And a little secret. MY Between Friends has a little handmade bookmark, embroidered with the words"If friends were flowers, I'd pick you" - made special for me by my special sharing friend.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

These are lots of fun and in many cases practical too :) One thing that's especially neat about this book isthat the crafts are broken down into chapters according to how long they'll likely take (e.g. Chapter 1: "in an hour" - these are crafts like seed packets, paper weights, quick frame, painted tea pot etc; Chapter 2: Half a day - these are crafts like note box, a book bag, flea market pillow, oatmeal cake, etc; Chapter 3: All Day -memo board, cachepots, postcard holder etc; Chapter 4: Over the weekend: these include a journal, topsy-turvey doll, wall clock, tea cozy; Chapter 5: As long as it takes - garden throw, craft cabinet, hooked rug, memory album, friendship quilt)

The end of the book has sources, glossary and patterns.

There are lots of pictures (color) throughout, great stories of friends doing things together, good instructions.

Super book - makes a great gift to a friend as well

Plan a leisurely project with friends with the aid of Between Friends, which includes craft projects meant to be shared. From onehour to allday and longterm projects, these are organized first by time frame, making it easy for friends to pick projects that lend to easy scheduling. Sample ideas: a wall clock, doll, postcard holder, or memo board.

I received this book as a gift from a good friend. Even if you're not an experienced crafter but have a fun group of friends, get them together (add a little wine) and try some of these projects. You'll find some really good ideas for sharing your old photos, letters and treasures.

Charlotte Lyons has a real gift for creating something wonderful out of basic odds and ends. And her newest book, Between Friends, offers inspiration galore. Whether you have friends to share the craft projects with or simply want to escape the daily routine by making something alone this book is a fabulous resource. The instructions are very clear and the projects are cleverly organized by the amount of time they take. A great gift idea too.

This book has been out in the hands of good teachers/parents/child care folks/kids for awhile now, but I've found that it is new to many kids who are just discovering it. One little guy I worked with recently as a visiting author to his school told me: "I didn't know a tennis ball could be so interesting, did you?" He was referring to painting with tennis balls. Our group tried several approches with painty tennis balls....rolling them around in a wading pool covered with paper, tossing them at a wall of paper outdoors, holding and pressing on paper, bouncing on paper on the floor, and a few other ideas that kids thought up that are NOT in the book, but should have been. Read on: The little guy who told me tennis balls are interesting had thought up a idea where he rolled the ball deliberately through paint and then along the border of large paper. Within the border, he made dot-prints with different colors of paint. When it was dry, he outlined each dot with a black marker. The result was a huge bubbly design painting. I was impressed with his process, and the resulting painting was delightful and all his own! I love when my books give kids a boost to be their own artists and live in their own creativity. What a great day spending time with kid-artists. Someday I'll collect all their unique ideas and write a new book called "Kids Are More Artistic Than I Am!" Keep having fun with kids, from your friend, MaryAnn Please visit my website for free art ideas: www.brightring.com.

THIS BOOK IS A FOR-SURE WINNER. IT ENABLES THE KIDS TO HAVE FUN AND GET DIRTY AT THE SAME TIME. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID FOR MY CHILDREN TO GET DIRTY! IT'S CLEAN UP IS EASY TOO. IT'S AN ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR FUN.

This book is my kids' favorite! Everything is either very LARGE and exciting, or SILLY and exciting, or ADVENTUROUS and exciting, or extremely INTERESTING and exciting. Don't buy this if you want your child to sit in a corner with crayons for the rest of her/his life and never look beyond the expected. This is for the kids that will challenge their imaginations and explore art from a new view, building who they will be as adults.

I have been teaching preschool for many years and I love messy media... this book had some really neat ideas, things I had never tried before. When I got my copy, I couldn't wait to try out some of the ideas right away.

I am a special education teacher and I am always looking for new ideas to enhance my sensory awareness program. This book has some awesome ideas and I can't wait to start using them this year.

Though not really a fan of Botvinnik's games - which don't compare with the beautiful clarity of Capablanca or Fischer (or with the breathtaking virtuosity of Tal) - I found this book very instructive. Botvinnik's annotations show HOW to analyse positions and HOW to find a clear strategic thread ,as well as hidden resources in seemingly dubious positions (e.g. Botvinnik's amazing win, despite two sets of doubled pawns, against Levenfish), in chess games.
Botvinnik's annotations are notable in their definitiveness - which contrasts, for example, with the more 'balanced' annotative style of Keres - that some might find dogmatic but which I found helpfully conclusive.

We usually read grandmasters' game collections not to improve our endgame or tactical abilities, but to understand chess strategy and planning. Of course, Botvinnik was also superb tactician and a very strong endgame player, so there is surprisingly first-rate endgame and tactical play here than one might think. But that is the icing on the cake. It is in his strategic undestanding that he was heads and shoulders above his contemporaries, and for this reason this book is such a great classic.

