Gaming Books Round-up

The Useful

Not all books are made to entertain – some of them are made to be useful. Unfortunately though, the vast majority of gaming books in this category tend not to be very useful at all. Instead, they usually tend to be awfully complex or generic titles with titles like 'Make A Game In 10 Minutes!'

I've read many, many books like that. Trust me when I say they aren't worth your time. Don't read the blurb and don't pick them up – you'll only encourage the authors to write more, crowding out the really quality titles.

That said, there are a few books out there which can be a little bit more helpful, both in terms of helping you out with tech problems and guiding you towards potential future careers in the business. So, if you've got a tech problem you need solving or a question you want answered about getting a foothold in the industry, this is where to go for help…

Paid To Play

Author: Bryan Stratton, David Hodgson, Alice Rush (272 pages)
UK Price: £12.99
US Price: $12.00

Here at bit-tech.net, we know how lucky we are. We have awesome jobs and we never forget it even when we're yelling at broken hardware or stabbing faulty motherboards with screwdrivers. I, in particular, have an especially ace job which cycles the following steps: Play, Write, Repeat.

Everyone has to start somewhere though and if you're wanting to get started in playing end of the games industry, most likely as a competitive gamer or a games journalist, then Paid To Play is a great starting point.

The book itself boasts a fair amount of talent behind it. It's illustrated by the Penny Arcade team and full of stories and suggestions from many established games writers - the core authors themselves, Bryan Stratton and David Hodgson are games journalists with plenty of experience, so they really know their stuff.

The book is by no means flawless and some of the suggestions are a little contradictory meaning that you'll still have to figure a lot of it out for yourself, but it's the closest thing you'll find to a 'How To Get The Best Job Ever' handbook. It breaks down in simple steps many of the more complex sides of the industry and gives an honest, no holds barred account of how hard the games journalism industry can be. It's not all about games like Crysis and Orange Box, you know. There's serious deadlines, tyrannical editors and complex NDAs to contend with.

This honesty is the most important success of the book too – where most books of this type will advise readers to study Journalism at university before moving on to develop a portfolio, Paid To Play tells the truth. It's all about experience, not qualifications. Not a single member of the bit-tech.net team studied journalism. Work experience, knowledge of the subject and a strong personal writing voice are worth far more than Ph.D.s and diplomas.

At the same time, the book provides a witty framework for the anecdotes and stories, making it an enjoyable read and a must-have for anyone who thinks they have the skills to play games for a living.

Retro Gaming Hacks

Author:Chris Kohler (502 pages)
UK Price: £14,66
US Price: $16.55

Retro Gaming Hacks is a book which is difficult to evaluate because of the way its usefulness and reliability wildly fluctuates, but we had to give it a nod all the same.

Written by Chris Kohler, the book is a guide for gaming fans about how to play retro games on present day systems and how to tinker about with them. The best way to do this is with emulators available online – and therein lies the flaw. At its worst, the book is an open admission that the internet is a more reliable source, pointing to specific websites or suggesting helpful Google searches. Not exactly premium content.

However, for every half-assed or incomplete 'hack' in the book, there's a genuinely good one. Simple guides on how to set up emulators and abandonware on PC and Mac sit side by side with discussions of how to create your own Dreamcast homebrew and how to publish your own indie and retro games successfully.

Retro Gaming Hacks is a semi-useful tome in the end and, while half of it's content is mirrored online in a more reliable and up-to-date format, the other half is full of fun side-projects and ideas to keep you occupied on rainy weekends.