David Kushner

Describes how a group of young "nerds," led by underdog hero Jon Finkel, a.k.a. Jonny Magic, used the techniques they learned from fantasy games to conquer underground poker clubs, online casinos, card counting, blackjack, and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Reprint.

In the tradition of Shadow Divers and The Wager, the incredible true story of the pirate slave ship Guerrero, which wrecked in the Florida Keys, and the scuba divers who tracked it down nearly 200 years later. In 1827, the brig Guerrero was racing across the Florida Straits with 561 kidnapped Africans in its hold. Though Britain and the United States had banned the Atlantic slave trade, outlaw captains like Jos Gomez still attempted to get around their Navy patrols and make for Cuba, where markets remained open. The Spanish captain was particularly ruthless--not only a trader, but a pirate, who didn't hesitate to use his terror-inducing fourteen-gun ship with a dragonhead on the prow to steal captives from other vessels. In 2004, Ken Stewart, a Black diver and Vietnam veteran, learned that the Guerrero might still be in American waters. He marshalled a group he called Diving with a Purpose to go looking for the shipwreck, not only as a historic site but as a graveyard of buried stories that demanded recovery. In partnership with Corey Malcom--a marine archeologist whose affiliation with a famous Floridian treasure hunter made some initially wary of his motives--the group began to piece together what happened to the survivors of the Guerrero. The saga they uncovered involved President John Quincy Adams, an African princess turned American slaveholder, and the founders of Liberia. It was a tale of tragedy as well as survival, connecting ancestors and descendants across thousands of miles of ocean. Ocean of Bones is a powerful and thrilling book that immerses readers in two connected journeys: one in the 19th century, and one in the 21st. It illuminates a forgotten history that reminds you why the lessons of the past must be kept alive in the present, and tells a story that will stick with you for a lifetime.

Luchshie igry ochen pokhozhi na zhizn: legko ponjat pravila, slozhno dostich masterstva! V tsentre etoj graficheskoj istorii epicheskoe protivostojanie, bushevavshee mezhdu inzhenerom Ralfom Baerom - izobretatelem pervoj igrovoj konsoli - i Nolanom Bushnellom - osnovatelem Atari, ukravshim ideju u Ralfa i sozdavshim igru PONG. Tak nachalas bitva za titul "Otets videoigr". Poznakomtes s zakhvatyvajuschej istoriej proiskhozhdenija novogo vida razvlechenij vmeste s Baerom i Bushnellom, stav svidetelem formirovanija kultury Kremnievoj doliny. Vy uznaete: * S kakimi trudnostjami stolknulis glavnye geroi, chtoby zasluzhit svoe mesto v istorii videoigr. * Kak nazyvalas i vygljadela pervaja igrovaja pristavka v mire. * Chto podtolknulo Nolana sozdat Atari i kak pojavilas kultovaja Pong. "Nikogda ne dumal, chto za sozdaniem prostenkoj, khotja i epokhalnoj videoigry Pong stoit takaja chelovecheskaja drama. Izobretatel protiv kapitalista, original protiv kopii, ideja protiv realizatsii, - Kushner i Shadmi nashli otlichnyj sposob neskuchno rasskazat o bolshom otkrytii i bolshoj nespravedlivosti. Ochen blagodaren etomu komiksu za istoriju, o kotoroj ranshe ne dogadyvalsja". - Ivan Chernjavskij, avtor telegram-kanala "Ivanpanchmen", veduschij podkasta "Omnibus i tankobon"

