Welcome to the ultimate English-language guide for one of the most popular Japanese anime shows of all times! Sailor Moon is a hit with boys and girls of all ages, and is watched on Cartoon Network's popular "Toonami" programming block every day by over one million viewers. This book offers a comprehensive Sailor Moon resource and reference section, including episode summaries, character bios, and series analysis in a clear and easy to read format.
Based on the classic 1989 four-part Japanese anime series, from the mind of Japan's prominent storyteller artist, Masamune Shirow! In the year 2010 A.D., the Earth is a very unfriendly place -- the atmosphere is a poisonous bacterial soup, vicious underworld organizations have run of the cities, and the governments are virtually helpless.
An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date. As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance. Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Play is a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.
The ultimate book of baby names for comic book nerds, sci-fi fans and more—with the meanings and stories behind more than 1,000 names! Having trouble finding a baby name that celebrates your favorite fandom? Whether you want your child’s name to stand out in a crowd or fit in on the playground, Naming Your Little Geek is here to save the day! This ultimate guidebook is complete with every name a geek could want to give their baby—from Anakin and Frodo to Indiana and Clark; and from Gwen and Wanda to Buffy and Xena—plus their meanings, and a list of all the legends who have borne them. Naming Your Little Geek covers everything from comic book superheroes to role-playing game icons, Starfleet officers to sword and sorcery legends with characters who have appeared on film and TV, in novels and comic books, on the tabletop, and beyond. With nearly 1,100 names referencing more than 4,400 characters from over 1,800 unique sources, it's the perfect resource for parents naming a child or anyone looking for a super cool and meaningful new name.
According to Roger Caillois, play is an occasion of pure waste. In spite of this - or because of it - play constitutes an essential element of human social and spiritual development. In this study, the author defines play as a free and voluntary activity that occurs in a pure space, isolated and protected from the rest of life.
This text provides a comprehensive treatment of virtual world design from one of its pioneers. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.
Examines the history and phenomenal success of video games, and argues that the popular games are on the way to becoming a legitimate art form, much in the same way movies did a century earlier.
Maid: The Role-Playing Game is a comedic take on a uniquely Japanese cultural icon: The fetishized modern maid. Injecting the concept of Maid with 50ccs of anime and comedy, the players take on the roles of maids, serving the master (played by the GM). Sheets are left unfolded and mantelpieces undusted when giant robots crash through the mansion, ninjas attack and kidnap the young master, and a demonic pit to Hell opens up in the pantry... and all before teatime! Play in the modern comedy setting, or mix it up with 9 additional settings including Victorian era, old Edo period, fantasy and post-apocalypse; and 6 genres including romance, horror, and action. Due to the rules system and random events that form the backbone of the Maid RPG, the game practically runs itself: Go from opening the book to playing a game with friends within just minutes! Three game styles in one: The traditional scenario-type; the random event-driven type; and the "favor race," a race to the master's heart! Make characters and start playing the game within minutes of opening the book. Everything about the game gears it for Fast Play, Now. Optional character types including player-character masters and butlers, and optional rules for seduction and romantic tragedy. 11 complete adventure scenarios. 3 complete "replays," actual play scenarios in screenplay format. Great for learning the feel of the game. The first ever Japanese tabletop role-playing game to be released in English! ...which, when you think about it, totally makes sense in a weird sort of way. Hundreds of optional items, costumes, genre and setting events, all presented in a way to easily bring them into the game! Combines the original Japanese core book and two supplements into one huge, complete edition of the game in English. A $75 value!
. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.
