Gaming for the Big Bucks

If you've dreamed of making a career out of fragging aliens, racing virtual vehicles, or dominating first-person-shooter arenas...Scott's got the book for you.

One of the truly astonishing developments of the expansion of the video game industry is the appearance of a class of professional gamers: people who literally earn their livings developing, testing, marketing, and even writing about nothing but video games. Plenty of serious gamers have probably wondered what it would take to live their passions full time in the industry: now, they can find out in Scott Steinberg’s book Get Rich Playing Games (www.getrichgaming.com).

Get Rich Playing Games features over 200 pages of insight and commentary from industry insiders including Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, Sid Meier, John Romero, Trip Hawkins, Ted Price, Lorne Lanning, and Lord British, along with tips on designing your own games and advice on how to land a plum job in game design, marketing, or journalism. Although the book emphasizes hard work and determination are key ingredients to success in the field, the text offers insights that can help aspiring video game power players make the right decisions at the right time, and maybe imprint the industry with their own vision.

Get Rich Playing Games features a forward by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari, Chuck E Cheese’s, and uWink), and is available now in paperback from Amazon.com an other major retailers for $17.95—and a special "High Score Edition" is coming in early 2008 with new chapters, new interviews, and other updates. However, if you want to peruse for free, check out the free PDF download of the current edition at www.GetRichGaming.com.

[Disclaimer: Scott Steinberg is a managing partner here at Digital Trends; he's also published books on video game marketing, being a game consultant, and reviewing video games.]