Indie developers and other people who work on games for a living face all kinds of interesting income tax and small business formation issues that more traditional businesses simply don't: not being geographically bound, relying on alternative funding, long periods of time with no income, and having multiple options for tax treatment of game development costs. The Definitive Guide to Taxes for Indie Game Developers addresses income tax issues that the average indie game developer is most likely to encounter, in the context of the American Internal Revenue Code and types of taxes. Written by a former tax law practitioner turned game developer and industry consultant with a decade of tax and accounting experience, the newly revised Second Edition includes key provisions of the 2018 tax reform such as the new qualified business income deduction, R&D credit expansion, and permanent reduction to corporate income taxes. In-depth explanations and examples are provided along with references to Tax Court and Supreme Court cases relevant to each tax benefit. Key Features: Includes authoritative sources with relevant IRS publications, Revenue Rulings, and Tax Court cases. Features easy to read, accessible and humorous language No legalese! Approaches how business decisions as an indie developer affect personal finances. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of taxation's role in managing a game studio of any size and going indie with any lifestyle. The accompanying companion website is a valuable resource that is annually updated to keep current on any tax reforms.

Written by a AAA industry expert with over twenty years of experience, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the practical skills that all successful level designers need to know. It covers everything from practical production skills to the social and soft skills required to thrive in the games industry. The book begins with a theoretical and abstract approach that sets a common language for the later hard-skill applications and practical examples. These later chapters cover a wealth of practical skills for use during the concept phase, while creating layouts, scripting, and working with AI. The book includes essential chapters on topics such as social and soft skills, world building, level design direction, production, as well as how to gain a job in the industry. This book will be of great interest to all level designers, content leads and directors looking to enhance their skillset. It will also appeal to students of level and game design looking for tips on how to break into the industry.

Are you thinking about working in the board game industry? Here's what you need to know. There are so many jobs and roles that need to be filled in the board game industry. You might just have the right skills and experience to excel. But first you need to know what opportunities exist and what the hardest gaps are to fill! In this book, you'll discover * What jobs are really in demand * How you can get your foot in the door with a publisher * Jobs in the industry you've never even thought of * What other opportunities exist for people with skills just like yours With insights from over 40 industry pros, as well as the author's many years of experience, you'll be able to put your own skills and experience to great use in an amazing, growing industry.

Making a great board game and pitching it to publishers are two completely different things. If you've got a game that you want to share with the world but don't know what to do next, this book will help you navigate through exactly what steps to take. You'll discover: How to find the right publisher Exactly what publishers are looking for How to create a sell sheet that will actually sell your game How to negotiate the best deal and get paid more for your game What to look out for in contracts to make sure you don't get exploited You'll learn from Joe's experiences as a full-time board game designer and instructor, along with tips and stories from a dozen other published designers, plus the exact things that publishers want. Direct from 16 established publishers.

This book is an important collection for scholars and students interested in the critical analysis of digital games, and will be of interest across several disciplines including game studies, game design and development, internet studies, visual studies, cultural studies, communication studies, and media studies, as well as disability studies The book explores the opportunities and challenges people with disabilities experience in the context of digital games from the perspective of three related areas: representation, access and inclusion, and community Drawing on key concerns in disability media studies, the book brings together scholars from disability studies and game studies, alongside game developers, educators, and disability rights activists, to reflect upon the increasing visibility of disabled characters in digital games Chapters explore the contemporary gaming environment as it relates to disability on platforms such as Twitch, Minecraft, and Tingyou, while also addressing future possibilities and pitfalls for people with disabilities within gaming given the rise of virtual reality applications, and augmented games such as Pokemon Go The book also asks how game developers can attempt to represent diverse abilities, taking games such as BlindSide and Overwatch as examples

