Understanding Video Games is a crucial guide for newcomers to video game studies and experienced game scholars alike. This revised and updated third edition of the pioneering text provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of game studies, and highlights changes in the gaming industry, advances in video game scholarship, and recent trends in game design and development—including mobile, casual, educational, and indie gaming. In the third edition of this textbook, students will: Learn the major theories and schools of thought used to study games, including ludology and narratology; Understand the commercial and organizational aspects of the game industry; Trace the history of games, from the board games of ancient Egypt to the rise of mobile gaming; Explore the aesthetics of game design, including rules, graphics, audio, and time; Analyze the narrative strategies and genre approaches used in video games; Consider the debate surrounding the effects of violent video games and the impact of "serious games." Featuring discussion questions, recommended games, a glossary of key terms, and an interactive online video game history timeline, Understanding Video Games provides a valuable resource for anyone interested in examining the ways video games are reshaping entertainment and society.

Debut author and artist Vince Volpert's first collection of short stories, The Artist's Rant: Crazy Things Happen!, entails eleven stories, including the story about the narrator, V.V., and the paintings linked to the stories. Published for the enthusiastic, sci-fi, horror, noir, mystery, and fantasy readers alike, these short stories have: love, hate, darkness, happiness, lust, fear, danger, sorrow, anger, deceit, honesty, life, and death. In "Chew, Chew, Chew," experience a man confronted by a storyteller with a fantastic tale about surviving a town full of zombies; in "Heave and Hell, I Do," listen to a woman's tale about how heaven and hell raged war, and how the world ended; in "A Sexy Death," witness two women's "girl's night out," being more than what they bargained for; and in "Reaper's Death," experience a man taking over the grimmest job that has ever existed. These stories, along with the others, will make you question morality, rules, and life itself. The Artist's Rant: Crazy Things Happen! will make you glad that your reality is nothing like the stories you will read.

From New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter comes a thriller that pits former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger against the only man who might be able to outshoot him. A marine sniper team on a mission in tribal territories on the Afghan-Pakistan border, Whiskey 2-2 is ambushed by professionals using the latest high-tech shooting gear. Badly wounded, the team’s sole survivor, Gunnery Sergeant Ray Cruz, aka “the Cruise Missile,” is determined to finish his job. He almost succeeds when a mystery blast terminates his enterprise, leaving a thirty-foot crater where a building used to be—and where Sergeant Cruz was meant to be hiding. Months pass. Ray’s target, an Afghan warlord named Ibrahim Zarzi, sometimes called “The Beheader,” becomes an American asset in the region and beyond, beloved by State, the Administration, and the Agency. He arrives in Washington for consecration as Our Man in Kabul. And that brings Ray Cruz out of hiding. Swagger, the legendary hero of seven of Hunter’s novels from Point of Impact to last year’s bestselling I, Sniper, is recruited by the FBI to stop the Cruise Missile from reaching his target. The problem is that the more Swagger learns about what happened in Zabol, the more he questions the US government’s support of Zarzi and the more he identifies with Cruz as hunter instead of prey.

A perfect journal for any enthusiast No fluff and nonsense involved, just a pure and simple lined journal / notebook with a funny phrase on the front and all at a very low price for a decent gag gift. 6 x 9 in size 100 blank pages to deface as required Great eye catching cover. Buy one for your favorite co-worker, friend, husband, wife, partner or just about anyone who enjoys a good laugh and doesn't mind people knowing their passion!

The newest addition to our Influential Video Game Designers series explores the work of Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda Studios, known for how he consistently pushes the boundaries of open-world gaming and player agency. Howard's games create worlds in which players can design their own characters and tell their own stories. While many games tell the story of the game's main character, Todd Howard's worldbuilding approach to game design focuses more on telling the story of the game's world, whether it be the high fantasy environments of the Elder Scrolls series or the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Fallout series. This focus on sculpting the world allows for remarkable amounts of player freedom and choice in an expansive game environment by creating a landscape rich with open opportunity. Drawing on both academic discussions of narrative, world design, and game design, as well as on officially released interviews, speeches, and presentations given by Howard and other designers at Bethesda Games, Wendi Sierra highlights three core areas set Howard's design perspective apart from other designers: micronarratives, iterative design, and the sharing of design tools. Taken as a whole, these three elements demonstrate how Howard has used a worldbuilding perspective to shape his games. In doing so, he has impacted not only Bethesda Studios, but also the landscape of game design itself.

Dr. William Glasser offers a new psychology that, if practiced, could reverse our widespread inability to get along with one another, an inability that is the source of almost all unhappiness. For progress in human relationships, he explains that we must give up the punishing, relationship–destroying external control psychology. For example, if you are in an unhappy relationship right now, he proposes that one or both of you could be using external control psychology on the other. He goes further. And suggests that misery is always related to a current unsatisfying relationship. Contrary to what you may believe, your troubles are always now, never in the past. No one can change what happened yesterday.

For many, many years you may have heard that God doesn't still perform miracles. A Mother In Mourning will restore your faith if you are among the many who don't believe. Kathy will tell you, too, of the many miracles God has given to her. One of the miracles was giving birth to her sons. Another came after the fatal accident of her oldest son when an angel was waiting for her in the most unusual place, her favorite coffee house. A Mother In Mourning is sure to be a best seller of its kind. Kathy delivers a truly powerful love story involving herself, her two sons and her God. From the first day she gave birth to her sons, she held them close to her. To Aaron (and Kendrick), she was a one of a kind mother; she was their mentor, their right hand, their best friend and their preparedness for this thing called life. Most importantly, she was Aaron's (and is Kendrick's) overseer in making sure that without a doubt their ultimate destination would be "heaven." A Mother In Mourning will take you on a journey filled with nothing but love, joy and the pain of being a mother. This heart-felt true story will have you laughing out loud and at the same time bring joyful tears to your eyes. It's clear that Kathy understood from the very beginning what it took to be a good mother. You will also read how God gave her a premonition that something tragic was going to happen five months before his death. She didn't know what it was until a knock came on her door one early morning. She opened the door only to see two police officers standing there and one of them was holding her son's drivers license. Through all of their years together with his following closely in her footsteps, she never could havepredicted that Aaron would have had such a short life. Kathy and her sons were so close, it seemed to her that the sun would shine on them forever. One Wednesday evening just as the sun was going down, God called Aaron's name. Even though she has always been a natural teacher of having faith in God the devastation of losing her son has caused her faith to increase even more. You will read how God got her through the lowest stage of her life when no one else was there for her. A Mother In Mourning is not just for someone who has lost a loved one. It is a book that unmistakably teaches us to have faith in God and to realize that life is a journey. Yes, it is a journey that we all must travel and that will one day (make no mistake about it) come to an end.