Download or read book The Player of Games written by Iain M. Banks and published by Orbit. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death. Praise for Iain M. Banks: "Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy -- the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more" -- NME "An exquisitely riotous tour de force of the imagination which writes its own rules simply for the pleasure of breaking them." -- Time Out

Download or read book Players at the Game of People written by John Brunner and published by Gateway. This book was released on 2013-02-18 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War hero, jet-setter, gourmet - Godwin Harpinshield was all of those and more; his life was a game played among the Beautiful People whose fame, wealth and power set them above the law, and beyond the laws of nature. Because of a simple bargain that all the Beautiful People made, Godwin's every desire was his for the asking. Seduced by luxury, Godwin never doubted his fortune, never wondered about his mysterious patrons. Then the game turned ugly. Suddenly, the ante was raised and the game was real. The stakes were his future, his sanity and, possibly, his very soul. All Godwin Harpinshield had to discover was: What were the rules of the game? And who - or what - were the other players?

Download or read book The Game Players of Titan written by Philip K. Dick and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1992 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having just lost Berkeley and his wife in a game of Bluff, a bizarre game that has become a blinding obsession for the last inhabitants of Earth, Pete Garden prepares to play his next opponent, who isn't even human, for stakes that are much higher

Download or read book We Played the Game written by Danny Peary and published by Hyperion Books. This book was released on 1994-04-07 with total page 678 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This incredible gathering of first-hand remembrances brings a fascinating and enlightening new perspective to the period of baseball's greatest peak and ultimate turning point--when bigotry and exploitation still ran rampant among the clubs and the sport was irrevocably being changed into a business. 100 photos.

Download or read book Players Making Decisions written by Zack Hiwiller and published by New Riders. This book was released on 2015-12-09 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Game designers today are expected to have an arsenal of multi-disciplinary skills at their disposal in the fields of art and design, computer programming, psychology, economics, composition, education, mythology—and the list goes on. How do you distill a vast universe down to a few salient points? Players Making Decisions brings together the wide range of topics that are most often taught in modern game design courses and focuses on the core concepts that will be useful for students for years to come. A common theme to many of these concepts is the art and craft of creating games in which players are engaged by making meaningful decisions. It is the decision to move right or left, to pass versus shoot, or to develop one’s own strategy that makes the game enjoyable to the player. As a game designer, you are never entirely certain of who your audience will be, but you can enter their world and offer a state of focus and concentration on a task that is intrinsically rewarding. This detailed and easy-to-follow guide to game design is for both digital and analog game designers alike and some of its features include: A clear introduction to the discipline of game design, how game development teams work, and the game development process Full details on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues A detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games Thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics Practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance A full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it

Download or read book Locally Played written by Benjamin Stokes and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How games can make a real-world difference in communities when city leaders tap into the power of play for local impact. In 2016, city officials were surprised when Pokémon GO brought millions of players out into the public space, blending digital participation with the physical. Yet for local control and empowerment, a new framework is needed to guide the power of mixed reality and pervasive play. In Locally Played, Benjamin Stokes describes the rise of games that can connect strangers across zip codes, support the “buy local” economy, and build cohesion in the fight for equity. With a mix of high- and low-tech games, Stokes shows, cities can tap into the power of play for the good of the group, including healthier neighborhoods and stronger communities. Stokes shows how impact is greatest when games “fit” to the local community—not just in terms of culture, but at the level of group identity and network structure. By pairing design principles with a range of empirical methods, Stokes investigates the impact of several games, including Macon Money, where an alternative currency encouraged people to cross lines of socioeconomic segregation in Macon, Georgia; Reality Ends Here, where teams in Los Angeles competed to tell multimedia stories around local mythology; and Pokémon GO, appropriated by several cities to serve local needs through local libraries and open street festivals. Locally Played provides game designers with a model to strengthen existing networks tied to place and gives city leaders tools to look past technology trends in order to make a difference in the real world.

Download or read book The Psychology of Video Games written by Celia Hodent and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-07 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What impact can video games have on us as players? How does psychology influence video game creation? Why do some games become cultural phenomena? The Psychology of Video Games introduces the curious reader to the relationship between psychology and video games from the perspective of both game makers and players. Assuming no specialist knowledge, this concise, approachable guide is a starter book for anyone intrigued by what makes video games engaging and what is their psychological impact on gamers. It digests the research exploring the benefits gaming can have on players in relation to education and healthcare, considers the concerns over potential negative impacts such as pathological gaming, and concludes with some ethics considerations. With gaming being one of the most popular forms of entertainment today, The Psychology of Video Games shows the importance of understanding the human brain and its mental processes to foster ethical and inclusive video games.

Download or read book How Video Games Impact Players written by Ryan Rogers and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Video Games Impact Players provides a balanced and nuanced look at the complex role that video games play in society through an analysis of the positive and negative effects of game rules, feedback, and self-presentation. Rogers examines the positive aspects of video games like their use in education, encouragement of prosocial behaviors, and enablement of mood management, as well as the negative aspects like their association with violence and diversity issues, promotion of substance use behaviors, and their role as an outlet for harassment behaviors.

Download or read book Playing to Win written by David Sirlin and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2006-04-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winning at competitive games requires a results-oriented mindset that many players are simply not willing to adopt. This book walks players through the entire process: how to choose a game and learn basic proficiency, how to break through the mental barriers that hold most players back, and how to handle the issues that top players face. It also includes a complete analysis of Sun Tzu's book The Art of War and its applications to games of today. These foundational concepts apply to virtually all competitive games, and even have some application to "real life." Trade paperback. 142 pages.