This volume offers a critical overview of digital reading practices and scholarly efforts to analyze and understand reading in the mediatized landscape Building on research about digital reading, born digital literature, and digital audiobooks, The Digital Reading Condition explores reading as part of a broader cultural shift encompassing many forms of media and genres Bringing together research from media and literary studies, digital humanities, scholarship on reading and learning, as well as sensory studies and research on multimodal and multisensory media reception, the authors address and challenge print-biased conceptions of reading that are still prevalent in research, whether the reading medium is print or digital They argue that the act of reading itself is changing, and rather than rejecting digital media as not suitable for sustained or focused reading practices, argue that the complex media landscape challenges us to rethink how to define reading as a mediated practice Presenting a truly interdisciplinary perspective on digital reading practices, this volume will appeal to scholars and graduate students in communication, media studies, new media and technology, literature, digital humanities, literacy studies, composition, and rhetoric

Provides tools from different disciplines and shows how they can be used in the game design world. Offers practical tools for all the main aspects of game design from conception through to testing. Gives concrete examples of how to use each tool with practical applications.

This book is an important collection for scholars and students interested in the critical analysis of digital games, and will be of interest across several disciplines including game studies, game design and development, internet studies, visual studies, cultural studies, communication studies, and media studies, as well as disability studies The book explores the opportunities and challenges people with disabilities experience in the context of digital games from the perspective of three related areas: representation, access and inclusion, and community Drawing on key concerns in disability media studies, the book brings together scholars from disability studies and game studies, alongside game developers, educators, and disability rights activists, to reflect upon the increasing visibility of disabled characters in digital games Chapters explore the contemporary gaming environment as it relates to disability on platforms such as Twitch, Minecraft, and Tingyou, while also addressing future possibilities and pitfalls for people with disabilities within gaming given the rise of virtual reality applications, and augmented games such as Pokemon Go The book also asks how game developers can attempt to represent diverse abilities, taking games such as BlindSide and Overwatch as examples

All games are potentially transformative experiences because they engage the player in dynamic action. When repurposed in an educational context, even highly popular casual games played online to pass the time can engage players in a way that deepens learning. Games as Transformative Experiences for Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness, and Deep Learning: Strategies & Resources examines the learning value of a wide variety of games across multiple disciplines. Organized just like a well-made game, the book is divided into four parts highlighting classroom experiences, community and culture, virtual learning, and interdisciplinary instruction. The author crosses between the high school and college classroom and addresses a range of disciplines, both online and classroom practice, the design of curriculum, and the transformation of assessment practices. In addition to a wealth of practical exercises, resources, and lesson ideas, the book explains how to use a wide and diverse range of games from casual to massively multiplayer online games for self-improvement as well as classroom situations.

1. Provides a toolkit of templates for common VR interactions, as well as practical advice on when to use them and how to tailor them for specific use cases; 2. Includes case studies detailing the practical application of interaction theory discussed in each chapter; 3. Presents tables of guidelines for practicing VR developers, for reference during software development; 4. Covers procedures for Interface Evaluation - formulas and testing methodologies to ensure that VR interfaces are effective, efficient, engaging, error-tolerant, and easy to learn; 5. Non-linear organisation - chapters of the book on different concepts can be read to gain knowledge on a single topic, without requiring other chapters to be read beforehand; 6. Includes ancillaries - PowerPoint slides, 3D models, videos, and a teacher's guide

Videogames and Agency explores the trend in videogames and their marketing to offer a player higher volumes, or even more distinct kinds, of player freedom. The book offers a new conceptual framework that helps us understand how this freedom to act is discussed by designers, and how that in turn reflects in their design principles. What can we learn from existing theories around agency? How do paratextual materials reflect design intention with regards to what the player can and cannot do in a videogame? How does game design shape the possibility space for player action? Through these questions and selected case studies that include AAA and independent games alike, the book presents a unique approach to studying agency that combines game design, game studies, and game developer discourse. By doing so, the book examines what discourses around player action, as well as a game's design can reveal about the nature of agency and videogame aesthetics. This book will appeal to readers specifically interested in videogames, such as game studies scholars or game designers, but also to media studies students and media and screen studies scholars less familiar with digital games.

