tegan Posted June 27, 2015 I looked around, but couldn't really find a catch-all thread for sharing books and other writing about games. StoryBundle is currently doing a big bundle of great books about games. It's all DRM-free and sold in the same beat-the-average price structure as Humble Bundles. Oh, and you can donate a portion of what you spend to Pixelles, a non-profit initiative for women in games. I picked it up last night. There's some stuff in there that I'm really looking forward to reading (having peered just a little bit into the abyss of Wisdom Tree, I'm very interested in jumping into that), but the real standout here is Ray Barnholt's Scroll magazine, which I'd been wanting to nab for years now after hearing him talk about it during his many appearances on Retronauts. If you beat the average, you get all 12 issues for half the price of the ebook edition of the magazine, so it's great value anyway, and I love Barnholt's dedication to covering very off-the-beaten-path games and companies. You want an interview with the My Summer Vacation guy? Got it. You want to know more about Japan-only original Xbox games? It's covered. You want to read about Artdink, the developers of No One Can Stop Mr. Domino for the Playstation? There's a whole dang issue about it. Really great stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BadHat Posted June 28, 2015 Damn. I would nab that bundle if I wasn't flat broke right now. I need to grab some of Boss Fight Books' stuff. Really looking forward to the MGS and Spelunky ones from the season 2 collection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted June 29, 2015 I need to grab some of Boss Fight Books' stuff. Really looking forward to the MGS and Spelunky ones from the season 2 collection. The Bible Adventures one is amazing. But was there a book in it? Hard to say when I got my answer. Maybe it was when game developer Dan Burke told me that nearly everyone who made these games was atheist or agnostic. Maybe it was when fellow developer Roger Deforest told me about the nights he programmed music for Christian games and then went out with his boss and coworkers to a strip club. Maybe it was when I read the old Warp Zone interview in which interviewer Dave Allwein politely tells Wisdom Tree founder Dan Lawton, "Well I really appreciated talking to you. I really like [your] games a lot," and Lawton replies, "You can't be serious." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BadHat Posted June 29, 2015 That sounds fantastic. Random question, since I don't actually have a lot of experience with ebooks: how does this kind of thing hold up on phones? I assume the text-only stuff will be fine but how about the more magaziney-type stuff? I don't have a tablet and don't relish the idea of sitting at my computer to read them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted June 29, 2015 I'm reading them on a tablet, personally, and haven't touched the other magazine stuff, but Scroll came in both a PDF form (with loads of photos and graphic design) and an ebook form (mostly text with a few small photos) to cover just such an issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reyturner Posted June 29, 2015 Cara Ellison's Embed With Games will be released on July 6th and is available for preorder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seamus2389 Posted June 30, 2015 The Bible Adventures one is amazing. The critical distance podcast did an interview with the guy who wrote that book and is also the creator/editor of the boss fight series that is worth checking out if you are interested in reading other books in that series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tberton Posted July 1, 2015 This is a really good piece about race in games. I think it brings in a really valuable non-North American perspective. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mangela Lansbury Posted July 2, 2015 What ever happened with Press Select? I thought they announced they had forthcoming works from a bunch of people, but I don't remember hearing anything from them after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tberton Posted July 21, 2015 Here's a really awesome article by Austin Walker about the empty streets of Arkham Knight's Gotham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tberton Posted July 29, 2015 I've never played Brogue, but reading its designer's detailed explanation of how its levels are generated is fascinating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rilen Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks for the resources. I'm sad that I missed that original bundle, but it seems like most of these can be obtained independently. Never heard of Boss Fight Books, but I absolutely love what I see and can't wait to check them out.I recently finished Extra Lives by Tom Bissell for the first time. A fine read, but I felt like it was trying to cover too much ground (emotional, educational, historical) at once. A lot of the terms and concepts that he devotes time to have become commonplace and I'm interested to see how the book will age. I think the emotional impact of the interviews and personal recollections, especially the last section, will help it endure to some degree. Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BobbyBesar Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks for the resources. I'm sad that I missed that original bundle, but it seems like most of these can be obtained independently. Never heard of Boss Fight Books, but I absolutely love what I see and can't wait to check them out. A word of warning about the Boss Fight series: they're all done by different authors with (what appears to be) minimal editorial oversight, so they vary hugely in quality. ZZT is apparently quite good, and I think Earhbound is as well, but all accounts I've seen peg the Chrono Trigger book as pretty bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twmac Posted August 9, 2019 I am here because of what Ben requested. This is just a review but it nails down why Metal Wolf Chaos is still worth playing: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-08-06-metal-wolf-chaos-xd-review-as-dazzlingly-dumb-as-its-legend-suggests Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
