The first edition of a book that will later become the french written reference about the history of videogames under the title "La Saga des Jeux Vidéo". This must-have book has known five different editions between 1997 and 2012. It details the story of many famous videogames thanks to interviews with their designers: Pong, Tomb Raider, Tetris, Doom, Myst, Sim City, etc. The book also have a background story with the life of Philippe Ulrich, famous french game designer and
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Keywords : history, france, philippe ulrich
This book explains in very clear way and with a lot of pictures how to use "Build", the level editing software for the game Duke Nukem 3D (3D Realms, 1996). Over 300 pages, this handbook details all the features of the tool, from basic usage (interface, adding textures, sprites, etc.) to the most complex topics (using "sectors effectors", adding new objects and enemies to the game, etc.). It also offers a wide selection of case studies (how to create sliding doors, elevators,
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Keywords : level design, level editor, duke nukem 3d, modding
The catalogue from a British art exposition that took place in 1996. The art pieces and the artist' manifesto presented in the book openly aim to explore the expressive power of video games.
Keywords : art, exposition, museum, interaction, expression
A 750 pages reference handbook for anyone trying to learn the tools used to create new levels and to modify existing content of the games Doom, Doom II, Heretic and Heven. The book features many images, and it's explained with texts accessible to beginners, although some chapters are also dealing with advanced topics for experts.
Keywords : modding, level editor, doom, doom II, heretic, hexen
This book describes a pioneering scientific experiment conducted by Yasmin Kafai in the Serious Games field. In 1994, for 6 months during 1 hour per day, she asked 4th grade students to design video games explaining the mathematical concept of "fraction" to 3rd graders. To create these games, the kids used the LOGO language they learned during the workshop. Through this experiment, the researcher observed that designing video games about "fractions" helped kids to master this
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Keywords : serious game, constructionnisme, logo, scientific research
This is one of the first, if not the first, book to seriously tackle the history of video game on a global level. The book structure is chronological: each chapter covers the main events of a single year. Moreover, the author chose to mostly focuses his book on the history of consoles in the US. After a first chapter dedicated to early digital games, the book details the main events of the video game industry between 1970 and 1993. Among others things, it presents the various consoles rel
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Keywords : history, video game, console, usa
One of the first french book which seriously discussed about videogames. It features a passionating chapter on the history of videogames (which introduces the idea of dividing the history according to generations of home consoles), a classification of videogames, and a global view of the influence of videogames in our society. The two authors also address a series of then hot but still current issues: can videogames make kids violent? Are players really lacking social skills?Are videogames s
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Keywords : history, violence, addiction, society, france, ideology, sexism
The book that founded (1938) the study of games in the humanities. The author states that games is an essential part of human culture, so he explores the role of game in societies. The concept of "magic circle", nowadays popular among researchers and game designers, comes from this book. Alongside with "Man, Play and Games", this is a book that any researcher working on games should read...This dutch-written book was first translated into English in 1949, and this translation
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Keywords : anthropology, sociology, definition
A new edition of the book that founded the "Serious Games" current. Clark Abt, an American researcher who studied computer simulation games for military training during the Cold War, highlights the potential of games for "serious" applications, such as education. Alongside with definition and studies, this book features a lot of games examples used for learning purposes (both inside or outside schools) on various supports: board games, card games, outside games, computer
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Keywords : serious game, clark abt, definition, example, history
Answering the theories laid down by the pioneering book "Homo Ludens", Roger Caillois, an anthropologist, writes down a wonderful essay about play and game as a human activity. His work about the classification of games and their definition are part of the "founding books" that any researcher should have read...This french-written book was first translated into English in 1961 under the title "Man, Play and Games."
Keywords : anthropology, sociology, definition, classification