Games Online for Dummies [Paperback]

John Kaufeld (Author), Sid Meier (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764504347 | ISBN-13: 978-0764504341 | Publication Date: October 1, 1998

"An invaluable resource for novice and experienced gamers alike." — Sid Meier, Creator of Civilization

Save $$$! See Inside for Coupons!

Find, Play, and Win the Best Games on the Internet! Feel like taking the wheel of an Indy race car? Commanding your forces against the evil empire? Or simply grabbing a cue and hitting the old electronic ball? Trust gaming expert John Kaufeld to take you straight to the best online games. With direct links to the hottest games on the Net and a wealth of gaming tips — including advice on which games you may not want your kids playing — Games Online For Dummies^® takes you on an exciting tour of the Wild Net Yonder.

Inside, find helpful advice on how to:

• Play games on major game services like the Internet Gaming Zone, HEAT.NET, Mplayer, and more
• Trick commercial games into playing through the Internet with Kali and Kahn
• Figure out what to play, where to play, and how to make your computer play better with our special Internet Directory
• Chat with fellow gamers — and find worthy opponents
• Join the online gaming communities inside America Online and CompuServe
• Turn your computer into the ultimate game machine

CD-ROM Includes Multiplayer Demos of:

• StarCraft
• You Don't Know Jack the Netshow
• HardBall 6
• Age of Empires
• Shanghai Dynasty
• MindSpring Internet Access

Shareware programs are fully functional, free trial versions of copyrighted programs. If you like particular programs, register with their authors for a nominal fee and receive licenses, enhanced versions, and technical support. Freeware programs are free, copyrighted games, applications, and utilities. You can copy them to as many PCs as you like — free — but they have no technical support. System Requirements: 133 or faster Pentium PC with Windows 95/98; 24MB RAM (32MB recommended); double-speed (2X) or faster CD-ROM drive; and an Internet connection (14,400 bps or faster modem — regular access charges apply)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About John Kaufeld After years of playing computer games, John Kaufeld recently discovered that computers do other things, too. His other books include Internet Games For Dummies^®, America Online^® For Dummies^®, 4th Edition, Access 97 For Windows^® For Dummies^®, and FoxPro^® 2.6 For Windows^® For Dummies^®. John also contributes articles to America Online, ZD Internet magazine, and the CNET Web site.

Product Details

• Paperback: 322 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764504347
• ISBN-13: 978-0764504341
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,868,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Kaufeld makes complex things easy, and helps parents -- especially dads -- learn to connect with their kids through board games.

And he loves every minute of it.

He's a best-selling author, speaker, trainer, consultant, board gamer, dad, and all-around geek. He also believes passionately in the power of board games as a tool for connecting with family and friends, but more about that later.

Back in 1993, he started writing about America Online, Microsoft Access, computer games, tabletop games, and more in the popular "...For Dummies" line of computer books, eventually churning out over 25 books in the line, along with a few random ones for other publishers. Over the years, his titles sold more than 2.8 million books in over 15 languages around the world.

John started writing as a high school stringer for The Republic (Columbus, IN). At about the same time, he expanded into radio as a weekend DJ for WWWY Radio (also in Columbus, IN).

In college, he scrambled for stories as the weekend news anchor for WLBC Radio (Muncie, IN) and the afternoon news editor for WBST Radio (the Ball State University PBS station).

During his first stint in Corporate America, John spent 10 years in various Information Systems and System Development jobs. His second term in Corporate America saw him working in communication, publicity, and marketing for a national trade association, a regional bank, a high-end manufacturing company.

Along the way, John wandered into the social game industry. As a kid, he and his father played many rounds of Hasbro's "Monopoly" (consistently using the wrong rules), and actually finished the game two or three times.

Then he discovered German board games (also known as "Eurogames"), and his gaming world -- and parenting style -- changed forever.

These days, you can often find John in the board game areas at Gen Con and other game conventions. He indulges in "Puerto Rico," "Agricola," "Race for the Galaxy," and just about any train game that wanders past (especially Empire Builder). If you see him, definitely say hi. After all, he never bites. (Well, at least not since the therapy.)

He's current finishing a Master of Arts in Professional Communication at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, and is on the university staff in marketing and social media. He also freelances for several national and regional publications.

You can email him at [e-mail], the email address that launched a few million books.