Download or read book The Well Played Game written by Bernard De Koven and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-08-23 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The return of the classic book on games and play that illuminates the relationship between the well-played game and the well-lived life. In The Well-Played Game, games guru Bernard De Koven explores the interaction of play and games, offering players—as well as game designers, educators, and scholars—a guide to how games work. De Koven’s classic treatise on how human beings play together, first published in 1978, investigates many issues newly resonant in the era of video and computer games, including social gameplay and player modification. The digital game industry, now moving beyond its emphasis on graphic techniques to focus on player interaction, has much to learn from The Well-Played Game. De Koven explains that when players congratulate each other on a “well-played” game, they are expressing a unique and profound synthesis that combines the concepts of play (with its associations of playfulness and fun) and game (with its associations of rule-following). This, he tells us, yields a larger concept: the experience and expression of excellence. De Koven—affectionately and appreciatively hailed by Eric Zimmerman as “our shaman of play”—explores the experience of a well-played game, how we share it, and how we can experience it again; issues of cheating, fairness, keeping score, changing old games (why not change the rules in pursuit of new ways to play?), and making up new games; playing for keeps; and winning. His book belongs on the bookshelves of players who want to find a game in which they can play well, who are looking for others with whom they can play well, and who have discovered the relationship between the well-played game and the well-lived life.

Download or read book Players the Game Around the World written by Z.B. Hill and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-11-17 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Fans everywhere watch both local games and games played in the NBA. Millions of people around the globe play pick-up games with friends, while professional basketball players have become celebrities who are recognized everywhere. Fans from Japan to Brazil and Canada to Kenya love players like Jeremy Lin, Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, LeBron James, and many more. The NBA may play in the United States, but basketball is the world's sport, with fans, leagues, and players worldwide. Discover how basketball is seen around the world and find out how the sport became so popular. Learn more about the world's best basketball players. Explore the connections between fans in different places—and find out how basketball brings people together no matter where they live.

Download or read book Seven Games A Human History written by Oliver Roeder and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them. Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.

Download or read book Players Got Played written by Rechella and published by Kensington Books. This book was released on 2007-09 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Nya Gamden is accepted into the nursing program at Old Dominion University, she is thrilled, until her boyfriend asks her to give up her dreams in exchange for marriage, forcing her into the arms of a well-respected businessman who is hidding a shocking secret. Original.

Download or read book Game Analytics written by Magy Seif El-Nasr and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-30 with total page 792 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developing a successful game in today’s market is a challenging endeavor. Thousands of titles are published yearly, all competing for players’ time and attention. Game analytics has emerged in the past few years as one of the main resources for ensuring game quality, maximizing success, understanding player behavior and enhancing the quality of the player experience. It has led to a paradigm shift in the development and design strategies of digital games, bringing data-driven intelligence practices into the fray for informing decision making at operational, tactical and strategic levels. Game Analytics - Maximizing the Value of Player Data is the first book on the topic of game analytics; the process of discovering and communicating patterns in data towards evaluating and driving action, improving performance and solving problems in game development and game research. Written by over 50 international experts from industry and research, it covers a comprehensive range of topics across more than 30 chapters, providing an in-depth discussion of game analytics and its practical applications. Topics covered include monetization strategies, design of telemetry systems, analytics for iterative production, game data mining and big data in game development, spatial analytics, visualization and reporting of analysis, player behavior analysis, quantitative user testing and game user research. This state-of-the-art volume is an essential source of reference for game developers and researchers. Key takeaways include: Thorough introduction to game analytics; covering analytics applied to data on players, processes and performance throughout the game lifecycle. In-depth coverage and advice on setting up analytics systems and developing good practices for integrating analytics in game-development and -management. Contributions by leading researchers and experienced professionals from the industry, including Ubisoft, Sony, EA, Bioware, Square Enix, THQ, Volition, and PlayableGames. Interviews with experienced industry professionals on how they use analytics to create hit games.

Download or read book Greats of the Game written by Ray Robinson and published by Harry N. Abrams. This book was released on 2005-04-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greats of the Game is a dazzling summation of many of baseball's greatest players and teams, most exciting games and World Series, and most stunning moments. This treasure trove of stories, facts, and photos is informed by the expertise, experience, and engaging prose of two longtime baseball mavens.

Download or read book Game Usability written by Katherine Isbister and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2008-08-12 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Computers used to be for geeks. And geeks were fine with dealing with a difficult and finicky interface--they liked this--it was even a sort of badge of honor (e.g. the Unix geeks). But making the interface really intuitive and useful--think about the first Macintosh computers--took computers far far beyond the geek crowd. The Mac made HCI (human c

Download or read book They Played for the Love of the Game written by Frank M. White and published by Minnesota Historical Society. This book was released on 2016-02-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A century before Kirby Puckett led the Minnesota Twins to World Series championships, Minnesota was home to countless talented African American baseball players, yet few of them are known to fans today. During the many decades that Major League Baseball and its affiliates imposed a strict policy of segregation, black ballplayers in Minnesota were relegated to a haphazard array of semipro leagues, barnstorming clubs, and loose organizations of all-black teams—many of which are lost to history. They Played for the Love of the Game recovers that history by sharing stories of African American ballplayers in Minnesota, from the 1870s to the 1960s, through photos, artifacts, and spoken histories passed through the generations. Author Frank White’s own father was one of the top catchers in the Twin Cities in his day, a fact that White did not learn until late in life. While the stories tell of denial, hardship, and segregation, they are highlighted by athletes who persevered and were united by their love of the sport.