Game Books

This next installment in Toshihiro Ono's shonen(boys) Pokemon manga series is called 'Pikachu Shocks Back'. It's aimed more at older kids and teenagers, and the artwork is drawn very well. There are four stories here:
(1)The Human Race and the Pokemon Race: Ash decides to travel along with Brock, and he meets up with Misty(again) and her three beautiful sisters at the Fuschia Festival. After causing a Tauros to get angry, Misty and Ash end up being saved by a girl named Lara, who's arm is broken thanks to an accident she had while riding her Ponyta. Ash decides to help her out by racing in the Free-For-All with her Ponyta. Unfortunately for Ash, a racer that likes to cheat has other plans for the boy with the red cap.
(2)To Evolve or not to Evolve That is the Question: Misty joins up with Ash and Brock as they head to Stone Town, the place where Evolution Stones cmoe from. Misty meets up with a timid boy named Mikey, and finds out he's apart of some underground society that likes to evolve their Pokemon. The problem is, Mikey doesn't want to evolve his Eevee. And that doesn't exactly make his three brothers happy with him. Misty also begins to question whether she has a 'weakness for younger men'.
(3)Pikachu's Excellent Adventure: Pikachu gets seperated from Ash, and tries to find his way back to his trainer. The electric mouse joins up with Squirtle and some other Pokemon on a journey to find a Poke-Paradise that's supposedly guarded by some godess. On their travels, they meet up with a trio of shady fellows that call themselves 'Team Rocket'.
(4)You Gotta Have Friends: Ash begins to wonder if Pikachu is drifting away from him as he stumbles upon a Pikachu colony.

The artwork is way more realistic than the art in the other Pokemon mangas, and I thought it was kinda cool. Even though this series was aimed at teenagers, Viz decided to edit alot of the scenes to make it appropriate for the kiddies, making the women and the girls less 'endowed', and they now wear FAR more clothes than they originally did. This was good and bad at the same time, because they sorta went overboard with the editing; Misty and some of the other girls are like walls now, if you know what I mean! But still, this is a great book if you're a Pokemon fan, or a shonen manga fan. It's got lots of action, funny and likable characters, and some great artwork.

the comic at the very beginning was the cutest and the first story, the human race and the pokemon race. looked amazing althou ponyta looked more stronger and less graceful. the second story, to evolve or not to evolve (i'm sure you all know what this is about) has the best pictures and is soooo cute. Pikachus adventure, is a new story that is wonderful and a nice touch. the the last one you gotta have friends... was touching and confirmed pikachu is a guy!!

You have to try this awesome comic!If you've seen the episodes, and you son't want to read them all over again, donn't worry, it has humor, action, and things that weren't shown in the show.Every comic is extra long and you get 4 for a real low price!You don't even have to like pokémon, and the pictures are creative and wonderful.And I wouldn't put it past Brock to not to say anything funny in the story.This Pokémon Comic Colection is a must-buy!!!

I loved this book. It was great and I would recomend it to all the pokemon fans out there. Even people who are not particularly fond of pokemon can enjoy this book.

This book was great.I really enjoyed it.It has some different pokemon adventures in it, like the one about mikey and his eevee.That one was very funny. I have read this book alot of times and I still do.What it means by "graphic novel" is that it is just like a comic book, so that I could read it at school and the teachers didn't know.Hehehe :).But anyway, if you liked the pokemon T.V. series,(I think this is a lot better ), you should definatly consider this.I'm still going back and reading it!

This is one of the better Nintendo Adventure Books. It is fun and humorous, but sometimes it can be too hard. It's still one of the best, though.

This book is just cool! The puzzles are hard enough to stump the best of players, but as easy as pie sometimes. I reccomend this book to ANYONE!

This book is really fun to read It's one of those books where you choose a choice, then turn to another page, only with PUZZLEs that choose whether you win a Starman or get bonked with a Tweeter Bird. I did it at least 30 times, each one just as exciting. The only problem i had was erasing the pencil marks from the puzzles i had done already.

WOW! I originally bought this book when it first came out, because I loved Mario. I read it atleast 20 times, bu then I lost it. Looks like I am going to have to re-order this classic.

This book is great for Mario fans. It's about how Mario and Luigi get lost in Pipe Land trying to save the princess. You must buy it!

