Game Development Essentials: An Introduction [Print + CD] [Paperback]

Jeannie Novak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1418042080 | ISBN-13: 978-1418042080 | Edition: 2

Game Development Essentials: An Introduction, 2nd Edition offers a thorough and insightful introduction to the game development industry, with industry updates that will keep readers current and well-prepared for a career in the field. The book begins with a highly informative chapter on the evolution of game development, providing a historical context for later chapters, and moves on to examine content creation and the concepts behind the development of story, character, environment, level design, user interface, and sound. With the same engaging writing style and examples that made the first edition so popular, this new edition features expanded coverage of today's hottest topics - such as next-generation platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii), level design, interface design, project management, serious games, game accessibility, and online social networks. New game-related technology, development techniques, and the latest research in the field make this an invaluable resource for anyone entering the exciting, competitive, ever-changing world of game development.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 2 edition (August 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418042080
• ISBN-13: 978-1418042080
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeannie Novak is the Lead Author & Series Editor of the widely acclaimed Game Development Essentials series (with over 15 published titles), co-author of Play the Game: The Parent's Guide to Video Games, and co-author of three pioneering books on the interactive entertainment industry -- including Creating Internet Entertainment. She is also Co-Founder of Novy Unlimited and Founder/CEO of Kaleidospace, LLC (d/b/a Indiespace, founded in 1994) -- where she provides services for corporations and creative professionals in games, music, film, education, and technology. Jeannie oversees one of the first web sites to promote and distribute interactive entertainment and a game education consulting division that focuses on curriculum development, instructional design, and professional development for higher education and secondary school.

As Online Program Director for the Game Art & Design and Media Arts & Animation programs at the Art Institute Online, Jeannie produced and designed an educational business simulation game that was built within the Second Life environment--leading a virtual team of more than 50 educators, students, and industry professionals. She has also been a game instructor and curriculum development expert at UCLA Extension, Art Center College of Design, Academy of Entertainment & Technology at Santa Monica College, DeVry University, Westwood College, and ITT Technical Institute--and she has consulted for several educational institutions and developers such as UC Berkeley Center for New Media, Alelo Tactical Language & Culture, and GameSalad. Jeannie has also worked on projects funded by the National Science Foundation and Google Grants for Lehigh Carbon Community College and the University of Southern California (USC) Information Sciences Institute.

An active member of the game industry, Jeannie has served as Vice Chair of the International Game Developers Association-Los Angeles chapter (IGDA-LA), executive team member at Women in Games International (WIGI), Game Conference Chair for ANIMIAMI, advisory board member at the Game Education Summit (GES), and session chair at SIGGRAPH. She has participated on the Online Gameplay selection committee for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' DICE awards since 2003 and has developed game workshops, panels, and breakout sessions in association with events and organizations such as the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Game Education Summit (GES), International Game Developers Association (IGDA), GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin), Macworld Expo, Digital Hollywood, USC's Teaching Learning & Technology Conference, and the Los Angeles Games Conference. Jeannie was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people in technology by MicroTimes magazine - and she has been profiled by CNN, Billboard Magazine, Sundance Channel, Daily Variety, and the The Los Angeles Times.

Jeannie received an M.A. in Communication Management from USC's Annenberg School (where her thesis focused on using massively multiplayer online games as online distance learning applications) and a B.A. in Mass Communication/Business Administration from UCLA (where she graduated summa cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa and completed an honors thesis focusing on gender role relationships in toy commercials). A native of Southern California, Jeannie grew up in San Diego and currently resides in Santa Monica with her husband, Luis Levy. She is also an accomplished composer, recording artist, performer, and music instructor (piano/voice).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Way to Begin, December 13, 2009

By 

Estefano Palacios Topic (Guayaquil, Ecuador) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (Paperback)

First of all, who is this book for?

When I first bought this book I thought I was in for a mind breaking tutorial or insight into game development, and considering all the great reviews, I think these expectations were completely normal. Reality is: the book will only teach you very, very essential stuff. So, if you already have any sort of experience in game development, or you have been a hardcore gamer looking to become a game developer, you probably know this stuff already. This book is great for teenagers who would love to become game developers or professionals in other areas looking to cross over. Still, if you are knowledgeable in gaming or game development, you may want to buy this book for formalize your knowledge into comprehensible data sets in your mind (this is how this book has served me the most), for the writing is clear, easily digestible, and the presentation of the whole deal is beautifully done.

What does this book talk about?

A lot of things! And this is one of the very best features of the book: it will guide you to every detail of game development, even if offers very little information on some topics, so you won't stay completely ignorant with this book. It talks about: the target market, history of games, gameplay, storytelling, characters, marketing, development process, the development team, etc... By the end of this book you will feel good about your understanding of games, even if it is at a small extend, because now you fell that you have your feet on the ground. This is another great feature: it never talks about game development as something easy. Actually, on the ending chapters, where the author talks about the development process, she makes a clear point on how crazy the whole deal can be, doing justice to those people who thought they were in for an easy way to make money.
The book has lots of "developer side notes". Some are really bad, coming from developers completely oblivious for me: they teach only what is obvious, and sometimes repeat what the author has already taught. But then again, some are brilliant, coming from either random guys or very famous developing houses like: Infinity Ward, Ensemble Studios, Obsidian Entertainment, etc. This little side notes offer guidelines on what to avoid, pursue or do while creating or thinking a game.

