Press Release
November 11, 2004
"Gaming Hacks": Do Things Game Creators Never Intended (But Which Still Rock)
Sebastopol, CA--It doesn't take long for an avid--or wickedly
clever--gamer to be chafed by the limitations of videogame software or
hardware. But those who make the games--and those who dig deeper--know
that there's much more to gaming than conquering the bad guy. Behind the
alluring graphics and deceptively simple game play lurks a hidden world.
How far can you go? Farther than you might imagine. Whether you want to
modify your console controller to work on other consoles, create your own
text adventure, or modify your Game Boy, there's plenty of fun you can
have for cheap or free, using the creative exploits of the gaming gurus.
And gaming guru Simon Carless shares the best of them in his new book
Gaming Hacks (O'Reilly, US $24.95).
"People love playing games, whether it be on their console, their PC, or
elsewhere, but it's also fun to go beyond the game and hack about in its
innards," says Carless. His new book isn't about a particular game or
console, or any particular gaming era. Instead, it explores and celebrates
a few of the most interesting nooks and crannies of the gaming
world--whether new, old, or positively ancient.
"We've collected a hundred hacks for gamers from game developers, expert
players, and fans, representing dozens of rabbit holes related to playing,
collecting, modifying, and enjoying the world of video games," explains
Carless. "Some talk about classic games. Other explore modern consoles.
Still more cover PC games. There's something here for everyone--from an
old idea in a new dress to an unknown concept or wacky idea that you'd
never have considered...until now."
Everything from social exploits and tips to be used in MMORPGs (Massive
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) to soldering-iron heavy hardware
hacks is covered in this guide. "I really wanted to delve deeply into the
obscure, arcane, and little-known backwaters of gaming, and present a lot
of the best hacks, exploits, and esoteric facts in one vaguely canonical
tome!" confesses Carless. Drawing from the author's extensive experience
and that of other game gurus, the book compiles a host of "insanely rare,
intriguing, and un-compiled information in one place," as Carless says.
"There's no other gaming book that's really like this."
Gaming Hacks shows hardcore gamers how to configure the best FPS
(first-person shooter) peripherals, hack the Nuon DVD Player/Gaming
System, modify their Game Boy, watch movies and listen to music on their
Sega Dreamcast, and much, much more. The book also includes detailed
software-based looks at MMO titles, FPS games, machinima (real-time movies
created using game engines), emulation, save-game hacking, and many other
miscellaneous subgenres and topics, including:
Play classic games just as you remember them
Become a hero, villain, or tycoon online
Seek out, buy, and play real arcade games in real arcade cabinets
Play imported games without hardware restrictions
Create and play your own games in less than a week
Hack, mod, and overclock your favorite console
Gamers who want to go far beyond the obvious will discover an
indispensable guide in Gaming Hacks. You don't need to be a gaming guru
to pick it up, but you'll be one when you put it down.
Additional Resources:
Gaming Hacks
Simon Carless
ISBN 0-596-00714-0, 436 pages, $24.95 US, $36.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
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