Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Game Programming (Game Programming)   

The last book I worked on was Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Game Programming which was part of that big book series with the green spliny landscape on the front. The book was originally for Flash 6, but then Flash 7 appeared on the horizon and was re-factored for 7. As with most of the books that come out right after a product release, the concepts are still tied a little too much to the previous version since the authors haven’t really gotten into the workflow of the new version yet. This book was no exception. AS 1 abounds and the new features are only touched upon.

Also like most books that try to ride the wave of readers wanting to learn about a new version, the book doesn’t have staying power and goes out of print pretty quickly. Once again, no exception. The strange thing though is that the book seems to be doing better than ever despite being severely out-dated and out of print. I get email regularly asking for the files from the CD. It turns out that the book is available on Safari Bookshelf (without the relevant files). Also several community colleges decided to use the book as their text book.

All of this leads to a really funny email I got from a reader today. Ron writes that he was thinking about buying the book used on amazon just to get the CD but when he checked, the book is being marked up. Like all technical books, it retailed for $49.99 USD and was often marked down. In the used section of amazon there are three copies available ranging from $110-$141USD! Why on earth is there such a market for what amounts to a Flash 6 game development book plus a gentle introduction to OOP by someone who in retrospect really wasn’t qualified at the time to say much on the subject (me)? Most of my other titles are running at an average of $3 USD.

So if anyone wants to overpay for my book, let me know. I have signed collectors editions all set (well, I will once I go find a pen). ;)

If you are one of those Safari Bookshelf readers that is looking for the CD source. There you go. If however you are from my publisher, Premier Press, let me know if you don’t want me putting the source up. At that point you can also explain why I don’t get royalties from the Safari readership. ;)