Istorija avtora vsemirno izvestnoj rolevoj igry v komiksakh! Geri Gajgeks - odin iz sozdatelej igry Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), zavoevavshej serdtsa millionov rolevikov po vsemu miru. Buduchi synom migrantov, on ne srazu nashel svoe mesto v zhizni i vsju junost stremilsja ukrytsja v uvlekatelnykh mirakh nauchno-populjarnykh knig, voennoj istorii i strategicheskikh igr. Vmeste s Geri vy projdete dlinnyj put ot zamknutogo podrostka do znamenitogo razrabotchika nastolnykh igr, uznaete istoriju sozdanija D&D i razberetes v mekhanizmakh raboty mnogomilliardnoj igrovoj industrii. Vy uznaete: - chto nuzhno dlja sozdanija zakhvatyvajuschej igry; - kak stat razrabotchikom, ne poterjav pyl igroka; - chem mozhet pokhvastatsja sovremennaja gik-kultura. I vse eto v formate uvlekatelnoj graficheskoj istorii, gde glavnyj geroj - eto vy! "Bez Geri Gajgeksa i Dejva Arnesona u nas by ne bylo nastolnykh rolevykh igr, poloviny zhanrov videoigr i takikh privychnykh igrovykh suschnostej, kak ochki zdorovja, ischisljaemye v tsifrakh sila i lovkost, volshebnyj mech +1 i glazastyj bekholder. Vozmozhno, eto samye vazhnye avtory v istorii igrovogo dizajna". - Nikolaj Pegasov, kreativnyj direktor Hobby World

Grand Theft Auto - odna iz samykh izvestnykh igr v mire, i, pozhaluj, luchshij pretendent na zvanie samogo skandalnogo igrovogo proekta sovremennosti. Obvinenija v propagande nasilija i razboja, sudebnye iski, vozmuschenie obschestvennosti i gromkie razbiratelstva. Dlja Rockstar Games, studii, podarivshej miru GTA, eto rjadovoj rabochij den. "Potracheno" - eto istorija, vossozdannaja izvestnym igrovym zhurnalistom i avtorom knig Devidom Kushnerom. On razobralsja, kak bratja Khauzery voplotili mechtu v igrovoj blokbaster, prinesshij im mirovuju slavu i vesma neplokhoe sostojanie, a takzhe skolko usilij prilozhil jurist Dzhek Tompson, chtoby zasudit Rockstar Games. Vas zhdet jarkaja i derzkaja istorija, ved, kogda rech idet o GTA, inache byt ne mozhet.

DOOM - eto ne prosto igra. Eto zhivaja legenda. 25 let nazad ona pokorila desjatki millionov gejmerov i izmenila industriju videoigr navsegda. Kak izvestno, za legendarnymi veschami vsegda stoit ne menee legendarnaja istorija ikh sozdanija. V etoj knige vas zhdet istorija o tom, kak nachinali svoj put Dzhon Karmak i Dzhon Romero, sozdateli kultovykh shuterov ot pervogo litsa, i kak oni stali rok-zvezdami igrovoj industrii. Vy uznaete, s kakimi trudnostjami oni stalkivalis, chem im prokhodilos zhertvovat, kak reagirovala obschestvennost, pytajas zapretit pervye po-nastojaschemu zhestokie igry, i mnogoe drugoe! Avtor knigi Devid Kushner - amerikanskij zhurnalist, avtor knigi "Potracheno. Bespredelnaja istorija GTA". Kniga-serial, rasskazyvajuschaja o vzroslenii, znakomstve i sovmestnoj rabote razrabotchikov, stavshimi ikonami industrii. Zakhvatyvajuschij rasskaz o tom, kak tvorilas istorija velikoj igry. Perevodchik knig - predannyj fanat serii, avtor longrida "666 faktov o DOOM" i izvestnyj bloger Mikhail Bocharov. Vykhod knigi byl priurochen k dolgozhdannomu relizu kompjuternoj igry Doom Eternal, kotoryj sostojalsja 22 nojabrja 2019 goda.

