Wagner James Au - Game Design Secrets

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Game Design Secrets

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Heres to all the game developers whove inspired and entertained me all these yearsincluding, yes, all those whose iOS, web, and Facebook games often distracted me from finishing this book about iOS, web, and Facebook games.

Ardent thanks to the lovely and beloved Rachel, whose face and thoughts were always at my periphery through this
books long march, making all the milestones along
the way worthwhile.

Wagner James Au is a writer, consultant, and sometime game designer/writer. He wrote The Making of Second Life (HarperCollins) in 2008 based on his experiences as Linden Labs virtual embedded journalist in the groundbreaking 3-D virtual world. As a game developer, he was lead writer and a mission designer for City of Eternals, a Facebook-based MMO from ohai (subsequently acquired by Electronic Arts), a writer at Outspark, an MMO publisher, and a writer on Majestic, EAs innovative alternate reality game. Hes written on gaming and tech culture for Internet Evolution, Inside Social Games, GigaOM, Kotaku, Salon, and Wired, was an industry analyst for Social Times Pro and GigaOM Pro, and has been interviewed on these topics in The New York Times and by the BBC and ABC. Hes a frequent speaker at and conference advisor for South by Southwest.

Read his gaming, tech, and virtual culture blog, New World Notes, at .

Billy Pidgeon is a senior analyst at M2 Research, a boutique market research firm covering the games industry since March 2010. With 24 years in the electronic entertainment industry, including extensive experience in research, management, and product development specializing in the PC, console, and mobile games market, Billy is an industry expert appearing regularly in print, on radio, and on television and at events as keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist.

Since becoming a market research analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix in 1999, Billy has authored dozens of market research reports, bulletins, and articles covering a wide range of game hardware, software, services, and technology. His topics include tracking and contextualizing gamer behavior, intention, and purchasing patterns, in-game advertising and microtransactions, covering sales, use and development of online and offline games, single and multiplayer games, and games designed for enthusiast and mass-market players. Billy is an advisor to manufacturers, publishers, developers, carriers, and retailers on market forecasting, business, and marketing strategy.