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      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
        2.11</font></a>://<a href="index.html"><font color="#7C420E">pad happy</font></a>://<a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E">1</font></a>, 
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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="2">Pad 
                        Happy: </font><font color="#904C10" size="4"><br>
                        <font size="2">The Amazon-Sponsored (not) Bookshelf Edition</font></font></i></font></b><font size="2"><br>
                        </font>
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">B</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">y 

                        <a href="mailto:nickf@writeme.com">Nick Ferguson</a></font></div>
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                  <td width="45%" align="right" valign="top"> 
                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 11 <br>
                      February 10, 1999&nbsp;</font></b></h5>
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              <h5 align="right">&nbsp; </h5>
              <div align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><loonystart></font></div>
              
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">For a 
                more practical look at the games industry, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1566869048/qid%3D950154095/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;Game 
                Design: Secrets of the Sages&quot; (1998)</a>, 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 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576104257/ref=sim_books/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;Game 
                Architecture and Design&quot; (Rollings &amp; Morris, 1999)</a>. 
                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).</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">For the 
                more affluent gamer, the pretty-boy coffee table book of choice 
                has to be <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823008835/qid=950154193/sr=1-3/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;re:play&quot; 
                by Liz Faber</a>. 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<b> R-Type</b>, 
                and an overblown version of the original <b>Sonic</b> sprite. 
                Some of the accompanying text is a tad banal, and the more &quot;experimental&quot; 
                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.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262032589/qid=950154234/sr=1-1/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;From 
                Barbie to Mortal Kombat&quot; (Cassell &amp; Jenkins, 1998)</a> 
                makes a point of examining the gender imbalance still very present 
                in the gaming demographic (with a chapter by our very own Stephanie 
                &quot;Bobbi&quot; Bergman, natch). <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674937090/qid=950154323/sr=1-1/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;Video 
                Kids&quot; (1991) by E.F. Provenzo</a> 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, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609606131/qid=950154296/sr=1-11/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;Stop 
                Teaching Our Kids to Kill&quot; (1999)</a> 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 &quot;murder simulators&quot;, you might want to read 
                what he has to say and make up your own mind.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Finally, 
                if you want to read about games and be told a good story at the 
                same time, I highly recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573226521/o/qid=950154370/sr=2-1/104-2526302-6395657">&quot;The 
                Beach&quot; (1998) by Alex Garland</a>. 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).</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">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 &quot;Customers who bought this book 
                also bought...&quot; 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 (<a href="http://www.lionhead.co.uk">http://www.lionhead.co.uk</a>) 
                - 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!</font></p>
              <p align="right"></p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="right"><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- 
                Nick Ferguson will write about consoles next time. Hey, go read 
                &quot;Game Over&quot;...</font></i></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></loonystart></font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E"><b><font size="+1">&lt;&lt;Prev</font></b></font> 
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 2000 Dan Zalkus. Pad Happy is &copy; 2000 Niick Ferguson. All other content 
  is &copy; 2000 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 
  so watch it - we know kung fu, gaijin.</font></i></p>
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