I really enjoyed this book. I have over a dozen books on the KID but this one tops them all. Joe is informative to such an extent. All chess books should be written like this. Massive amounts of data!!!!!!

Gallagher has written a really good book. The lines he offers are quite good and he explains a lot of what is going on, the book is not all about lists of moves.

I simply loved this book. I think the author's enthusiasm and love for the opening comes through loud and clear. A must for the true KING'S INDIAN fanatic.

I like the level of detail and the easy on the eye setting out of the games. I found most of the games in my personal chess database and used the pgn files to easily cycle through the listed sidelines within the games. The openings of some of the games have been standardised.

In short, an excellent text.

I am writing this review fresh after slaughtering a cheeky 1.d4 player who attempted the Petrosian system against my WELL INFORMED Kings Indian. Indeed, I can still taste the victory; after sacrificing 2 pawns I gained a devastating initiative on the kingside. Here is a quote from the book (Main Line): "White will attempt to tear Black from limb to limb on the queenside while Black will endeavour to hang, draw, and quarter White on the kingside. Sometimes both sides succeed in their aim and then Black wins. That is the advantage of attacking the King". I just want to add to other reviewers by giving my thoughts on this book as compared to Gallaghers other fantastic book: "Starting Out: the Kings Indian". I was completely new to the Kings Indian prior to buying SOKID and it helped with some of the basic themes but, after buying PTKID shortly thereafter, I will not be going back to that other book. PTKID is just so much richer in ideas etc. So if you really are just starting out in the KID, but are somewhat strapped for cash, I would recommend you to get PTKID first, so long as you are not a beginning chess player. (Again, SOKID is a fantastic book. It explains the typical themes w/ diagrams, etc. very well). Happy hunting!
------- USCF 1420

Looking at this book reminded me of the many toys and games that I grew up with or found in the attic when I went snooping through the old stuff as a kid. This book is very well done, with lots of pictures and interesting facts. It is obvious that the book is very well researched. Worth the money.

Have you ever wondered who the creators are of the wonderful toys and games you and your family have enjoyed over the years? THE PLAYMAKERS has the answers. You may be especially interested in those most famous or very rare toys or games that you have tried or maybe just heard about over the years.

Even those that may deny they are toy lovers must admit they have some time or another played a game they really enjoyed or had a favorite toy of their childhood. Therefore, everyone is a toy lover! THE PLAYMAKERS will bring back memories of happy times for all ages. The collective book Tim Walsh has put together is remarkable. This is not about toys that can be picked up in any toy store or mall or even those toys made just for children. No, no, no! This is about toys for everyone: young and old, male and female. Toys and games made for all to enjoy.

This colorful, informative book by Tim Walsh is so fascinating that every family should have one in their bookcase. THE PLAYMAKERS is a terrific book that is not only fun to read but is also an historical chapter in the civilization of man.

I was looking for a price guide for these toys and this isn't it, but I didn't even care because this book is fabulous. Wonderful pictures and the origination of the most beloved toys. Big, thick heavy book. Nice coffee table book.

If you have fond recollections of tossing a Frisbee with a friend, putting a hotel on Boardwalk, using a "Q" on a triple word score, dressing a Barbie doll, watching a Slinky descend a stairway, yelling "Yahtzee," or winning a game of Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary, this fine retrospective by Tim Walsh belongs on your coffee table. All those memories and more came back for me as I turned the pages of "The Playmakers -- Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys" and learned of the inspirations, the struggles, the near-misses and the overwhelming successes of toy and game inventors of the 20th Century. The nostalgic experience and the well-researched backgrounds of these fun and educational diversions make for hours of reading and fact-finding enjoyment. I was surprised to learn that most of the big sellers over the decades have been of American origin -- though Trivial Pursuit came out of Canada and Rubik's Cube has Hungarian roots. It's a bullet-proof selection for anyone on your Christmas list who never quite grew up when it comes to playing with toys and games.

A flip through the pages of Tim Walsh's "The Playmakers" is a trip in a time machine. I had more fun reminiscing about my favorite toys than I remember having when I played with them 25 years ago! The genesis of the greatest toys of all time is a captivating story that has never before been told in such interesting detail. Tim's passion for playthings oozes from the pages and stirred nostalgia in the heart of this overgrown kid.

This is the most interesting & best bridge book I have read. It is even entertaining, which is unusual in a bridge book.

