Pad
Happy:
The Amazon-Sponsored (not) Bookshelf Edition
|
Vol.
2, Issue 11
February 10, 1999
|
For a
more practical look at the games industry, "Game
Design: Secrets of the Sages" (1998), edited by Marc
Saltzman, is a great book which pools together a lot of information
and advice from numerous big names about many different aspects
of game production. There are chapters devoted to every field
you could imagine, from programming and art to GUI and level design
- and the book is still very up-to-date! It's also refreshing
to read a book which acknowledges there are often multiple solutions
to the same problem, rather than just advocating one person's
opinion. My only gripe would be that the focus tends to be on
PC-style games, but then what do you expect from me!? A more serious,
technical book is "Game
Architecture and Design" (Rollings & Morris, 1999).
Less user-friendly and more practical than Saltzman's book, this
is a better buy for those of you already working in the industry,
or those who want to know more about the realities of game planning
and production and less about the theories of design (it's also
pretty much hot off the presses, so you're guaranteed up-to-date
info).
For the
more affluent gamer, the pretty-boy coffee table book of choice
has to be "re:play"
by Liz Faber. Subtitled 'Computer Game Graphics', this book
is essentially a graphic design portfolio using game graphics
as source material. Blown up and presented on high-quality paper,
many of the in-game images are quite striking. Personal highlights
include full-page screens from various vector graphic coin-ops,
a montage of (quite beautiful) explosion frames from R-Type,
and an overblown version of the original Sonic sprite.
Some of the accompanying text is a tad banal, and the more "experimental"
design work often obscures the beauty of the original image, but
- minor niggles aside - re:play is probably the strongest validation
of the videogame as an art form available.
With all
the flak the games industry is getting right now about violence,
you might want to read something which takes a more objective
look at the situation than the various defensive, ranting posts
and editorials you'll find online. "From
Barbie to Mortal Kombat" (Cassell & Jenkins, 1998)
makes a point of examining the gender imbalance still very present
in the gaming demographic (with a chapter by our very own Stephanie
"Bobbi" Bergman, natch). "Video
Kids" (1991) by E.F. Provenzo is a dated (but still interesting)
analysis of the possible psychological effects of game-playing
on children, paying particular attention to aspects such as sadistic
imagery, stereotypes and gender roles. Finally, "Stop
Teaching Our Kids to Kill" (1999) is Colonel Dave Grossman's
treatise on the role videogames play in the behaviour of America's
violent youth. Seeing as this guy is the most high-profile critic
of the games industry in the world, describing first-person shooter
titles as "murder simulators", you might want to read
what he has to say and make up your own mind.
Finally,
if you want to read about games and be told a good story at the
same time, I highly recommend "The
Beach" (1998) by Alex Garland. If you haven't heard of
the book, you've probably heard of the film (which stars Leonardo
DiCaprio). Suffice to say, the story features a Gameboy-playing
backpacker who makes various game-related references throughout
the course of the novel (an element that features prominently
in the film, apparently).
Well,
I hope you found the above enlightening. If you check these books
out on Amazon, you'll find that there are a lot of good links
to similar titles in the "Customers who bought this book
also bought..." sections. I find most of the customer reviews
on Amazon helpful in making my decisions, but if you want some
more tips on good books visit Lionhead's site (http://www.lionhead.co.uk)
- they have a section where various staff members have recommended
a wide range of titles, from books on programming methodology
to their favorite graphic novels!
-
Nick Ferguson will write about consoles next time. Hey, go read
"Game Over"...
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