The gripping origin story of Pong, Atari, and the digital icons who defined the world of video games. A deep, nostalgic dive into the advent of gaming, Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master returns us to the emerging culture of Silicon Valley. At the center of this graphic history, dynamically drawn in colors inspired by old computer screens, is the epic feud that raged between Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and inventor Ralph Baer for the title of "father of the video game." While Baer, a Jewish immigrant whose family fled Germany for America, developed the first TV video-game console and ping-pong game in the 1960s, Bushnell, a self-taught whiz kid from Utah, put out Atari's pioneering table-tennis arcade game, Pong, in 1972. Thus, a prolonged battle began over who truly spearheaded the multibillion-dollar gaming industry, and around it a sweeping narrative about invention, inspiration, and the seeds of digital revolution.

A for Anonymous shows how a leaderless band of volunteers successfully used hacktivism to fight for the underdog, embarrass their rich and powerful targets-from Sony and Paypal to the Church of Scientology and Ferguson Police Department-all in the name of freedom of speech and information. Their exploits blurred the distinction between "online" and "reality," and help shape our contemporary world.

"An engrossing microcosm of the internet's Wild West years" (Kirkus Reviews), award-winning journalist David Kushner tells the incredible battle between the founder of Match.com and the con man who swindled him out of the website Sex.com, resulting in an all-out war for control for what still powers the internet today: love and sex. In 1994, visionary entrepreneur Gary Kremen used a $2,500 loan to create the first online dating service, Match.com. Only five percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the Sex.com domain too, betting the combination of love and sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream. Imagine Kremen's surprise when he learned that someone named Stephen Michael Cohen had stolen the rights to Sex.com and was already making millions that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the wild true story of Kremen's and Cohen's decade-long battle for control. In The Players Ball, author and journalist David Kushner provides a front seat to these must-read Wild West years online, when innovators and outlaws battled for power and money. This cat-and-mouse game between a genius and a con man changed the way people connect forever, and is key to understanding the rise and future of the online world. "Kushner delivers a fast-paced, raunchy tale of sex, drugs, and dial-up." --Publishers Weekly

The illustrated, inside story of the legendary hacktivist group's origins and most daring exploits. A for Anonymous shows how a leaderless band of volunteers successfully used hacktivism to fight for the underdog, embarrass their rich and powerful targets--from Sony and Paypal to the Church of Scientology and Ferguson Police Department--all in the name of freedom of speech and information. Their exploits blurred the distinction between "online" and "reality," and help shape our contemporary world.

Rise of the Dungeon Master tells, in graphic form, the story of Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, one of the most influential games ever made. Like the game itself, the narrative casts the reader into the adventure from a first person point of view, taking on the roles of the different characters in the story. Gygax was the son of immigrants who grew up in Lake Geneva, WI, in the 1950s. An imaginative misfit, he escaped into a virtual world based on science fiction novels, military history and strategic games like chess. In the mid-1970s, he co-created the wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons game, determining the rules and inventing the signature 20-sided dice. Starting out in the basement of his home, he was soon struggling to keep up with the demand. Gygax was a purist, in the sense that he was adamant that players use their imaginations and that the rules of the game remain flexible. A creative mind with no real knowledge of business, he made some strategic errors and had a falling out with the game's co-creator, his close friend and partner, David Arneson. By the late 1970s the game had become so popular among kids that parents started to worry -- so much so that a mom's group was formed to alert parents to the dangers of role play and fantasy. The backlash only fueled the fires of the young fans who continued to play the game, escaping into imaginary worlds. Before long, D&D conventions were set up around the country and the game inspired everything from movies to the first video games. With D&D, Gygax created the kind of role playing fantasy that would fuel the multibillion dollar video game industry, and become a foundation of contemporary geek culture.

From award-winning journalist David Kushner, a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair, Alligator Candy is "a raw story about courage, survival, and most certainly about love" (Tampa Bay Times

A magnet for bullies at school, Jon Finkel grew up heckled and hazed until he discovered the trading-card game Magic: The Gathering. As Magic exploded from nerdy obsession into the mainstream, the teenage Finkel emerged as its first world champion. The young shark - now known to his friends and rivals as Jonny Magic - moved on to storm poker rooms, from the underground clubs of New York City to high-stakes tables online, until he landed on the largest card counting blackjack team in the country, taking Vegas for millions and becoming one of the biggest players in town. Finally, they took on the biggest game of all - the World Series of Poker...

