An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date. As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance. Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Play is a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.

Argues that the Obama administration's policies are jeopardizing the black community and the nation at large, contending that progressive programs are actually promoting poverty at the expense of both the working and privileged classes.

Collects Iron Man (1968) #171-182, Iron Man Annual (1971) #6, material from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983). Tony Stark has changed the world, but those successes convinced the creator of the Iron Man armor that he himself was invincible. But no one is - and Obadiah Stane is about to exploit Stark's every weakness, pulling apart his life piece by piece until one of Marvel's greatest heroes is at rock bottom! Meanwhile, James Rhodes must protect them both from Stane, protect Tony from himself and protect everyone from a cadre of Atlanteans with Iron Man armor! It's a crash course in super-heroing for Rhodey. He rises to the occasion, but battling Thunderball is one thing - facing the Mandarin is another thing altogether! The new Iron Man will be in for the fight of his life…that he may not win! Also featuring an Annual with a tragic turning point for the Eternals!

In the sequel to Blackcollar from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Star Wars: Thrawn, Allen Caine is back on the front lines of an alien war. Denver, Earth. The twenty-fifth century. After a devastating alien invasion, the Terran Democratic Empire is occupied by the Ryqril race. The once-heroic resistance warriors known as the blackcollars now serve as strong-arm security for Denver’s criminal elements. When Allen Caine completes his year-long blackcollar training on the planet Plinry, he and his elite team head to Earth to strike out against the Ryqril puppet government. But there’s no way of knowing whether the remaining blackcollars in Denver will be with him, or against him. . . .

In critically acclaimed author Sarah Darer Littman's gripping new novel what happens online doesn't always stay online . . . Lara just got told off on Facebook. She thought that Christian liked her, that he was finally going to ask her to his school's homecoming dance. It's been a long time since Lara's felt this bad, this depressed. She's worked really hard since starting high school to be happy and make new friends.Bree used to be BBFs with overweight, depressed Lara in middle school, but constantly listening to Lara's problems got to be too much. Bree's secretly glad that Christian's pointed out Lara's flaws to the world. Lara's not nearly as great as everyone thinks.After weeks of talking online, Lara thought she knew Christian, so what's with this sudden change? And where does he get off saying horrible things on her wall? Even worse - are they true?But no one realized just how far Christian's harsh comments would push Lara. Not even Bree. As online life collides with real life, the truth starts to come together and the backlash is even more devastating than anyone could have imagined.

Series title and numbering from publisher's website.

"From Civil Rights to Black Liberation is one of the few books that offers historical research about the OAAU, a revolutionary organization founded by Malcolm X and rooted in traditions of Black nationalism, self-determination, and human rights. The author establishes the relevance of Malcolm's political legacy for the task of rebuilding the movement for Black liberation almost thirty years after his assassination." -- Publisher.