What I disliked.

Game Development Essentials Second Edition teaches its topics viewing gaming mostly as business and not as art. This was very disappointing for me. It constantly talks about knowing your market, and creating a good game for them. They always try to teach you to see games as a product and not as a creation to deliver a message. For a person who loves all games (me) that try hard to be art, or at least, to get a message across, it was hard to come to terms with all this (gaming as art is what inspired me in the first place).

Moreover, when the author talks about the importance of storyline in some games, she really bashes linear storytelling, saying games are supposed to be non linear. It weird but she stresses that the best games have non linear storylines and she creates this feel on her text that linear stories are a crime. But I asked myself, what about: Halo? Half Life? Gears of War? Max Payne? Metal Gear? Grim Fandango? The Longest Journey? Resident Evil? Killzone? Resistance? Silent Hill? Most of my favorite games tell linear stories! I believe that creating a linear story is a better way to developing characters; very few games have offered non linear storylines without making characters of such game look generic. But what bugs me is this: she openly talks about how great the story for some these games is, but nearly in the same paragraph she bashes linear storytelling. I think the author should rewrite that whole chapter, explaining which storytelling methods work better with the different genres in games.

All in all this is a great book, and definitely the best intro to game development. While it has a share of short comings, most of the time you'll be entertained and impressed by the learning scenario that author has created. She is not exhausting, she never punishes the learner with tons of questions, and the technical stuff is kept to a minimum. If you are looking to get into the business, look no further, this book will do you great justice indeed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction to the Many Facets of Game Development, July 22, 2009

By 

Jonathan Hensley "pineycreek" (Round Rock, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (Paperback)

"Game Development Essentials: An Introduction" really is just that, an introduction to the other books in the series. If you want a general outlook on multiple angles of game development and the multiple occupations associated with it, as well as how they interact, then this is a good book for you.

The book is divided into 12 chapters in three main sections:

Part 1: Setup, Building the Foundation
Part 2: Scenarios, Creating Compelling Content
Part 3: Strategy, Team, Process, and Community

Part 1 covers the basic history of gaming as well as player and game elements that a game developer needs to plan for, such as demographics and basic design. Part 2 covers creating scenarios. This includes character types, narration choices, interface options, gameplay decisions and the like. Part 3 covers creating a basic plan, pulling together resources, and marketing a game.

Interspersed throughout the book are blurbs from various mavens in the gaming industry. Most of them have interesting perspectives and short stories about what the prospective game developer will experience or will have to face during the process, depending on what facet of the game he or she chooses to participate in.

The conclusion has more of those same blurbs; I found this section to be almost inspirational.

I thought at times the book seemed to take itself too seriously. Granted, it is a textbook, but there are sections that seem a little high-handed and some that seemed just plain inaccurate. Most of these I feel related primarily to aspects of PC gaming. As it is an introduction, most of the sections did not go into much detail. At times I felt like I was reading an advertisement for the rest of the series. Well, that's what it is, and it does a good job of this. I do want to read the rest of the books in the series and it is primarily because of the lead-ins contained in this book.

Side note: I would like to potentially become a game writer, either in the interactive or technical sense. If anyone has any suggestions in improving my reviews, please give me some constructive criticism in the comments. Thank you in advance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish book that really meets its goals, December 28, 2007

By 

L. Figueroa "nyguerrillagirl" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (Paperback)

I picked up this book as a possible replacement for the book that is currently used in my 'Game Design' course. This book is very attractive and professionally put together. It covers the material that would be essential (hence the title) when discussing the elements of game design:
1. The history of the medium
I found some annoying factual errors in this part of the book. Which initially turned me off but I continued to read since errors seemed to be in the sidebars which may not get the same editorial review.
2. Who plays and why?
This contained very interesting material for students to discuss with respect to player motivation, personality and gender. The eye-opening part for me was the view of game playing from the perspective of generations. Baby boomers, Generation X and the Millennial Generation look for different things from the games they play. (This part made me examine my own choices for games and the characters I am most attracted to in them!)
3. The elements in a game - genres, platforms, player mode

Part II is where the real gems are for people who really want to design games:
4. The elements of storytelling
5. Creating the characters/roles
6. Creating the game experience, e.g. challenges
7. Creating the World and Atmosphere (anyone else listen to the audio CD to remember the delight in playing the game?)

The last part covers:
8. The key roles/titles in the game development process
9. The process of producing games
10. The future of gaming

The book ends with the following bonuses:
11. A list of resources for those who are serious about actually getting into the game business
12. List of books to read and learn more
13. A CD with tools

The key thing I value when spending time on a book is one - am I learning something new? This book offers many ideas central to designing video games. It is an excellent book for a course on the topic or for any budding game designer to pick up start the journey.