This book covers the distinguishing characteristics and tropes of visual novels (VNs) as choice-based games and analyzes VNs like 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors; Hatoful Boyfriend; and Monster Prom, some of the best examples of the genre as illustrations. The author covers structuring branching narrative and plot, designing impactful and compelling choices, writing entertaining relationships and character interactions, understanding the importance of a VN's prose, and planning a VN's overall narrative design and story delivery. The book contains exercises at the end of chapters to practice the techniques discussed. By the end of the book, if the reader finishes all the exercises, they may have several portfolio pieces or a significant portion of their own VN project designed. Features: Discusses different aspects and genres of VNs, what makes them enjoyable, and successful techniques developers can incorporate into their own games Analyzes various VNs and choice-based games that use these successful techniques Shares tips from developers on portfolio pieces, hiring a team to work on VNs, and plotting and outlining VNs Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels is a valuable resource for developers and narrative designers interested in working on VNs. The book will show them how they can design their own VN projects, design branching narratives, develop entertaining plots and relationships, design impactful and compelling choices, and write prose that's a pleasure to read.

Software, Animation and the Moving Image brings a unique perspective to the study of computer-generated animation by placing interviews undertaken with animators alongside an analysis of the user interface of animation software. Wood develops a novel framework for considering computer-generated images found in visual effects and animations.

This book - Investigates theories and practices shaped by a performance's relationship to the archive; - Examine how the changing nature of performance practices has made it imperative to understand how the archive and archival practices could add to the performance work; - Will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of performance studies, media and culture studies, studies of technology and art as also literature and literary criticism.

This is the third edition of Character Development and Storytelling for Games, a standard work in the field that brings all of the teaching from the first two books up to date and tackles the new challenges of today. Professional game writer and designer Lee Sheldon combines his experience and expertise in this updated edition. New examples, new game types, and new challenges throughout the text highlight the fundamentals of character writing and storytelling. But this book is not just a box of techniques for writers of video games. It is an exploration of the roots of character development and storytelling that readers can trace from Homer to Chaucer to Cervantes to Dickens and even Mozart. Many contemporary writers also contribute insights from books, plays, television, films, and, yes, games. Sheldon and his contributors emphasize the importance of creative instinct and listening to the inner voice that guides successful game writers and designers. Join him on his quest to instruct, inform, and maybe even inspire your next great game.

Today, it is commonly believed that if you learn software, you can become an animator. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Master animators are trained and not born. Software, as is the humble pencil, is merely yet another tool through which an animator can apply their knowledge. However, neither software nor pencils give you that knowledge, nor do they do the work for you. If you place a fully trained master animator on a computer, or give them a pencil, they'll astound you with their mastery. However, if you put a nontrained animator on a computer, all you will have is a technician creating moving objects as you'll see all over YouTube and other video platforms. This book teaches you exactly how to become a Master Animator whether you ultimately plan to use pencils, computers, drawing tablets or rigged characters. It's a complete course in its own right, being a collection of 48 masterclasses gleaned from the author's 50 years of experience of top-level animating, teaching and filmmaking. It will also train you in the value and application of observational gesture drawing. This book of masterclasses by a master of the art, Tony White, is entirely designed to be THE definitive reference book for students learning how to make things move really well as well as how to create films once you know how to do so. A book for everyone: For home-based, self-study students: It is a perfect manual to take you from raw beginner to proven animated filmmaker. For full-time students: It is an ideal companion to supplement your full-time educational studies, which, no doubt, is overly based on software technology. For current animation professionals: It is a comprehensive archive of animation tips and techniques that will enable you to take your work to the next level. For current animation educators and instructors: It is a book that can be the ultimate curriculum and study program, enabling your own students to become the master animators of today and tomorrow.