The behind-the-scenes story of the world's most notorious and controversial video games company - Rockstar Games. Jacked is the incredible story behind the phenomenon that changed video games for ever -- Grand Theft Auto. Powerful politicians tried to stop it, parents and activists vigorously campaigned against it, but they couldn't stop GTA breaking records. GTA IV became the biggest entertainment product launch of all time, eclipsing all other books, films and music, and went on to become the most controversial video game in history. Now, after 10 years of research, David Kushner reveals how Sam Houser's company, Rockstar Games, made it all possible. He lifts the veil of secrecy around the team to show how a blend of creative genius, daring PR campaigns, big egos and an obsessive work ethic all came together to create a monster with a tendency to spiral out of control. Including the full story behind 'Hot Coffee' -- the hidden sex minigame that nearly killed the game and the company -- Jacked gets right to the heart of what it takes to make a classic computer game!

Inside the making of the multibillion dollar Grand Theft Auto videogame empire Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest and most controversial videogame franchises of all time. Since its first release in 1997, GTA has pioneered the use of everything from 3D graphics to the voices of top Hollywood actors and repeatedly transformed the world of gaming. Despite its incredible innovations in the $75 billion game industry, it has also been a lightning rod of debate, spawning accusations of ethnic and sexual discrimination, glamorizing violence, and inciting real-life crimes. Jacked tells the turbulent and mostly unknown story of GTA's wildly ambitious creators, Rockstar Games, the invention and evolution of the franchise, and the cultural and political backlash it has provoked.*Explains how British prep school brothers Sam and Dan Houser took their dream of fame, fortune, and the glamor of American pop culture and transformed it into a worldwide videogame blockbuster* Written by David Kushner, author of Masters of Doom and a top journalist on gaming, and drawn from over ten years of interviews and research, including firsthand knowledge of Grand Theft Auto's creators and detractors* Offers inside details on key episodes in the development of the series, including the financial turmoil of Rockstar games, the infamous "Hot Coffee" sex minigame incident, and more Whether you love Grand Theft Auto or hate it, or just want to understand the defining entertainment product of a generation, you'll want to read Jacked and get the real story behind this boundary-pushing game.

Masters of Doom' is the true inside story of John Carmack and John Romero, co-creators of the most innovative and notoriously successful video games in history - Doom and Quake.

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to co-create the most notoriously successful game franchises in history--Doom and Quake--until the games they made tore them apart. Americans spend more money on video games than on movie tickets. Masters of Doom is the first book to chronicle this industry's greatest story, written by one of the medium's leading observers. David Kushner takes readers inside the rags-to-riches adventure of two rebellious entrepreneurs who came of age to shape a generation. The vivid portrait reveals why their games are so violent and why their immersion in their brilliantly designed fantasy worlds offered them solace. And it shows how they channeled their fury and imagination into products that are a formative influence on our culture, from MTV to the Internet to Columbine. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry--a powerful and compassionate account of what it's like to be young, driven, and wildly creative. "To my taste, the greatest American myth of cosmogenesis features the maladjusted, antisocial, genius teenage boy who, in the insular laboratory of his own bedroom, invents the universe from scratch. Masters of Doom is a particularly inspired rendition. Dave Kushner chronicles the saga of video game virtuosi Carmack and Romero with terrific brio. This is a page-turning, mythopoeic cyber-soap opera about two glamorous geek geniuses--and it should be read while scarfing down pepperoni pizza and swilling Diet Coke, with Queens of the Stone Age cranked up all the way."--Mark Leyner, author of I Smell Esther Williams