If your into gaming this is a book for you. It delivers what it promises in providing the key essential to gaming. I recommend it.

No complaints here, the author gives very good examples to go with each topic she's explaining. Great excerpts from industry professionals add additional insight into the reading.

Excellent book as an introduction to developing games - My students (and i) found it very hard to put down after reading through the first chapter!

One question i have is about the instructor resource on DVD mentioned in the book. As this is the first time using the book for our game development course it would be helpful to have some material - especially the powerpoint slides. Does anyone know how to get a copy of this DVD? - Thomson learning doesn't seem to have a link for this resource.

Ordered this book for my husband's class. Not only did Amazon have it in stock, it was $20 cheaper than Barnes & Noble (with member discount) and that's even after upgrading the shipping. Was a little worried at first that the book wouldn't come quickly cause the tracking was awful, but it arrived fast.
A note worth mentioning: this book comes with a CD as well even though it does not say so.

My husband has not used this book much for his class yet, so as for the material I am not sure. But we are very pleased with the product & Amazon (as usual) so far.

Ordered this book for my husband's class. Not only did Amazon have it in stock, it was $20 cheaper than Barnes & Noble (with member discount) and that's even after upgrading the shipping. Was a little worried at first that the book wouldn't come quickly cause the tracking was awful, but it arrived fast.
A note worth mentioning: this book comes with a CD as well even though it does not say so.

My husband has not used this book much for his class yet, so as for the material I am not sure. But we are very pleased with the product & Amazon (as usual) so far.

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.

It's an excellent book. The fact that she included my incredibly detailed game design document in no way influenced my rating.

Just wanted to let people know there is a later version if you missed it, and you should check with instructors before buying this book and be sure it is the dated version needed!

I find this book to be well rounded in the history and in the aspect to the gaming and simulation world. It was not what I originally expected to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and now can look at the gaming world a lot differently with more respect.

I purchased this book because it was required for the class I am taking at DeVry University Online, but now that I have read it, I am interested in purchasing a few of the other books in this series by Jeannie Novak.

One interesting thing this book contains is little sidebar interviews with people from the game industry. It might serve people who are looking for jobs and want to get names of people in industry.

This book might also be a good read for parents of kids who want to learn more about the gaming industry. It is a very simple introduction (hence the title).

For anyone who has played computer games however, it will be overly simple and offer little value add.

It really is an intro and nothing more.