A surprise visitor to the Aerie provides devastating news for Happenstance about his past--but it's the future that Umber and Hap must contend with: they need to learn all they can about Meddlers if they are to discover what Hap's role in Umber's mission is to be. And that means a risky trip to The Inferno, where Caspar has taken the key pages of Umber's research. But that's only one of the perilous journeys Umber has in mind for his mysterious ward: Umber's nemesis, the wheeling and dealing Hameron, has acquired some dragon eggs, and Umber can't resist the opportunity to study a new magical species, even if it means a trip to the corrupt kingdom of Sarnica. But when he and Hap see what the warlord of Sarnica has planned for the dragon hatchlings at the upcoming Dragon Games, Umber's quest for knowledge turns into a dangerous rescue operation.

Discover all the secrets and mechanics of the famous Japanese video game Dragon Quest ! This book looks back at the entire Dragon Quest saga, tells the story of the series' birth, retraces its history and deciphers its mechanics. In this book, the author shares us all his expertise and his passion in Japanese gaming to decipher the creation and the story of this saga and his creator, Yuji Horii. EXTRAIT Even with only limited knowledge of Japanese and somewhat difficult technical conditions, the story was very well told. This was perhaps what surprised players most. Dragon Quest V is a large family cycle of emotions, as transparent as an epic tale by Alexandre Dumas, the author of famous works such as The Three Musketeers. In the end, I was lucky that my first taste of the series was this excellent episode, since VI was far more extravagant, with its tales of parallel universes and heroes traveling on flying beds. A slightly puzzling game, but not without levity nor offbeat humor. One of the most emotional moments of Dragon Quest V is when we end up going back in time to change the past, thus saving the future. The time travel theme has been so often used in science fiction, particularly during the 1980s, that it should have left me impassive. It was not even the first time I had experienced it in a video game. But this adventure, with its simple graphics and persistent melodies, glanced lightly upon feelings that leave no one unmoved. “What would I have done differently if I could have changed things” is a very common concept used in fiction, from A Distant Neighborhood by Jirô Taniguchi to the Quantum Leap series. Well-told, it is so simple and so effective that it affects each and every one of us. CE QU'EN PENSE LA CRITIQUE Un libre passionnant que j'ai dévoré au point de rogner sur mes heures de sommeil. Ici, l'auteur ne nous bassine pas avec des tartines de textes pour nous conter avec détails l'histoire de chaque épisode, les ventes incommensurables de la série ou encore un almanach des jeux estampillés DraQue. - Kaisermeister, Sens Critique Un livre plein d’anecdotes qui feront vibrer votre corde nostalgique et qui donne envie, une fois terminé, de replonger dans l'aventure. - neotsubasa, Sens Critique C'est une biographie très détaillée, riche en anecdotes et bien romancée, Yuji Horii est un personnage fascinant au CV bien rempli et la genèse de la saga est tout aussi passionnante à tel point que j'ai parfois eu du mal à décrocher. - Nixotane, Sens Critique À PROPOS DE L'AUTEUR Daniel Andreyev is an author and journalist of Russian origin. His career in video game journalism began twenty years ago, during the golden years of video gaming, with Player One, Consoles + and Animeland, with a particular interest in Japan. Having spent some time on translation, he is now part of the New Games Journalism movement, which places the player at the heart of the video game experience. He produces the After Hate and Super Ciné Battle podcasts. He also trades memories with his friends in Gaijin Dash, the Gamekult show on Japanese video games. He is a fan of far too many things to list them all here. But when he is not writing, not watching a movie, not reading comics and graphic novels, not climbing mountains or exploring ruined buildings, he might be cooking, exercising or dreaming of one day owning a dog.

The Dragon Quest book is a celebration of the long-running video game series and the fans who love it!****Immensely popular in Japan, Dragon Quest has struggled to find a foothold in the West, but that hasn't stopped people from discovering the series and falling in love with it.****In the first half of the book, Dragon Quest podcaster and writer Austin King chronicles playing every mainline Dragon Quest game in a single year. This is where you'll find info on the characters, games, and worlds that make this series so great.The second half of the book comprises interviews and reflections from people all across the Dragon Quest fandom. Fansite creators, podcasters, YouTubers, cosplayers, collectors, and more share their stories. There's also writings from Western fans outside the U.S., from places like Argentina, France, and Spain. Old and new fans alike share their stories and insights into what makes Dragon Quest so amazing.There's also a Resources section in the back of the book for anyone looking to delve deeper into Dragon Quest and the Western fandom. ****So if you've been a fan for over thirty years or only thirty minutes, there's something in The Dragon Quest Book for everyone!

In Dragon Age, a pen & paper roleplaying game of dark fantasy adventure, you and your friends take on the personas of warriors, mages, and rogues in the world of Thedas and try to make your names by overcoming sinister foes and deadly challenges. Based on the video game franchise, this Core Rulebook includes the full rules for the Dragon Age RPG under one cover for the first time, including the Adventure Game Engine.

From the beloved author of The Once and Future Geek comes this action-packed adventure set in a futuristic world filled with magic, monsters, and high-tech video gaming. One wrong move, and it's game over. Welcome to Dragon Ops, the world's first augmented-reality video-game theme park. Set on a once-deserted island, our three beta players—classic gamer geek Ian; his adventure-seeking sister, Lily; and their too-cool-for-gaming cousin, Derek—have been lucky enough to score an invite to play before the fully immersive experience opens to the public. But once inside, they find themselves trapped in a game taken over by a rogue AI dragon called Atreus, and suddenly the stakes go beyond the virtual world. With no cheat codes, guidebooks, save points, or do-overs, they'll need all their cunning and video-game hacks to beat the game . . . and survive in real life. Action-packed and unputdownable, Dragon Ops will thrill gamers and reluctant readers alike with high-tech adventure and electrifying twists and turns.

The story of the arcane table-top game that became a pop culture phenomenon and the long-running legal battle waged by its cocreators. When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success--and yet this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies. Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the "Satanic Panic" accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D. With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

Writing for the multibillion-dollar video-game industry is unlike writing for any other medium. Slay the Dragon will help you understand the challenges and offer creative solutions to writing for a medium where the audience not only demands a great story, but to be a driving force within it. Aimed at traditional writers who want to learn interactive narrative as well as game creators who want to tell better, more emotionally involving stories, the book is written by two creative veterans of both Hollywood and "Nerdyhood." Through lively discussions and self-paced-exercises, Bryant and Giglio step you such topics as: the "no-act" structure of video games; writing great game characters; making gameplay emotionally meaningful; and bringing your game world alive.

Dragon's Dogma is one of the newest franchises from fan-favorite game publisher Capcom, set in a rich world full of dangerous monsters and classic action-RPG style adventure. Dragon's Dogma: Official Design Works collects the development artwork behind this expansive new setting, including character, creature, and weapon designs, plus rough sketches, key visuals, and plenty of creator commentary.