Become a Player in the Business of Video Game Art Every year video games generate billions of dollars and some of the most dynamic and engaging artwork today. It’s an ever-growing field that holds great professional opportunity, but you need the right skills and savvy if you want to stake your claim. In How to Become a Video Game Artist, veteran video game designer Sam R. Kennedy provides the inside track on everything you need to forge a career in the world of video game art. Starting with the basics of game creation and a look at the artistic skills necessary to get started, Kennedy spotlights specific, key roles for creators—from concept artists to character animators to marketing artists and beyond. Each chapter features screenshots from popular video games like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and World of Warcraft; interviews with video game art professionals who’ve worked for top gaming companies like BioWare, Blizzard, and Ubisoft; step-by-step examples of actual game art; and detailed breakdowns of the training and portfolio samples you’ll need to make these jobs your own. For anyone who wants to go from gamer to game designer, this book contains all the secrets you’ll need to rise to the top of one of the most exciting industries of our time.

Filled with gorgeous illustrations and artwork from HBO's hit series, The Art of Game of Thrones is the definitive collection. Beautifully crafted and presented in a deluxe, large format, these pages present a visual chronicle of the meticulous work done by artists to bring the world of Westeros to life on-screen.

The next generation of fantasy is here! Go behind the scenes of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the most ambitious game ever created by legendary developer BioWare! Featuring hundreds of never-before-seen artworks and captions from the developers themselves, this volume offers revealing insight into the inspiration and creation of every facet of Dragon Age: Inquisition, from the heroes, to the wondrous weapons they wield, the powerful beasts that they battle, and the extraordinary world that they inhabit.

Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Written by one of the world's top game designers, The Art of Game Design presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, puzzle design, and anthropology. This Second Edition of a Game Developer Front Line Award winner: Describes the deepest and most fundamental principles of game design Demonstrates how tactics used in board, card, and athletic games also work in top-quality video games Contains valuable insight from Jesse Schell, the former chair of the International Game Developers Association and award-winning designer of Disney online games The Art of Game Design, Second Edition gives readers useful perspectives on how to make better game designs faster. It provides practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.

Explore Level Design through the Lens of Architectural and Spatial Experience Theory Written by a game developer and professor trained in architecture, An Architectural Approach to Level Design is one of the first books to integrate architectural and spatial design theory with the field of level design. It explores the principles of level design through the context and history of architecture, providing information useful to both academics and game development professionals. Understand Spatial Design Principles for Game Levels in 2D, 3D, and Multiplayer Applications The book presents architectural techniques and theories for level designers to use in their own work. The author connects architecture and level design in different ways that address the practical elements of how designers construct space and the experiential elements of how and why humans interact with this space. Throughout the text, readers learn skills for spatial layout, evoking emotion through gamespaces, and creating better levels through architectural theory. Create Meaningful User Experiences in Your Games Bringing together topics in game design and architecture, this book helps designers create better spaces for their games. Software independent, the book discusses tools and techniques that designers can use in crafting their interactive worlds.

Gamers who cut their teeth in the arcades will love this trip down memory lane. Artcade is a unique collection of coin-op cabinet marquees, some dating back 40 years to the dawn of video gaming. Originally acquired by Tim Nicholls from a Hollywood props company, this archive of marquees - many of which had suffered damage over time - have now been scanned and digitally restored to their former glory. The full collection of classic arcade cabinet artwork is presented here for the first time in this stunning landscape hardback book, and accompanied by interviews with artists Larry Day and the late Python Anghelo. Relive your mis-spent youth with artwork from dozens of coin-ops including Asteroid, Battlezone, Street Fighter II, Out Run, Moon Patrol, Gyruss, Q*Bert, Bubble Bobble and many more. Each marquee takes up a full double-page spread in the book, and is faithfully recreated using beautiful lithographic printing on the highest quality paper. Tim has spent over a thousand hours assembling the high-resolution scans, restoring the images in Photoshop and color-correcting them back to their vibrant, as-new appearance. The results of all that hard work are now available as a lasting record of the amazing artwork that adorned the arcades during the golden era of coin-op video gaming.

Game Art is a collection of breathtaking concept art and behind-the-scenes interviews from videogame developers, including major players like Square Enix, Bioware, and Ubisoft as well as independent but influential studios like Tale of Tales and Compulsion Games. Immerse yourself in fantastic artwork and explore the creative thinking behind over 40 console, mobile, and PC games. A lone independent developer on a tiny budget can create an experience as powerful and compelling as a triple-A blockbuster built by a team of 1,000. But like all works of art, every game begins with a spark of inspiration and a passion to create. Let Game Art take you on a visual journey through these beautiful worlds, as told by the minds that brought them to life.