The Game Beat: Observations and Lessons from Two Decades Writing about Games


Book Description

The Game Beat examines the whos, hows, and whys of the game journalists covering the young but growing game industry over the last 15+ years. This collection of more than 80 columns pulls from dozens of writers past and present on everything from the near-death of print gaming magazines to the ethics of attending paid junkets to how much review scores really matter. The Game Beat is essential reading for anyone who writes about games and anyone who just like to read about them.




It’S About the People, Not Just the Games


Book Description

Theres no one in Rhode Island who has covered as many sporting events in as many places as Paul Kenyon. Over his fifty-year career as a journalist (including thirty-seven years at The Providence Journal), he covered the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, University of Rhode Island basketball, high school sports, all things golf, and other sports. As much as he enjoyed watching and writing about the games, it was getting to know what the coaches and athletes were like as people that most held his attention. Tom Brady, for instance, used his smarts as much as his talent to win big games. Tiger Woods has done much for himself and society, but he could do so much more. Lamar Odom is an easy man to like, but hes always lacked maturity. Whether its national events such as Major League baseball playoffs, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Basketball Tournament and Ryder Cup Golf or regular season matchups between arch rivals, Kenyon tells stories that focus on the people behind the scores. Join Kenyon as he celebrates his love of writing, athletics, and teamwork in Its about the People, Not Just the Games.




Locker Room Talk


Book Description

While sportswriters rushed into Major League Baseball locker rooms to talk with players, MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn barred the lone woman from entering along with them. That reporter, 26-year-old Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke, charged Kuhn with gender discrimination, and after the lawyers argued Ludtke v. Kuhn in federal court, she won. Her 1978 groundbreaking case affirmed her equal rights, and the judge’s order opened the doors for several generations of women to be hired in sports media. Locker Room Talk is Ludtke’s gripping account of being at the core of this globally covered case that churned up ugly prejudices about the place of women in sports. Kuhn claimed that allowing women into locker rooms would violate his players’ “sexual privacy.” Late-night television comedy sketches mocked her as newspaper cartoonists portrayed her as a sexy, buxom looker who wanted to ogle the naked athletes’ bodies. She weaves these public perspectives throughout her vivid depiction of the court drama overseen by Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve on the federal bench. She recounts how her lawyer, F.A.O. “Fritz” Schwarz employed an ingenious legal strategy that persuaded Judge Motley to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in giving Ludtke access identical to her male counterparts. Locker Room Talk is both an inspiring story of one woman’s determination to do a job dominated by men and an illuminating portrait of a defining moment for women’s rights.




©World of Doom


Book Description

This is the 1st issue of the "COMICS" book version of the Epic Mini-Series, called "(c)World of Doom-Legacy of Destruction.."..Two Parallel Planets, EARTH, and RHYTHM-AX, within Two Parallel Realms and Universes, are doomed for Destruction, after being "Marked" for "TOXIC CLEANSING," by the (c)Cypress Guardian Keepers; who have authorized and chosen to dispatch the (c)Scrapers, (Planetary and Galactic Cleaning Forces) to rid these Planets and Their Universes of Toxic and Destructive Elements, including Humanisti




What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Second Edition


Book Description

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.




Press Reset


Book Description

From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart—and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next. Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it. The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games—Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more—on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely. Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games—and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.




Blood, Sweat, and Pixels


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every joy related to game development.” — Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer and developer of Nuclear Throne Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous. Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.




New York Magazine


Book Description

New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.




The Fenway Project


Book Description

On June 28, 2002, over six hundred members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) descended on Fenway Park for an interleague contest between the hometown Boston Red Sox and their National League rivals, the former Boston—-now Atlanta—-Braves. Sixty-four of these avid fans, historians, statisticians, and game enthusiasts recorded their experiences for this book. Some wrote from privileged views such as inside the Green Monster’s manual scoreboard, the Braves clubhouse, and the broad- cast booth, while others took in the essence of Fenway from the grandstand or bleachers. The result is a fascinating look at Major League Baseball, the Red Sox and their colorful history, the charms and challenges of Fenway Park, and the allure of being a baseball fan. Including articles on Red Sox/Boston Braves history and the City Series, The Fenway Project combines historical background as only SABR can deliver it with this fascinating "one night at the ballpark" as recorded by 64 observers on the spot. From the man who sang the National Anthem (SABR member Joe Mancuso) to the woman who threw out the first pitch (SABR's president Claudia Perry), from a man in the bleachers to a woman in the press box, readers of The Fenway Project will see the game from all angles. Includes contributions by: Jean Hastings Ardell Phil Bergen Steve Bennett & The Bennett Family Bob Brady Steven Wolfgang Brooks Bob Buege Anne Campbell Jeff Campbell Jim Cambpell Jimmy Campbell Gene Carney Ken Carpenter R. Chamberlain Randall Chandler Will Christensen Richard Cohen Dick Dahl Eric Enders Joe Favano F.X. Flinn Michael Freiman Roy Gedat Rich Gibson Irv Goldfarb Rich Klein Francis Kinlaw R.J. Lesch Glenn LeDoux Daniel Levine Howard Luloff Joseph Mancuso Peter Mancuso Jr. Skip McAfee Lawr Michaels Wynn Montgomery Andy Moye Bill Nowlin Paul Parker Mark Pattison Claudia Perry Fred Peltz R. Plapinger Jim Prime Denis Repp Susan Riggs John T. Saccoman Ryan M. Saccoman Anthony Salazar Jim Sandoval Lyle Spatz Michael Spatz Steve Steinberg Cecilia Tan Stew Thornley Scott C. Turner Zack Triscuit Lewis Trott Jeff Twiss Jay Walker Angela Jane Weisl Peter Winske Saul Wisnia John Zajc Andrew Zinner




Representations of Finnishness in Sweden


Book Description

More than half a million Swedes – one in twenty – is of Finnish descent. This book explores Finnishness, multilingualism and identities of young people with Finnish background in Sweden. What does it mean to grow up in a Finnish family in Sweden? Who are ‘real Finns’ and what does it take to be(come) one? Is a shared minority language essential for the survival of the minority, or can a minority culture stay viable without it? What is Finnishness and who, in the end, can define ethnicity? How to make sense of, and how to present interviews that are rich with imitations of accents, jokes and laughter? Representations of Finnishness is Sweden is an ethnographic interview study in the domain of applied language studies. This book is aimed at readers interested in sociolinguistics, linguistic ethnography, and the study of identities. Interviewees’ voices take a central position in this book and interview excerpts are used not only as illustrations, but also serve as starting points for discussing broader theoretical concepts.