From the Rule of 20 to the right and wrong way to use the Big Double, Marty Bergen has set the standard for modern bridge tip books. His engaging storytelling style and insightful teaching provide clarification to readers of all levels, although the book is clearly aimed at the novice to intermediate crowd.

A great re-entry to the book arena by Marty. I just miss the mad scientist who wrote the "Better Bidding with Bergen" books!

This book is filled with entertaining stories along with easy-to-understand tips and techniques that will improve every facet of your game. 1996 Bridge Book of the Year.

Marty Bergen's "Points Schmoints" is a fun-to-read book that offers a dozen tips on how people who've already mastered the basics of bidding and play can improve their game. The Law of Total Tricks, in particular, is extremely useful for duplicate games.

While Bergen writes with wit and flair that keep this book engaging, I wish he'd done a bit less story-telling and provided a bit more depth of content instead. For the price I feel his book is a bit thin, and that's the one thing that keeps me from rating it 5 stars.

This is the perfect book for players who more-or-less have the basics in place. This will correct your misconceptions and raise your game a couple of levels. The first half of the book is all about bidding, and rather than just talking about basic bidding, tells you what to do in those tough borderline situations. A great example is his "Rule of 20", used to decide whether to open the bidding or not: If the sum of your HCP and the number of cards in your two longest suits is 20 or more, open with your normal 1-level bid; else pass. Very effective, and better than counting short-points or long-points, since this takes into account the ENTIRE distribution.

The second half of the book is about declarer play and defence, and is equally good. What distinguishes this book from the rest is that the author doesn't waste space on the basics, and instead concentrates on the intermediate-to-advanced stuff.

I gave this book to my friend's daughter and she absolutely adores the book. It's so imaginative, beautiful and well-written that any "princess" you know is bound to love it.

The illustrations are gorgeous, and the writing is enjoyable for an adult to read as well, because there's a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor sprinkled with some fairy dust throughout that had me purchasing my own copy after I gave it as a gift!

An absolute charmer from start to finish, Princess Crafts is a magical mixture of craft projects and handbook for princesses both
young and old. Full of fun, fashion, and oodles of glitter, the
craft projects are creative without being complicated. From
Rapunzel Ribbon Wigs to Fancy-Prancy Dancing Slippers, this crafty
book will surely bring out your inner princess!

Both of my goddaughter's LOVED this book! Each had their favorite craft---Your Carriage Awaits allowed Nicole to have the most glamorous bicycle on the block---she was certainly the princess on her custom designed chariot! Nicole was also inspired to have a princess party with her friends! Alexa loved making the Rapunzel hair and couldn't wait to show her dad how fun it was to have cool super-long ribbon hair! This book was so well written--easy to follow instructions and entertaining factoids. Little girls love to play dress up and it's great that there are ideas for all kinds of beautiful princesses---sparkly, glittery fuzzy & more!

This book is chock full of fantastic craft ideas for kids of any age, economic status and creativity. The author is able to take items we already have around the house and make fun and diverse craft projects. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a princess in THEIR family.

Princess Crafts celebrates the "modern princess," as it combines classic princess ideas from literature and film with a modern twist for the soon to be independent woman. The creative and fun craft projects (which mostly require simple and easy to obtain supplies) will entertain little girls endlessly (and some adults too). The text, charmingly written by Hauser, is clever and humourous yet consistently provides clear instructions on the projects. Parett's dynamic illustrations and high quality photographs also provide a solid road map for the crafts. Finally, one of the best aspects of this book is that the projects and activities are sure to inspire these young princesses to be creative and crafty beyond the scope of this fantastic and original book for kids.

You must have this book. My kids can't read yet, but they love this book. I love it too since the art work is so great and it is fun to find the mice, puppy, cat, butterfly, and spider on each page. The artwork and "cutouts" for the dog and cat are well layed out. Lisa McCue works in her initials too on various items like a window sash and book binding as well as a copy of the book in the attic scene. I never get tired of looking at this book as a parent.

I first purchased this book for my son when he was a toddler... He is now 17 Years Old! He loved this book and we enjoyed comparing the pages to see what items were on EVERY page. Now that we have been blessed with a daughter (she is now 11 months old), it is one of her two favorite books (she also loves Baby Minnie's Busy Day, a Disney board book). Even at 7 months old, she could point out the white kitty when I asked her "Where's the Kitty Cat?" I highly recommend this book and would like to find the other books in the series to purchase for my daugher.

