Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (Console) (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)

Author : Jason Young Number of Pages : 128 Release Date : 2002-03-19 Publisher : Prima Games List Price : $14.99 Amazon Price : $89.99 Used Price : $29.99

Product Description

Stats and strategies for all characters
Labeled maps detailing levels of realm
Every secret stage and character unlocked
All items and areas listed for each multiplayer setting
Strategies for defeating every enemy and boss
Walkthroughs of every level, including Battle Ground and Dream

Customer reviews

$40-200 for a strategy guide? by .. ()
$40-200 for a used strategy guide (as of June 2004) for this game is completely insane. You can get it brand new from www.amazon.co.uk for around $20 including shipping and it'll get to your door in less than a week. I doubt the UK version is different from the US version.

Helpful by .. ()
Extremely helpful and great if you don't want to bother to look for things. Very detailed and great for those who are playing the game for the second time and would like to find more secrets. Nothing as challenging as Zelda, however. I still think Nintendo does far better.

Worthwhile if you're looking to master the game by .. ()
This is a nicely done effort, well illustrated and complete. For me the most useful feature was the maps of the hidden "bonus levels" in each realm, indicating the best path through each and thus allowing me to unlock the secret characters. Being able to unlock these characters is essential if, like me, you want to be able to say you took the game to the limit. (On the other hand, if I had to use the strategy guide to get through them, can I really say I've mastered the game? Oh, well.)

This book also clarifies a few of the finer points of strategy. For instance, you shouldn't grab that Turbo powerup right away if your turbo-charge is already loaded to the max -- otherwise the power-up will be ignored *and* wasted. Instead, go ahead and use your turbo-charge in a fight and *then* grab the Turbo power-up for an instant recharge. This kind of insight is nice to have.

On the downside is the small size of the screenshots. They are somewhat unclear. The level maps could probably also stand to be a bit clearer, but they are certainly acceptable.

In all, a very fine book. "Gauntlet: Dark Legacy" is not a difficult game to complete, but if you'd like to be able to enjoy all of its elements then this book would certainly be to your advantage. At the same time I would recommend that you locate the walk-throughs available on the Internet. There are also Web resources giving bonus-level maps that are not as polished as those in this book but are still useful.

Related Search : guide , official strategy , prima s

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided - Console (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)

Author : Prima Games Number of Pages : 144 Publisher : Prima Games List Price : $14.99 Amazon Price : $10.19

Product Description

Live the Saga!
·Covers all species, careers, and attributes for character creation
·In-depth combat information, including special attacks, group tactics, and healing
·All the basics for a healthy economy, from crafting to buying
·Details for each planet
·Complete weapons, armor, and creature lists
·Beginners chapter for MMORPG novices
·Detailed maps for major cities on every starting planet
·Tips on gaming etiquette
·Information on interaction with the game world and players
·Tips from testers on the Elite and Hybrid professions

Customer reviews

Boycott Sony Online Entertainment and Lucas Arts. by .. Azaraphel ()
I have played Star Wars: Galaxies for 782 days according to the /getvet command. I have purchased all of the expansions out to date. I was considering creating a second account. As of 11-17-05 my account is cancelled. The New Game, also known as the Starter Kit, is the third version of SWG and it is riddled with bugs and incomplete. It is a far inferior product to its previous versions as well. The NG was released after being kept secret for an unknown period of time and allowing players only a two week notice of it being published. Even less time was devoted to it being tested by sources outside of SOE. Trials of Obi Wan and the NG were released in such a manner as to call into question SOE's and LA's ethics. As represented by the employees who post to the forums SOE and LA are uncarring, glib, and/or vastly out of touch with the player community.

Most of these are not new complaints. However, with the release of the NG these problems have escalted to such a degree that the game is no longer playable. While some are content to merely switch games I am not. Simply changing the direction of the flow of money to SOE and LA will not get their attention. I am boycotting all products created by Sony Online Entertainment and Lucas Arts. I encourage others to do the same.

