It doesn't take long for an avid—or just wickedly clever—gamer to be chafed by the limitations of videogame software or hardware. If you want to go far beyond the obvious—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 an awful lot of fun you can have for cheap or free, using the creative exploits of the gaming gurus. Gaming Hacks is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create, modify, and hack videogame hardware and software.
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 extreme-cool hack guide written by gamers for gamers. Gaming Hacks offers a stunning variety of hacks, exploits, and other creative acts on both modern and archaic console hardware and today's PC hardware—one hundred detailed, ingenious hacks are included.
Gaming Hacks also includes detailed software-based looks at MMO (massively multiplayer) titles, FPS (first-person shooter) games, machinima (real-time movies created using game engines), emulation, save-game hacking, and many other miscellaneous subgenres and topics.
Gaming Hacks shows hardcore gamers how to configure the best FPS peripherals, hack the Nuon DVD Player/Gaming System, modify their Game Boy, watch movies and listen to music and their Sega Dreamcast, and much, much more.
Gaming Hacks shows you how to do things you didn't know could be done. If you want more than your average gamer—you want to explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, make your games do what you want them to do Gaming Hacks will show you how. You don't need to be gaming guru to pick up Gaming Hacks; you'll be one when you put it down.
It doesn't take long for an avid or just wickedly clever gamer to chaff at the limitations of videogame software or hardware. This is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create, modify, and hack videogame hardware and software. Whether they want to modify their console controller to work on other consoles, or to create their own text adventure, "Gaming Hacks" shows readers how to have inexpensive fun.
CreditsForewordPrefaceChapter 1: Playing Classic GamesChapter 2: Playing PortablyChapter 3: Playing Well with OthersChapter 4: Playing with HardwareChapter 5: Playing with Console and Arcade HardwareChapter 6: Playing Around the Game EngineChapter 7: Playing Your Own GamesChapter 8: Playing Everything ElseColophon
Anonymous
Posted March 15, 2005
This book was a lot of fun to read and provides a lot of great tips for not only getting the most out of your current gaming system, but also for enjoying those games you played 20 years ago. The book starts out with an introduction to emulation and MAME, which allows you to play old console games (like the Atari 2600) or arcade games on a PC. The author even provides directions to illustrate how you can take an old Atari 2600 paddle controller and hook it into your PC (with a soddering iron and a little work). Any gamer who ever played on the Atari would love something like this. In my favorite chapter, the author shows how to maximize portable devices for gaming fun. In one hack, the author shows how to play games on your iPod. In another hack, the author shows how to produce color pictures from the Game Boy¿s black and white camera attachment. There are even instructions for turning your PocketPC or PalmPilot into a Game Boy or even a Commordore 64. The author has a section dedicated to creating the best game machine, where he discusses video cards, mice, and other peripherals. In other sections, the author discusses how to modify your gaming console, including Xbox mods, tunneling (e.g. making games play online that weren¿t designed to be played online), and other game hacks. Finally, the author rounds out the discussion by demonstrating how to create and add a vehicle to Unreal Tournament 2004. While it does require a bit of time and some work, I was surprised at how relatively easy the whole process was. This is a great book to read if you enjoy gaming¿regardless of whether they¿re games from 20 years ago or brand new. This book will help you to get the most out of your gaming experience and have a lot of fun doing it.
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Posted November 9, 2004
Carless shows us the breadth of modern computer gaming. When I got into gaming in 1979, there were basically two types. The new video arcade games like Space Invaders. And text-based games like trek, that ran on mainframes. Well, the arcade games are certainly still with us. Carless devotes an entire chapter to what are now considered classic arcade games of the 80s. But now, there exist emulators for these, runnable on PCs. But recently, massive multiplayer role playing games have arisen, like EverCrack. Um, I mean EverQuest. Carless talks about the various communities built around these games. A curious and addictive subculture. With some members who play, to accrue loot that they then sell to other, newer players. Sometimes using eBay to do so. Think about how abstract and unreal this is. A scenario out of pure science fiction. Until it started happening. This chapter may be the most interesting of the book, for the glimpses it shows of these devotees. Carless also provides suggestions if you want to code your own game. Like using the popular game engine, Machinima, to do so. Easy to learn and to build up a 3d world.
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Overview
It doesn't take long for an avid—or just wickedly clever—gamer to be chafed by the limitations of videogame software or hardware. If you want to go far beyond the obvious—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 an awful lot of fun you can have for cheap or free, using the creative exploits of the gaming gurus. Gaming Hacks is the indispensable guide to cool things gamers can do to create, modify, and hack ...