My thirteen-year old, severely autistic daughter had this book first when she was about three or four years old. It was her favorite book because each page had the same four characters to look for although the background art changed. She expected the puppy, the kitty, the mouse and spider all to be there, and to her delight, they always were. She wore this book out, and then it went out of print. We bought a used copy last week from bibliohound through amazon.com, to give her for her thirteenth birthday. It arrived in nearly new condition, and my daughter will be thrilled! This is the third or fourth used book I've purchased through amazon.com, and I've been happy with every purchase. If you can find a used copy of this book, it is WELL WORTH THE MONEY SPENT! The artwork is so delightful that I even enjoyed the hundreds of times I spent looking at it with my daughter.

My 9 month old daughter loves this book. She always manages to pull this one out of her stack of books and never grows tired of it. I just wish I could find more like it. I highly recommend it to all parents.

My son got this book when he was 16 months and loved it then and STILL loves it now (he is 22 months). He loves to point out the puppy, cat, mouse, flowers, ball, bat, chair, etc... His favorite thing is to turn the pages with the holes in this board book. It is wonderful! I highly recommend it!

I just learned how to hook rugs in June and I've already completed 8 pieces. I'm HOOKED! I bought this book before my first lesson and have referred to it frequently. It's inspiring and informative. Pat has great designs and advice.

Purely Primitive: Hooked Rugs From Wool, Yarn, And Homespun Scraps by weaving expert Pat Cross is a full-color instructional guide with sample patterns to creating "primitive" style hooked rugs - marked by their simple design, crafted via techniques that have existed for centuries, composed of wool, cotton, or linen textiles, and which share echoes of the past to enrich the present. Extensive technique descriptions make following the sample patterns or creating one's own as simple as possible, in this most enjoyable and enthusiastically recommended addition to do-it-yourself home craft reference and needlecraft resource collections.

Pat's book is a most comprehensive book on rug hooking in the primitive style...starting with a definition of primitive! Her style of writing is clear and clean...directions and ideas are abundant...patterns are included...and the color pictures just bring it all to life. Folks, get out your fabrics and hooks and start a great journey...you'll love it!

This is a great book! I have several books on rug hooking & this is the one I keep going back to. It teaches everything you need to know about rug hooking. She has many new ideas, & her rugs are gorgeous! Also included are patterns on these great rugs. A MUST read for beginners & seasoned pros alike! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Being new to rug hooking, I was in search of a book that covered everything, from start to finish. I purchased, and read 4 other books, but all seemed to be lacking the perfect detail Pat Cross includes in all of her sections. If you are new to hooking, let this be the first book you read! Most of the other books have only black and white pictures, but her book is done in color photos- a must, if you wish to see all the detail in hooked rugs. I would definately purchase any other books Pat Cross has on this subject!

Paula and Janet did well with this book. I am a novice rug weaver and found the directions to be easy to follow and the results pleasing. Definitely buy this book if you're looking for something on weaving rag rugs!

This book is an ABSOLUTE MUST for a rag rug weaver. It is the best book I've found yet that describes not only the art of weaving rag rugs but also tries to give an historical account of looms that were made. I used this book as a reference when I bought an used loom. Since the labeling was missing on the loom, the previous owner could not identify what kind of loom she was selling. I was able to not only identify the loom, but I knew from this book that the type of loom I bought was appropriate for rag rug weaving. If you want to learn rag rug weaving, this is the book to get!

A great source of information. Thank you for the speedy service.

I love this book because it's hard to remember all the steps to weaving when it takes so long to accomplish any project, and this book has all the stuff I need. It's a resource for my "library" for frequent reference.

This book was great for us as beginner weavers. A loom was given to us - all in pieces. By remembering his grandmother's loom and with the pictures in this book, my husband assembled the loom and is now weaving his second rug. This book has lots of information and pictures and is an excellent guide for us "beginner weavers".

I have all RenderMan books on the market.
This one is impressed me!
The authors explain step by step and that make readers understand RenderMan more.

Same as other reviews, lacking of CD is the shame.
However, overall still be very good to me.
And if you consider the price is very worth for money.
That's why I think this book should be given 5 stars.
Hopefully, There will be more good RenderMan books available soon.

