Rating: 
Summary: Great For Beginners
Review: I've read several complainant reviews about this book, and most of them make valid points. However when all is said and done this book is great for beginning 2D programming.Many have pointed out that this book doesn't cover DirectX 8, and that is true, in fact it really covers DirectX 3. This doesn't really matter, as the aspects of DirectX have not changed much. In fact one of the only major differences between DirectDraw3 and DirectDraw7 is the RestoreAllSurfaces() function. The simple fact is you can upgrade to DirectDraw7 easily enough, and if you want to use 2D programming there is almost no reason to use Direct3D8 (often refered to as DirectX Graphics), as DirectDraw is perfectly satisfying for 2D programming. On the plus side, this book covers a lot about the theory of game programming, and his methods are not at all bad. I can say that his sound manager was not too profroundly great, and that DirectX 8 should have been used for that, and I would have prefered that DirectInput would have been used. But DirectInput is easy enough to learn from the tutorials included with the SDK, and the same is true for DirectMusic (which is fine for sound effects in a non-3D Sound environment and not just music). The author also used 256 color (using a palette) throughout the book (and only higher color depths in an appendix at the end), and he probably shouldn't have done that. When it all comes down to it, this book is a good guide to game programming, and if your new there is now reason to even hesitate to buy it, unless of course you don't know the C++ language.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy This Book
Review: Let's get one thing clear: this book is excellent for programmers that want to learn how to program games. It is a good starting point. The problem is that this book does not have a damned thing to do with DirectX 8.0. It teaches you DirectX 7.0, and boy, don't even bother trying DX 8 if all you know is 7... they're completely different in every aspect. I had hoped that this book would be another primer for using Microsoft's DirectX API for the latest version, like Parberry's first, but instead it is a terrible, terrible waste of time and money since it has nothing to do with DirectX 8. The publisher, and the author, are lying to the consumer. Frankly, I was so disgusted I sent it back and I have no intention of ever purchasing another book by Parberry or this publsiher again.
Rating:
Summary: 8 years behind the times, completely useless.
Review: Nothing is more useless than an out of date computer book.
There is not one useful bit of information in this book. I would be embarrased to have my name on something this dated in the year 2002. There are plenty of decent introductory computer programming books. Try OpenGL game programming - or any book with the name 'LaMothe' on it. As a general rule of thumb, computer science professors from anywhere besides the best schools seem to be 4 - 10 years behind industry. This is why you shoule never ever buy a programming book by anyone whose title contains the letters PH.d.
Rating:
Summary: 8 years behind the times, completely useless.
Review: Nothing is more useless than an out of date computer book.
There is not one useful bit of information in this book. I would be embarrased to have my name on something this dated in the year 2002. There are plenty of decent introductory computer programming books. Try OpenGL game programming - or any book with the name 'LaMothe' on it. As a general rule of thumb, computer science professors from anywhere besides the best schools seem to be 4 - 10 years behind industry. This is why you shoule never ever buy a programming book by anyone whose title contains the letters PH.d.
Rating: 
Summary: Introduction to Programming With DirectX 8.0
Review: The thing that the other reviewers didn't comprehend, is that this book is for beginners, notice the word "Introduction", this book isn't meant to be the book for learning all about DirectX 8.0, but it is meant to introduce you to DirectX and get you programming in it. After reading this the reader is ready for doing more advance DirectX programming. One thing for the newbie programmers, do not buy this book unless you have been programming in C++ for at least 6 months. And, you should be programming in OOP with C++ since that is the standard for DirectX programming.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book for beginners
Review: This book is great for begineers. I'm glad I bought it. One comment though, the sample codes could be formatted better(lines between codes,comments) to ease reading. Having them bunched together makes the code look messy. Other than that everything is well written.
Rating:
Summary: Atrocious and misleading
Review: This book is misleadingly titled. It does *not* contain DirectX 8.0. It has nothing to do with 3D graphics, which is an essential concept in games programming. The content is very simple and contains concepts that were taught in 16-bit SVGA DOS games, taught in approximately the same way. The content of the book not at all relevant to the title of the book. I'm very glad that I found out about this before I bought it. I spent a good half hour looking through it at the bookshop, because I wanted the SDK CD anyway. The author ought to be ashamed.
Rating:
Summary: DirectDraw is not in DX 8
Review: This is not a resource for Directx 8 at all. DirectDraw is outdated under DX8 the DX7 version is still available in DX8, but it's not DX8. I was hoping to see the same game from his previous book done in Direct3D using planes and textures. I have yet to find a great DirectX 8 book available.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!!!!!!!!!
Review: This was an excellent book! It is of great value for beginners who are just getting into the world of programming and also gaming. I am now in the process of learning c++ so the tools associated with the book are very nice. This gives you a great starting point on which you can build upon. Also, this book made me realize that creating a game demo is possible once you put forth some effort. I have read many worthless computer and technological books that are basically thrown away but this one will be around for a long time. In the world of computer gaming, you can't walk until you learn how to crawl!This teaches you how to crawl THE CORRECT way! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners...
Review: To all those people that wrote in about palletized graphics, planes and textures, 3D, shadowing, joystick API calls, and what not: what in God's name are you doing with this book anyway?! IT'S FOR BEGINNERS, PEOPLE! Anyone with some common sense will at least read the forward and perhaps browse through the first couple of chapters to get a feel for the book. I agree that the title is misleading - having "with DirectX 8.0" so prominent in the title leads one to think it delves into DirectX 8.0 with some detail. It doesn't. But as I've said, if you take the time and read the first chapter (which you can do in the bookstore - it's short), it says two things. First, he *explicitly* states that if you own the first edition of the book, then don't buy this one because it's not that much different. This should tell the reader that the book probably doesn't go too far into the nuances/differences of DirectX 7.0 and 8.0. Second, the author informs you that you'll be writing a side-scoller game. This should tell even the most junior of game programmers there'll be no 3D development, so you won't be building the next Quake... With that being said, I bought the book and I'm very happy with it. I wouldn't know the difference between DirectX 7.0 and 8.0 if a nun's life depended on it. Nor do I care. And I've never written a video game before so I don't want to get snowed under with alot of 3D math and algorithms. Just show me the basics of getting images onto the screen, moving them around and perhaps some collision detection, and I'll go from there. This book does just that. Learn to crawl before you walk.
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