Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
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Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
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Narrated by:
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Ray Chase
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Written by:
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Jason Schreier
About this listen
Developing video games - hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes listeners on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-size monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean - it's nothing short of miraculous.
Taking some of the most popular, best-selling recent games, Schreier immerses listeners in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multimillion-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand-new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings - even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.
Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell - and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.
©2017 Jason Schreier (P)2017 HarperCollins PublishersWhat listeners say about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- LaCanisse
- 2017-12-19
Great behind the scene of the video game industry
I had basic knowledge of how the video game industry works and after reading this book, I feel much more educated. Some development stories surrounding the games featured were amazing, some were sad, but all of them were immensely interesting. I actually bought the physical copy of this book as well as the audio one, and I don't regret it one bit. I was actually sad when it was over. I'd recommend it to anyone, either interested in developing a video game or not.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Haider
- 2019-03-14
Excellent book for any future game developers
Loved the Stardew Valley chapter! Would easily recommend it you're interested at all in games.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Eric
- 2020-06-26
Useful for 3d animators
I’m an animator and this helped me understand how we fit into the gaming industry. Very entertaining story none the less
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- Code
- 2020-05-03
Loved it
Required listening for anyone interested in game development. Episodic format makes it great for listening in 40min bursts. Only downside is that you eventually run out of chapters. Please write and record another!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-05-24
Fantastic Peak into what it takes
I highly reccomend this book not just to people who enjoy video games but anyone who has put in time to large projects in any industry. this is a glimpse into what it takes to build video games and the challenges the studios or individuals face which was surprising similar to large projects I've been on for oil & gas.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Craig
- 2019-07-04
Fantastic
amazing all the way through. very thorough and picked a great list of games to cover.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Samuel Chan
- 2017-12-14
Must Listen for any Gamer
Great narrator and the content is just wow...so much more respect for those who dedicate their lives to making the games we love
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-05-29
An easy read worthy of any gamer’s time
Anyone familiar with gaming news knows Jason is “the guy” when it comes to reliable sourcing. This book reads more like an extended report than a novel but it’s still really enjoyable, and the video games he chose to include in the book are fantastic choices. Big names everywhere. I look forward to more of his work, already started his second book.
Leaves a regular average joe consumer feeling like an insider.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- cheyenne amil
- 2019-09-10
Fascinating & informative. A must read for devs
the narration was well executed though a little corny sounding at times
it was eye opening to hear the stories behind some of my favorite games. Many are even inspirational
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- AgileFoxen
- 2017-09-28
A great look into the work behind video games
As someone who has always been interested in game development, and who aspired to one day be a game dev himself, I loved every moment of this audio book. Id love to listen to more audiobooks similar to this.
My only comment being that the Epilogue plays twice, once at the end of the second last chapter and again for the last chapter.
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