Tee

The RenderMan Shading Language Guide is an excellent resource. It contains numerous examples of shader code, to help get you started with writing your own shaders. I was happy to see the robust section on illumination models, with some sl code provided for most of them. I found the section that had common functions (like gamma() and remap()) very helpful, and appreciated the disscussion on more sophisticated components of the shading language (like subsurface scattering and global illumination). In addition, for the user who is new to the process of writing and compiling shaders, a number of pages are devoted to explaining how to achieve these goals. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to any user who wants to learn how to write his/her own RenderMan shaders.

I caught wind that this book was coming out well before it actually came out and could hardly contain my excitement. I had it ordered before it was even off the press.

Let's face it, trying to learn Renderman online is like trying to ride a bike with a flat tire. You can go, but not very fast or very far. I own several other renderman books but found them to be a bit out of date and lacking in areas. Since leaving school and entering into the industry I had actually been considering writing a Renderman book myself. I am glad to say that now I don't have to!

I have been enjoying my copy of the book since december of last year. I admit that I was thrown off by all the refrences to the accompanying cd, as well as a few typos throughout. I was overjoyed however to find the website today! This is the book that I have needed for a long time. It is well worth what you pay for it.

I have read many technical manuals relating to the 3D Animation and Visual Effects industries, and I can honestly say that this is easily one of the best available.

Given the limited library of Renderman books, I'd call this an absolute must have for any Lighting/Rendering/Shader TD, or any artist or technical director involved in the look development and shot finaling pipelines.

Even if you haven't yet worked within a Renderman pipeline, this is the perfect publication to introduce you to, and bring you up to speed in, the Renderman Shading Language (RSL).

I've found that the majority of technical manuals suffer from a number of common flaws:

1. The information is presented chaotically, and with minimal use of examples or descriptions, resulting in a publication that would readable only by those that already know everything it has to teach.

2. The information is presented so laboriously that what should take a paragraph instead takes up three chapters.

The Renderman Shading Language Guide is perfectly paced for beginners and intermediate users alike, and indeed when I showed the book to a couple of highly experienced Renderman TDs, they were surprised by the sheer volume of information and ordered copies for themselves.

Everything is presented in short blocks with an easily readable description, examples, shortcuts and conclusions. There is no unecessarily complicated geek speek, and neither is the reader treated like a 4 year old.

Even though I barely remember my high school math, and in the most flattering estimation I'd be considered a competent beginner when it comes to the math involved in RSL, I found the examples relatively easy to follow for the most part. And in those parts where the math went well over my head, I found the simple descriptions and concise, well explained instructions to be all I needed to quickly understand the topic.

From cover to cover this book is crammed full of useful information. There is no wastage of space in these pages. It seems that every conceivable question is answered - every possible topic covered from introduction to an advanced level of understanding and a practical and immmediately useful conclusion.

And at the price? This book is a steal.

One very minor complaint I would make is in regards to the occasional typographical error. An equation or two is printed with "?" in place of "*" or another symbol, and there are a few spelling and grammatical errors. But as I said, it is a minor complaint.

Also, I would have liked to have seen more complete shader examples demonstrated in a step-by-step process, as while this book is overflowing with informative mini-tutorials, it all seems a little incongruous. It would have been good to see a few more examples where the information was brought together in real-world ways to create some amazing completed shaders. Perhaps in a sequel? ;)

All in all, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, from an industry Lead Lighting TD.

9.5/10

I'm quite pleased with the depth of this book. So many of the CGI titles I've bought that claim to be intermediate or advanced aren't. While the RenderMan Shading Language Guide assumes that you have no starting knowledge of RSL, it immediately dives into technical details without overwhelming the novice. For someone wishing to learn RSL (or even just shader theory), this book is wonderfully paced, containing a great depth of information, very well explained.

At the same time, this isn't a book for dabblers. To get much out of the RenderMan Shading Language Guide, you need to be willing to put some effort and practice into it. This is a textbook and needs to be treated as a subject of study, rather than a casual enhancement for playing with CGI. If RenderMan intrigues you, but you don't want to get too deep into the technical (and programing/scripting) aspects, you'd be better off getting Pixar's RenderMan for Maya and a Digital Tutors or similar training DVD. You'll learn more of the simple, day-to-day things and get started making renderings faster.

As another poster mentioned, the text mentions an included disk which isn't. The website doesn't have downloads either. That omission would knock the book down to 4.5 stars, but since I can't rate with half-stars, 5 stars more accurately reflects the value of the book than 4.