Presenting a holistic and thoroughly practical investigation of the true nature of computer games that arms readers with a small yet powerful set of theories for developing unique approaches to understanding games. Game Invaders fully integrates genre theory, new media aesthetics, perceptual opportunities, and semiotics into a practical DIY toolkit for games analysis—offering detailed guidance for how to conduct in-depth critiques of game content and gameplay.Featuring an informal ...

Explore different forms and genres by writing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Discover effective writing concepts and build your skills. Create your own writing projects with fresh ideas.You'll learn a lot by simply reading these exercises, which impart literary and storytelling devices. Each chapter focuses on a different form or writing concept: freewriting, journaling, memoirs, fiction and storytelling, form poetry and free verse, article and blog writing, characters, ...

Map out your idea and finish your story in 7 stages!This book will show writers how to develop their ideas into a finished novel by working through it in 7 stages, while learning how to mapping out their story's progress and structure so they can evaluate and improve their work. It teaches writers to visualize their story's progress with a story map that helps them see all the different components of their story, where these components are going, and, perhaps most ...

From a top young adult literary agent, the only guide on how to write for young adultsWith an 87 percent increase in the number of titles published in the last two years, the young adult market is one of the healthiest segments in the industry. Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market....

"Anna Anthropy is a key personality in the ongoing paradigm shift that is slowly changing the way videogames are understood, by creators and players, and by the wider culture."—Patrick Alexander, Eegra.com"Equal parts autobiography, ethnography, and how-to manual, this book concisely makes the case for the unique power of 'zinester' games."—Adam Parrish, NYU's Interactive Telecommunication Program (Tisch School of the Arts), and author of the ZZT game "Winter"...

A stimulating, eclectic accountof new media that finds its origins in old media, particularly the cinema.In this book Lev Manovich offers the first systematic and rigorous theory of new media. He places new media within the histories of visual and media cultures of the last few centuries. He discusses new media's reliance on conventions of old media, such as the rectangular frame and mobile camera, and shows how new media works create the illusion of reality, addre...

Many aspiring game designers have crippling misconceptions about the process involved in creating a game from scratch, believing a "big idea" is all that is needed to get started. But game design requires action as well as thought, and proper training and practice to do so skillfully. In this indispensible guide, a published commercial game designer and longtime teacher offers practical instruction in the art of video and tabletop game design. The topics explored include the varying types ...

The father of virtual reality explains its dazzling possibilities by reflecting on his own lifelong relationship with technology.Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, & Vox"A deeply human, highly personal, and beautifully told story." —Dave EggersBridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body , Dawn of the Ne...

Regardless of how much preparation you have or haven’t completed, if you are looking for a resource to support you on your novel-writing journey, then this is the guide for you. This inspirational and practical guide will walk you through each of the steps that you need to take to turn your creative story ideas into a well-rounded, publishable book. It will help you address those important initial questions such as: ‘Which genre of fiction am I best equipped to write?’ and ‘How c...

Understanding Virtual Reality arrives at a time when the technologies behind virtual reality have advanced to the point that it is possible to develop and deploy meaningful, productive virtual reality applications. The aim of this thorough, accessible exploration is to help you take advantage of this moment, equipping you with the understanding needed to identify and prepare for ways VR can be used in your field, whatever your field may be. By approaching VR as a communications medium, the...

We all know how to tell stories just like we all know our native language, having heard both since we were born. People, however, who study their native language discover there’s much they misunderstood or simply didn’t know. The same is true of story when we look at it more carefully.With topics that include the theory of story as model, the fractal key to narrative complexity, and the art of the long form, this volume will show you the essence of stories and storytelling....

Videogames! Aren’t they the medium of the twenty-first century? The new cinema? The apotheosis of art and entertainment, the realization of Wagnerian gesamtkunstwerk? The final victory of interaction over passivity? No, probably not. Games are part art and part appliance, part tableau and part toaster. In How to Talk about Videogames, leading critic Ian Bogost explores this paradox more thoroughly than any other author to date.Delving into popular, familiar games like ...