|  | Author: PJ Cabrera
Publisher: Apress
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $18.85
as of 11/22/2009 09:27 CST details
You Save: $21.14 (53%)
New (32) Used (9) from $18.85
Seller: feathersbooks
Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 54049
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 280
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1430219688
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.26
EAN: 9781430219682
ASIN: 1430219688
Publication Date: June 29, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Fast shipping!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 26
 For Advice Only June 28, 2009
S. Carmody (Los Angeles, CA USA)
29 out of 33 found this review helpful
There is some practical knowledge in this book, but it is not what I was expecting when I purchased it. I ordered the book before it was released, so that is my mistake. But the title and description of the book is misleading.
This is not a book with details on a variety of games with hands-on programming examples and ideas on how to make the gameplay work well on the iPhone. It is a collection of chapters of iPhone game building advice. The advice is often excellent, and the book is a unique source for this information. But know that you will bump into phrases like "I hope I've inspired you" and "the true future of iPhone game development is up to you, dear reader". So the advice is also often cheesy, bathetic, and almost maudlin.
Imagine if you met an experienced iPhone developer that had just finished a big project. Then you asked him/her: "Have any advice for me when building an iPhone game"? That is what this book is. If you feel that would help you, then dive on in.
IMHO, this was not enough material worthy of an entire book. Some chapters are excellent, but many of them read as if they would be magazine articles. They are that general and light on details.
I have several of the Apress books, and this one is a disappointment. I finished it in 2 hours and don't feel there will many times I will pull it off the bookshelf in the future. This book should be called "iPhone Advice and Occasional Tips from Game Developers".
One good chapter June 27, 2009
C. Helsel (South Florida, USA)
10 out of 15 found this review helpful
I was excited to have this book on the way and finally crack it open. It took a few hours of reading/skimming to realize that this is not the book you want if you're just starting to write games for the iPhone. Actually there was one good chapter on iPhone game development, the Space Hike tutorial. Unfortunately, that was just one chapter out of a whole book.
 Good source for inspiration and advice June 23, 2009
Peter Bakhyryev (New York, NY United States)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book is not about "how you should do it" - it's more about "how other people did it". It's a good source of inspiration and advice about how to design and implement games for the iPhone and iPod Touch using whatever tools are available in the SDK (looks like it was published before 3.0 became publicly available). It's "stories from the veterans" as opposed to "lecture from a teacher". Plus, you get a whole bunch of code to look through and learn from.
It might not be for everyone, but I found it to be an enjoyable read.
 DIALING FOR IPHONE GAMING!! June 21, 2009
John R. Vacca (Pomeroy, Ohio)
7 out of 20 found this review helpful
Are you an experienced game applications writer for iPhone and iPod touch? If you are, then this book is definitely for you. Author PJ Cabera; as well as, a number of other contributors, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that is a guide and companion through your personal journey of game development for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Author Joachin Bondo, begins by sharing his thoughts on what makes a great user interface, and how he decides which features to add and which to leave out. Then, author PJ Cabera shares his ideas on how to bring back the social aspect of games. Next, author Aaron Fothergill explains the process for saving struct-based data. Author Brian Greenstone also shares his must do list for iPhone action games. Authors Olivier Hennessey and Clayton Kane continue by sharing some of their tricks of the trade in the form of game design documentation. Next, author Mike Kasprzak, shares his techniques for writing an OpenGL ES-based game for the iPhone that can also run on Windows and on Linux with minimal changes. Author Mike Lee continues by sharing his insights on the code optimization process. Finally, authors Richard Zito and Matthew Aitken discuss multiplayer gaming by exploring the various techniques for networking, by demonstrating the pros and cons of each.
This most excellent book has something for everyone, from experienced OpenGL developers, to enterprise software developers, to those who have completed only an introductory text. More importantly, this book gives consideration to the user experience.
A useful book, taking a different tack on iPhone games development. June 19, 2009
Gerald Orbea (Dover, NH)
10 out of 17 found this review helpful
I'm not exactly sure why so many of the previous reviews of this book were negative. Perhaps the customers did not get what they expected, but that may come down to an error on their part for making assumptions about the book's content.
As someone experimenting with iPhone game design, but already well versed in programming for Mac OS (not commercially, just for my own use and enjoyment), I found this book to be informative, and, for a book in this category, quite engaging to read. The content of the book is delivered through separate chapters, each of which features the views and experiences of a prominent and highly successful iPhone games developer, on the qualities that make their app a successful game. Mixed in with these personal experiences, are instructions for coding features that will make your games popular, user friendly, and fun.
Examples of useful information:
Chapter 1 covers the theory behind iPhone user interface design, and how to make your interface mesh with the iPhone OS.
Chapter 2 demonstrates how to create online high score and achievement boards.
Chapter 3 demonstrates how to automatically save game information when receiving a phone call or alert.
These chapters are followed by the usual content of a developer's book. Tips on using the iPhone SDK, and even how iPhone's operator precedence differs from C's.
I think this is a well thought out, well written book, and I found it very useful, however, if you don't know how to program already, this is not the book for you. I hope this review clears up some of the confusion of the previous reviews.
-Gerald
Showing reviews 21-25 of 26
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