Join videogame industry veteran Michael Thornton Wyman on a series of detailed, behind-the-scenes tours with the teams that have made some of the most popular and critically acclaimed videogames of the modern era. Drawing on insider's perspectives from a wide variety of teams, learn about the creation of a tiny, independent game project (World of Goo), casual game classics (Diner Dash, Bejeweled Twist), the world's most popular social game (FarmVille) as well as the world's most popular MMORPG (World of Warcraft), PC titles (Half Life 2) to AAA console games (Madden NFL 10), and modern-day masterpieces (Little Big Planet, Rock Band, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves). Hear directly from the creators about how these games were made, and learn from their stories from the trenches of videogames production. This book is an excellent resource for those working directly on game design or production, for those aspiring to work in the field, or for anyone who has wondered how the world's greatest videogames get made.

How are the world's best videogames created? Are they truly hatched through marathon all-night sessions of acne-ridden, junk food-eating programmers and artists huddled in front of multiple monitors cranking out code and content? Which key decisions determine whether or not a particular game will be a hit? What's crunch time really like? Journey behind the scenes to learn the truth about how the world's greatest videogames get made. Join videogame industry veteran Michael Thornton Wyman on a series of detailed, behind-the-scenes tours with the teams that have made some of the most popular and critically acclaimed videogames of the modern era. Drawing on insider's perspectives from teams large and small, from single-person independent projects (Linerider), to casual game classics (Diner Dash), PC titles (Spore) to AAA Console games (NBA Live), and including modern-day masterpieces (Halo, Rock Band and World of Warcraft), learn from the creators about how these games were made, and hear their stories from the trenches of videogames production. The second part of the book provides real-world, hands-on advice you can start using immediately to make your own games better. Thorough and detailed analysis of common, proven best practices give you specific nuts and bolts tools to implement at any phase of your game project, from concept development through prototyping, production, testing and launch. The book is an excellent resource for those working directly on game design or production, for those aspiring to work in the field, or for anyone who has wondered how the world's greatest videogames get made.