First of all, Botvinnik had an incredibly deep and accurate undestanding of which positional factors matter more in a given position: e.g., is it important that White has a double, isolated pawn or not--considering that he has two bishops? Second, he knew perfectly how to create a plan to maximize his positional advantages and minimize his disadvantages. Finally, he was unmatched in converting the strategically-winning position so achieved into an actual victory, by flawless "conversion" of his positional advantage to material, or a mating attack, or a won endgame.

All this comes out very clearly in both Botvinnik's play and his annotations. He makes it look simple: a result of the iron logic and single-minded sense of purposes that guided him throughout every game. The reader will learn a lot about what chess strategy and chess planning are all about, both in general and in particular (e.g., which positional factors tend to matter in what kind of positions).

The one slight problem, which isn't Botvinnik's fault of course, is that this Dover reprint is in desciptive notation (e.g., "1. e4 c5" = "1. P-K4 P-QB4") which might annoy some players. But it is well worth to spend an hour or so to familiarize oneself with this notation even specifically for this book, to say nothing of numerous other older chess books one is giving up on otherwise.

At less than $10, it's a bargain.

In this book Botvinnik demostrates why he came to be known as the "Iron Logician". His deep and lucid annotations help even ordinary players like me to understand the game of chess as played at the very highest level. I think this book is a genuine "grandmasterpiece." Dustan Straub

This old Dover underpriced book is a bible of chess wisdom from one of the strongest players to ever lift a pawn! The book is cramed with some of the best writting about chess you will ever find.My rating went from 1500 to 1800 after i reread this book back in the 70s.Chess was Science&Art to this Chess God. You will learn Chess the way it should be played today by a close study of this logical Chess Thinking World Champ!
Regards,
Scott Young

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was probably the most respected and feared world champion of modern times. In this respect, he certainly rivals Karpov and Kasparov, while his demeanour was more dignified than the latter's. Someone described the essential quality of Botvinnik's style as "iron logic", and that sums up the games in this collection.

A long time has passed since those days, and the names of the players will mostly be unfamiliar. The openings, too, may seem old-fashioned - but there is value in this. It's a chance to learn exactly what can happen if you play such-and-such a move, which nobody does nowadays. Moreover, Botvinnik's methodical building up of positional advantages has never been bettered and will reward patient study. Just where it looks most effortless, that is where the magic is hidden!

The Cranium Big Book of Outrageous Fun is great because it has all sorts of different things. Anything from planning birthdays, to making maps, drawing & even creating your own castle. It has a fun mini-conga game, and so many activities that my kids keep going back and reading and playing with this. A great buy that you really get your money's worth out of!

Our famiuly loves the entire line of cranium games. It is a fun time to spend with our children.

This book is great! I bought it for my 6 year old. She loves all the cranium games and books. We have the original cranium, but when I saw this I thought it would be perfect for her. She can do some of the activities on her own and there is also a game to play. It is fun and easy.

Spent a whole day with 5 granddaughters ranging in age from 5 thru 12. The book was appropriate for ALL of them!!!
I highly recommend it

I'm a pretty big fan of Cranium's games, and since this was touted as a write-it, draw-it, sculpt-it, act-it game for ages 7 and up, I was looking forward to using all my talents. The first thing I noticed is that this probably isn't a book/game for anyone over 15, and my guess is even early teens won't get much use out of it. Once I got over my disappointment that it was truly geared for a much younger audience (than me, anyway), that's when I let go of my preconceived notions and started to play around with the game.

I particularly enjoyed the "Data Head" section as they had lots of fun "science" activities for kids, including a mold experiment that calls for the study of mold in various stages. Your kids can then rank the mold on various sub categories, including a "Stink Factor." Parents may be none too thrilled with this activity, but it should make for an interesting couple of days.

The book also contains a game (get it game in a book in a game) the "Conga Mini Guessing Game." The game is also somewhat simplistic so adults probably only want to invest them time if they're joining their younger family members, but in all this is a nice, self-contained package that has a lot of fun activities and room for creative expression. This is a must-have for your child's bookshelf/playspace, and it also does carries well on the dreaded road trips.

This book is quite in depth. It covers the basics very quickly at first and then goes deep. Any one wanting to have a comprehensive book on the skills of after effects this book is for you.

I'm an avid editor for a major tv network. My job now requires me to use After Effects for some basic effects work. This book has already put me way beyond my required needs for my job. We have separate department for motion graphics. I'm pushing the envelope and really supplying some fantastic work.
GET THIS BOOK!

This is a great book that can help any level of AE user. Great tips and time saving techniques. I recommend it as a book to keep within reach at your work station.

I really enjoy the way the book presents the material. It's easy to read and follow the step by step tutorials. The included disc contains each tutorial that the book covers so that you can follow along and test each and every step. It makes learning After Effects easy and fun to work with. It's great for beginners as well as experienced users of the software. This book will stay on my bookshelf as a quick reference.

Advanced After Effects Motion Graphics is for the editor with some AE miles under their belt. It is not really a beginner book, but does start you off slowly with great step by step instruction. However, you will eventually need this book but buy it together with the Meyers' After Effects Apprentice which starts you off in the AE wourld. Any of the Meyers books are just what you need to learn AE. Highly recommended!!