This book provides a critical account of the impact of Twitter on journalism, exploring how the news media has adapted to and normalised the use of the platform in the industry. Offering a comprehensive understanding of Twitter uses for journalistic purposes, this book explores the platform's use as a 'global village', as an ambient news environment, and as a global marketplace. Drawing on two empirical case studies (United Kingdom and Greece), Dagoula examines academic conceptualisations of Twitter, journalists' self-perceptions, and uses of the platform by a variety of media outlets and journalists. Adopting an evolutionary approach known as punctuated equilibrium, which consists of three stages of disruption, adaption, and normalisation, the author reveals the costs and benefits of Twitter's impact on both the institutional values and practices of news journalism today. News Journalism and Twitter is an invaluable resource for researchers and students of digital journalism and media studies.

This book delves into the notion of intimacy as a defining feature of podcasting, examining the concept of intimacy itself and how the public sphere explores the relationships created and maintained through podcasts The book situates textual analysis of specific American podcasts within podcast criticism, monetization, and production advice Through analysis of these sources' self-descriptions, the text builds a podcasting-specific framework for intimacy and uses that framework to interpret how podcasting imagines the connections it forms within communities Instead of intimacy being inherent, the book argues that podcasting constructs intimacy and uses it to define the quality of its own mediation This book will be of interest to scholars and students of New and Digital Media, Media Studies, Communication Studies, Journalism, Literature, Cultural Studies, and American Studies

This book provides a detailed insight into the current state of journalism and its future challenges It brings together a global team of authors to review and analyse emerging practices in the automated digital scenario through which journalism is being reshaped, such as novel languages, storytelling forms, and business models It provides a much-needed review of the field to apprehend the knowledge and experience acquired and offers an up-to-date overview of digital journalism today, outlining those trends pointing to the future of journalism practice and media in the online sphere The book takes a multidisciplinary and international approach to the topic, and delves into the main technological changes that digital journalism has recently faced, closely related to digital native media, novel storytelling forms, social media, innovation, television broadcasting, new media management structures and procedures, content automation, fact-checking, web analytics, and social audiences Offering new insights into this fast-developing area, this volume will be an engaging and vital resource for media professionals and researchers in journalism and communication studies, as well as those interested in contemporary journalism practice and communication technology

Written based on the author's own notes compiled over 18 years This manual is a learning tool focusing exclusively on the work of animators. explains the principles of physics applicable to any motion

Analyses a variety of approaches to development and publishing, across a multitude of platforms and genres, to provide a new vision for the next twenty years of game development. Considers technical advances in adjacent markets and how they will impact the games industry over the next twenty years. Includes insightful interviews from leading game and entertainment industry figures.

Given how educators have come to rely on online modes of teaching and learning over the past two years, this handbook is a timely and much-needed exploration of how media educators are coping with changes in an online learning environment It showcases how educators and practitioners around the world adapted their routine media pedagogies to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which often led to significant social, economic, and cultural hardships The book combines an innovative mix of traditional chapters, autoethnography, case studies, and dialogue within an intercultural framework It focuses on the future of media education and provides a deeper understanding of the challenges and affordances of media education as we move forward The book covers vast-ranging topics, such as fighting disinformation, how vulnerable communities cope with disadvantages using media, transforming educational T.V. or YouTube to reach larger audiences, supporting students' wellbeing through various online strategies, examining early childhood, parents, and media mentoring using digital tools, reflecting on educators' intersectionality on video platforms, youth produced-media to fight injustice, teaching remotely and providing low tech solutions to address the digital divide, and searching for solutions collaboratively using social media It offers a unique and broad multicultural perspective on how we can learn from the challenges of addressing varied pedagogical issues that have arisen in the context of the pandemic It will allow researchers, educators, practitioners, institution leaders and graduate students to explore how media education evolved during 2020 and 2021, and how these experiences can shape the future direction of media education