The Kojima Code


Book Description

How far would you go to break the chains of destiny? In the case of HIDEO KOJIMA, way past the point of madness! What else would you call gambling your own multi-million dollar franchise on an elaborate secret scheme to prove you're smarter than your adoring fans? Or creating the biggest media sensation in modern history just so you could spike your own product into the ground and use it as proof that you shouldn't trust advertising? (Or promising to make up for that betrayal of consumer trust only to do it again with an even more venomous bite?) There's nothing else to call it but madness -- unless you understand THE KOJIMA CODE. A mind-blowing, huge budget, multi-layered plot to create a jaw-dropping masterpiece secretly engineered to upset the world. Hey, maybe that's what it takes to make people question the lies we're told in the 21st Century's age of confirmation bias. This book tracks the lonely personal life, daring career, and radical game design philosophy of one of the most enigmatic, polarizing, and devious minds in entertainment. Only by understanding the man and the corporate world he struggled with can we illuminate the unbelievable story behind one of the greatest works of postmodern art ever made. It's a story that has never been detailed, despite an entire generation of gamers begging for answers! A must-read for anyone who has played the series or just wondered why so many people still love and hate HIDEO KOJIMA to this day! The answers await.




The 21st Century in 100 Games


Book Description

The 21st Century in 100 Games is an interactive public history of the contemporary world. It creates a ludological retelling of the 21st century through 100 games that were announced, launched, and played from the turn of the century. The book analyzes them and then uses the games as a means of entry to examine both key events in the 21st century and the evolution of the gaming industry. Adopting a tri-pronged perspective — the reviewer, the academic, and an industry observer — it studies games as ludo-narratological artefacts and resituates games in a societal context by examining how they affect and are engaged with by players, reviewers, the gaming community, and the larger gaming industry. This book will be a must read for readers interested in video games, new media, digital culture (s), culture studies, and history.




Maybe Everyone Is Wrong


Book Description

This study brings together the whole story of Revelation (as well as Daniel, Isaiah, and the Gospels, among other prophecies) and shows how together they form a coherent narrative-not just of the end of the world, but of God's immense plan to allow Satan to build a global empire of evil on earth over the centuries. Find out why popular interpretations surrounding the Antichrist, the Tribulation, the Rapture, Zionism, the Millennial Kingdom, the Beast, the Mark, and the Whore of Babylon are all deeply mistaken and in need of re-examination. No tradition is safe when we look closely at the holy text! One of the main goals of this book is to show that Revelation is a single, linear story, with no repetition, redundancy, or interchangeable parts. Every seal, trumpet, and vial is unique and has to happen in the exact order they appear. Skeptical? Fantastic. Be prepared to see things in the Bible you've never even thought about before, including a prophecy in Jeremiah which has allowed Satan to believe he will have a final victory over God when Jesus Christ comes back to Jerusalem! Oh, and did I mention that most of Revelation happens after the Church is wiped out by Satan? Learn the mystery of the 144,000 elect and prepare yourself for a whole new appreciation of the final book of the Bible.




The Creative Gene


Book Description

Ever since he was a child, Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima was a voracious consumer of movies, music, and books. They ignited his passion for stories and storytelling, and the results can be seen in his groundbreaking, iconic video games. Now the head of independent studio Kojima Productions, Kojima’s enthusiasm for entertainment media has never waned. This collection of essays explores some of the inspirations behind one of the titans of the video game industry, and offers an exclusive insight into one of the brightest minds in pop culture. -- VIZ Media




Practical Game AI Programming


Book Description

Jump into the world of Game AI development About This Book Move beyond using libraries to create smart game AI, and create your own AI projects from scratch Implement the latest algorithms for AI development and in-game interaction Customize your existing game AI and make it better and more efficient to improve your overall game performance Who This Book Is For This book is for game developers with a basic knowledge of game development techniques and some basic programming techniques in C# or C++. What You Will Learn Get to know the basics of how to create different AI for different type of games Know what to do when something interferes with the AI choices and how the AI should behave if that happens Plan the interaction between the AI character and the environment using Smart Zones or Triggering Events Use animations correctly, blending one animation into another and rather than stopping one animation and starting another Calculate the best options for the AI to move using Pruning Strategies, Wall Distances, Map Preprocess Implementation, and Forced Neighbours Create Theta algorithms to the AI to find short and realistic looking paths Add many characters into the same scene and make them behave like a realistic crowd In Detail The book starts with the basics examples of AI for different game genres and directly jumps into defining the probabilities and possibilities of the AI character to determine character movement. Next, you'll learn how AI characters should behave within the environment created. Moving on, you'll explore how to work with animations. You'll also plan and create pruning strategies, and create Theta algorithms to find short and realistic looking game paths. Next, you'll learn how the AI should behave when there is a lot of characters in the same scene. You'll explore which methods and algorithms, such as possibility maps, Forward Chaining Plan, Rete Algorithm, Pruning Strategies, Wall Distances, and Map Preprocess Implementation should be used on different occasions. You'll discover how to overcome some limitations, and how to deliver a better experience to the player. By the end of the book, you think differently about AI. Style and approach The book has a step-by-step tutorial style approach. The algorithms are explained by implementing them in #.




Trigger Happy


Book Description

Examines the history and phenomenal success of video games, and argues that the popular games are on the way to becoming a legitimate art form, much in the same way movies did a century earlier.




The Distant Land of My Father


Book Description

An ambitious man and his adoring daughter are separated and estranged by an ocean and by the tides of history in this “marvelous” novel (Los Angeles Times). For Anna Schoene, growing up in the magical world of Shanghai in the 1930s creates a special bond between her and her father. He is the son of missionaries, a smuggler, and a millionaire who leads a charmed but secretive life. When the family flees to Los Angeles in the face of the Japanese occupation, he chooses to stay, believing his connections and luck will keep him safe. He’s wrong—but he survives, only to again choose Shanghai over his family during the Second World War. Anna and her father reconnect late in his life, when she finally has a family of her own, but it is only when she discovers his extensive journals that she is able to fully understand him and the reasons for his absences. The Distant Land of My Father is a “beautiful” novel “for everyone who has ever felt himself in exile from any beloved place, or a time that can never return” (The Washington Post Book World). “Seamlessly weaves together Anna’s own memories with those of her father, gleaned from the journals . . . An elegant, refined story of families, wartime, and the mystique of memory.” —Kirkus Reviews “Vivid with details of prewar Shanghai and Los Angeles.” —Publishers Weekly “Lush and epic.” —San Jose Mercury News “Remarkable . . . A moving tale of love and the possibility of forgiveness.” —Library Journal