Featuring interviews with the creators of 39 popular video games--including Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Medal of Honor and Metroid Prime--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the origins of some of the most iconic shooter games. Interviewees recount endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers, the growth of the genre and the creative processes that produced some of the industry's biggest hits, cult classics and indie successes.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games--including Deus Ex, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam--this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming's classic titles.

Brian Enos's Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals - often considered the competitive shooters bible - includes in-depth coverage of the technical and mental aspects of training and competition, and will offer new insights as you continue to improve. "There is only one person in the world who I would allow to talk to my students, and that is Brian Enos." Rob Leatham, 15+ time National & World IPSC Champion. This isn't just another "how to fire a gun" book. This one talks about shooting.... The keys to consistent, high-speed shooting are within you right now. This book will show you ways to bring them out. Through Brian's advice, you'll learn how to recognize and break down the barriers that are limiting your performance—you may begin to look at shooting in an entirely different way. You'll learn to pressure-proof your match performance, how different types of shooting require different focal points, and you'll see how to develop an attitude that will let you reach beyond what you thought was your potential. You'll find a comprehensive set of exercises that will develop and sharpen your skills. You'll see how it's possible to drive the gun to wherever your eye can look. You'll discover that everything you need to know about your technique is told by the gun, if you know how to listen to it. And all the challenges and advanced techniques of practical shooting are covered too: prone, barricade, single-hand shooting, multiple targets, reloading, shooting on the move, and much more. You'll also get inside tips on IPSC strategies, steel shooting, shootoff tactics, Bianchi, and more. Chapters include: - Awareness & Focus - Tools of Shooting - Creative Shooting - Specific Challenges - Competition - Development - Shooting Tools - Revolver Shooting - Group Shooting

Violent video games are successfully marketed to and easily obtained by children and adolescents. Even the U.S. government distributes one such game, America's Army, through both the internet and its recruiting offices. Is there any scientific evidence to support the claims that violent games contribute to aggressive and violent behavior? As the first book to unite empirical research on and public policy options for violent video games, Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents will be an invaluable resource for student and professional researchers in social and developmental psychology and media studies.

In Extra Lives, acclaimed writer and life-long video game enthusiast Tom Bissell takes the reader on an insightful and entertaining tour of the art and meaning of video games. In just a few decades, video games have grown increasingly complex and sophisticated, and the companies that produce them are now among the most profitable in the entertainment industry. Yet few outside this world have thought deeply about how these games work, why they are so appealing, and what they are capable of artistically. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is a milestone work about what might be the dominant popular art form of our time.

Shooter is a visual portrait of war--the perseverance, heroism, and survival--narrated through stunning photographs and powerful essays from a female combat photographer.

Cognitive Development in a Digital Age James Paul Gee begins his classic book with "I want to talk about video games–yes, even violent video games–and say some positive things about them." With this simple but explosive statement, one of America's most well-respected educators looks seriously at the good that can come from playing video games. This revised edition expands beyond mere gaming, introducing readers to fresh perspectives based on games like World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2. It delves deeper into cognitive development, discussing how video games can shape our understanding of the world. An undisputed must-read for those interested in the intersection of education, technology, and pop culture, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy challenges traditional norms, examines the educational potential of video games, and opens up a discussion on the far-reaching impacts of this ubiquitous aspect of modern life.

“[Kellerman] does for the American cop what P. D. James has done for the British mystery, lifting it beyond its genre.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch “No one working in the crime genre is better.” —Baltimore Sun In Gun Games, the sensational Faye Kellerman once again showcases Peter Decker of the LAPD and Rina Lazarus, arguably the most popular husband and wife team in contemporary crime fiction. A rash of shocking adolescent suicides at an elite Los Angeles private school is at the heart of this gripping thriller that also focuses on the troubled teen Decker and Lazarus have brought into their home: Gabriel Whitman, the son of a psychopath. Herself one-half of one of noir fiction’s true “power couples”—along with her husband, acclaimed mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman—Faye Kellerman once again demonstrates how American police procedural writing is done to perfection with Gun Games.

An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date. As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance. Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Play is a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.

The highly acclaimed SportExcel system is a revolutionary way to win, and it is changing the way clay-target shooters approach their game in North America and around the globe. With Bob Palmer's easy-to-read and easy-to-understand, step-by-step system, you learn to see the target as huge, to eliminate distractions and to stay totally focused. "Great shooters don't think - they just shoot in the Zone." No matter if you're a world-class shooter, a weekend enthusiast, a beginner, a coach or a parent, this book is your handbook to using your very powerful Zone to learn how to win.