I do not think my actions alone with effect SOE or LA one iota. In fact, I doubt anything will change their policies. The fan base for Star Wars and other properties is sufficiently numerous to mitigate any discontent portion. While some have predicted that the NG will cause the collapse of SWG I believe otherwise. It will lose many current players but those will be replaced by SOE's and LA's new target market. SOE and LA will later use the negative comments and future subscriptions numbers to prove that they were right all along and to dismiss anyone who opposes them as being knee jerk reactionaries who are against change just because they don't like change. Because most likely the next expansion will also bring a new version of SWG as SOE and LA attempt to copy whichever game is doing better then.

CU killed SWG by .. mark twain (ramakandraazanionipot, thai)
SOE ruined SWG with the CU and the subscription numbers don't lie. hopefully some other company will get the franchise in the future and won't make a total mess of it like SOE did.

Useless Guide by .. F. Nunez (New York, NY)
This guide was useful when the game came out about 2 years ago. The game has changed so much. Its a completely different game now. Very little of the information is useful.

Only get this book if your studing Video Game HISTORY!!! by .. Colleen Rhine (Baltimore)
A few months ago I just got SWG JLS along with the "Official Game Guide" from Prima and Its now useless because of the so-called CU or combat upgrade. I want a total refund from Sony for the Guide $19.99 the SWG $29.99 JTS $19.99 and my 60 day pre-paid Game Card 29.99. THIS is not the game I payed for.

It's the only game I know were Healers are not allowed to heal.

This Book Makes a great Paperweight

Was good when game launched (perspective of a gamer) by .. Brian Pletcher (Indiana)
This book was wrote when Star Wars Galaxies was in Beta still and even after Beta some things were changed. Profession's have changed such as the Bounty Hunter Profession as in terms of requisites. New items have been added (Especially in the terms of Chef) along with other new schematics (Speeders, Droids, Poison and Disease Resist Packs etc) and then there is the Jedi that are not even mentioned due to the fact that in Beta not one person unlocked the Jedi Profession and the fact the game's in a stage where a slew of revamps are about to be introduced.

If you need a source that can be at your fingertips it may be better now to find a website instead of the book or seek advice from those that have previously tried that profession and made there way through the ranks. My recomendation for the beginner is to NOT buy this book due to the book being dated.

Related Search : guide , divided console , official strategy

The Sims 2 (Console) (Prima Official Game Guide)

Author : Greg Kramer Number of Pages : 160 Release Date : 2005-10-25 Publisher : Prima Games List Price : $16.99 Amazon Price : $3.75 Used Price : $2.38

Product Description

More Ways to Play With Life

• Maximize your creativity and customization
• How to satisfy every Gold and Platinum Want in all story lots
• Details on socializing in Direct Control
• How to use Direct Control mode and Direct Control objects
• Unleash your Sims' culinary creativity by whipping up custom-made food power-ups
• How to unlock every object, lot, fashion option, Sim, and recipe
• Tips for returning from the dead and living as a ghost
• Customize your Sims' fashion

Customer reviews

Everything you wanted to know and more by .. Amanda Schucknecht ()
The only reason I didn't give this guide 5 stars is because the table of contents isn't set up very well. But it has tons of information to make a happy Sim or wreck havoc on the town!

Great expansion for Sims2 by .. E. T. Kirby (Bridgeton, NJ)
This was my 1st expansion pack that I bought to use w/Sims2 & it is a good look at what going to college is like, especially if you've never been the kind of person who never stayed on campus. This game shows all the kinds of ways for you sim to meet new people & socialize. The different places where you can do study or reasearch. This was my 1st choice when I looked at all the other expansion packs. I read what the other recommendations said & based my decision on that.

You need this if you want to get the most out of your game by .. David S. Drown (Seguin Texas)
There are things in the game that you just can't figure out on your own. This book will show you everything.

Total Time Saver by .. Sara Patterson (St. Louis, MO)
As other reviewers have noted, this guide does contain a complete reprint of the original game guide. However, having owned the original guide, there is one MAJOR difference. The University Guide has an INDEX. So if you share my frustration of constantly flipping through guides searching for a topic, this is definitely worth the money. The game is time-consuming enough without having to spend time searching through the guides. So even if you don't own the University Expansion Pack, I recommend purchasing this item if only to make the original guide easier to use and the information more accessible.

Worth it if you don't have the first guide! by .. E.S (College Park, MD)
I have been playing the Sims for sometime now and decided to get a guide for it. Having read the reviews and owning all the major expansion packs I decided to go for this one mainly because of the two for one deal. I have been amazed the amount of information it has been able to give me even though I have been playing for so long. The tips on personalities and careers etc I have found useful. I have really been able to maximize the game play. In the past I have always been doubtful whether guides were worth there money or was just a gimmick. But having now got the Sims University guide I would recommend it (but only if you don't have the first one). I am now considering buying others and discovering what other treats I have been missing.

Related Search : sims 2 , console prima , guide

Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution

Author : Dean Takahashi Edition : 1st Number of Pages : 370 Release Date : 2002-04-23 Publisher : Prima Lifestyles List Price : $24.95 Amazon Price : $16.99 Used Price : $8.99

Product Description

Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution
The video game industry is expected to double in sales over the next five years. It has already eclipsed motion pictures to become one of the largest and fastest growing markets in history and a lamplight illuminating where the future of entertainment is headed. In an effort to grab a chunk of that market, Microsoft—an absolute newcomer to the gaming industry—has put billions of dollars on the line in a gamble to build the fastest, most mature, most advanced video game console ever: the Xbox. Is this new Microsoft venture just another experiment that, like WebTV, was launched to much fanfare but will be quickly forgotten? Or will it become the next Windows, finding its way into the homes and lives of millions of people around the world?

In Opening the Xbox, award-winning journalist and gaming-industry expert Dean Takahashi guides you deep into the amazing story of this much-anticipated game console. Through exclusive interviews with top executives at Microsoft, exhaustive research, and a penetrating investigation, he unveils the tumultuous story behind the development of the project and how it could change the entertainment industry forever. Inside, you'll discover that what started as Project Midway, spearheaded by Jonathan "Seamus" Blackley and three of his renegade cohorts, turned into Xbox—a multibillion-dollar enterprise that became Microsoft's largest internal startup ever and a personal pet project of Bill Gates. The colorful infighting, the cutthroat tactics used to lure partners, and the race to vanquish bitter rivals Sony and Nintendo are all laid bare in this unvarnished, high-tech drama. It's a story like no other, full of heroes and villains, plot twists and intrigue—all before the backdrop of Microsoft's grand ambition to move from the office into the living room.

If you're like the millions of gamers, investors, and business spectators who anxiously anticipated the Xbox, then you don't want to miss the explosive, exclusive, behind-the-scenes story in Opening the Xbox.
"I had not thought it possible to write an entire book on a single game console. Takahashi has done it and done it well. Opening the Xbox is consistently interesting and very personable. It's also a book that should ruffle a few egos, including my own."
—Steven L. Kent, author, The Ultimate History of Video Games

"Opening the Xbox provides fascinating insights about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering at Microsoft. Takahashi's fly-on-the-wall style of writing is complemented by insightful analysis of the gaming industry and interesting vignettes about the personal lives of the Xbox creators. This book perfectly intertwines a compelling business story with human drama."
—Geoff Keighley, editor in chief, GameSlice

"Thoroughly researched, this book exposes the guts of the video game industry through the prism of Microsoft. Takahashi gives us an engrossing glimpse of an industry that's at once juvenile and ruthlessly systematic in its manufacturing of digital fun."
—Alex Pham, staff writer, Los Angeles Times

"Takahashi has meticulously researched this book. It's required reading for anyone interested in the next-generation console race."
—Tom Russo, director of program development, G4 Media

"Reads like The Soul of a New Machine for the new millennium. Dean provides insights into the people and the motivation behind Microsoft's high-stakes bid to break into the home-entertainment market. And, he doesn't miss a detail."
—Dawn C. Chmielewski, staff writer, San Jose Mercury News

Customer reviews

Worthwhile Read by .. Chris Kauza (Denver, CO)
"The revolution will come in fits and starts. It probably won't come from giving hardcore gamers more of what they already like. Doing a fighting game with better graphics isn't really a new invention. Yet much of the industry is currently afflicted with the illusion that it is. About 60 percent of the successful games now are either sequels or extensions of brands that exist in another medium. There is a real risk of what the IDSA'a Doug Lowenstein calls "creative ennui."...The gaming industry has produced cultural icons before, from Pac Man to Pong, and it will do so again. As every gamer believes, the ideal game isn't here yet. It's just around the corner." (p. 346 - 347).

I just got done reading "Opening The Xbox". I found it to be a very readable book, with a very comfortable writing style. The descriptions of the what the project team went through, however, seemed very reminiscent of many other professional projects I have been involved with in my career, and not necessarily unique to Microsoft or the tech. industry. What was enjoyable and enlightening, however, was the detail which Mr. Takahashi provided. Liberally spiced with information that was outside of the inner mechanics at Microsoft (like the challenges with Nvidia, Flextronics' manufacturing capacity, the marketing and sales performance of competing platforms, etc.), provided the perfect backdrop to the whole story.

In the end, I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. It provides great insight into Microsoft's launch of the Xbox, and an interesting perspective on the video games industry as a whole. I also appreciated the "personal face" Mr. Takhashi gave the story by providing interesting tidbits of the personalities and their lives, throughout the story. That technique not only made it very readable, but it also helped me relate to the story in a much more fulfilling way.

Good book. Microsoft seems a bit clueless. by .. Jason Maxwell (Long Beach, CA)
This was a good book for those interested in Microsofts entry into the game console market. I thought it was well written and easy to get through. It helped me understand how Micrsoft does things, and it is not a pretty picture. After reading the book, I was left with the impression that Microsoft is spending billions of dollars to get into an industry that it really knows little about. Further, it was lead into this pursuit by a team of people who hadn't been with the company all that long, and while they seem hyper competitive and smart, they really didn't know what they were doing either. Sometimes it is easy to believe that a company with Microsoft's track record is invincible when it decides to enter a market, but this book disabused me of that notion.

three-and-a-half stars by .. C. Gilbert (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
What the book is:

An interesting look at how projects evolve inside a company like Microsoft and how that evolution effects subsequent strategy. It makes an interesting point of comparison for similar projects in other companies.

A good look at how Microsoft is responding to the question of games and the gaming industry.

What the book is not:

Particularly well-written, at least in my opinion. The writing felt clunky, too much like an extended magazine article and not enough like a book.

Well documented. I expected more than interviews and anecdotal evidence.

Good, fast, easy read of the xbox creation story by .. ()
The video game industry is quickly become a monster of a market into today's economy. This book is a good introduction to the internal organizational politics that occurs. I believe the author has used several themes to highlight the story of how Microsoft created the Xbox.

1. Innovation. This is always a topic for business stories. The book does an excellent job on describing the (almost) day to day activities that an internal, subversive group within Microsoft that hatched the idea for a game console.

2. Corporate culture. Microsoft has been accused of having a insular culture that prohibits risk-taking activities. I think in the Windows Operating System group this might be true. But Microsoft's game console strategy was one of new entrant. Sony, Sega, and Nintendo were the heavyweights. It was interesting to read how Microsoft approached the market by listening to game developers and gamers needs. They outlined a strategy that highlighted several competitive elements that the other, more entrench firms ignored.

3. Overview of Game Culture. The author is a well-known journalist that has been covering the game industry for years. There are some great insights on the industry's perks and unique charactistics. The Japanese game culture is much more highly developed vs. the American. The demographics are very selected in the US -- 18 to 26 males. Microsoft, as part of its initial console strategy, aimed to enlarge this demographic to include woman and older men.

Yet I have several misgivings about this book.

1. There aren't any reproduced internal memos, white papers, or notes that made up the effort to create the console. We are only shown photos of Microsoft employees. It would have been nice to see actual artifacts.

2. The reading sometimes is too easy. The author, of course, is a journalist. It is by far an unscholarly text.

NonInteresting by .. John J. Jamack (Mays Landing, NJ United States)
Thought the book talked about the technical aspects of the XBOX.
It did not! It gave a boring historical time line of how the idea of the xbox started and nothing more. Alot of words about nothing of interest. No pictures or diagrams of the XBOX, in or out. It explained nothing at all about how it worked!
If you like history buy the book, but if you want information, look elsewhere.

Related Search : unleash entertainment , s plan , revolution