Blind Gambit: A GameLit novel

Jon Cronshaw

Print Length: 275 pages

Publisher: No World Press (May 5, 2018)

Publication Date: May 5, 2018

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

ASIN: B079QL5CCL

https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Gambit-GameLit-Jon-Cronshaw-ebook/dp/B079QL5CCL

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

On one hand, Jon Cronshaw is a younger author than I am and he's far more familiar with the world of gaming than I will ever be.  So if you too are into video games and "game lit," than you're a prime target reader for Blind Gambit.

From a different perspective, I too carry the retinitis pigmentosa gene that results in blindness just like the main character of Brian in Cronshaw's novel. So does the author himself.  While I was older and no longer living at home when the onset kicked in for me, from the very beginning of the story, I recognized many events in Brian's personal life as well as many of his reactions to what is happening to him as his sight erodes in the physical world. I remember so many events and conversations in my life that mirrors what Brian goes through as he tries to maintain independence, downplay his disability as much as he can, and find the ways to interact with friends and family as his personal identity changes during the process of going blind. As he admits in his afterword, much of the book can be called a fictionalized memoir.

In fact, we have two themes traveling on parallel lines through the book. One is in virtual reality where Brian can see what's going on in the game of Gambit because he has a chip that allows his avatar, Neuro, to watch what his three teammates, FragQueen, Harley, and Socko are doing on the battlefields against zombies while he proves to be the worst sniper in game world. At the same time, a hacker is going through Gambit destroying every team and game he, she, or it can for unknown reasons.  Brian, however, is immune to the hacker's weapons due to that chip. So, on the outside, he's being trained in independent living and how to have a relationship with a girl. A real one.  In VR, he is trained in how to combat the hacker by learning strategy, create unique weapons out of ordinary items, and learn how to uncover the hacker's true identity.

I admit, for a long time I wondered why I should care about the destruction of virtual avatars. Not exactly the sort of carnage living beings should worry about. So are there any consequences of the hacker's killing spree in the real world beyond headaches players suffer after leaving the game? At the same time, when Brian isn't hooked up to VR, his often over protective mother talks him into working with blind support groups so he can learn how to live with his disability. Stubborn and resisting most such efforts, Brian isn't a quick study in any of his quests. In the real world, he ends up being bruised and wounded as he tries out a number of activities other blind folks can do. Along the way,

Without question, the primary readership for Blind Gambit will be YA readers who are into gaming. But I really hope a wider audience will include those who might gain some sensitivity and insight not just regarding the disability of blindness, but some understanding of the emotional turmoils the disabled go through as, in this case, we lose the sense of sight.

As with pretty much every e-book published these days, readers can find out more about Jon Cronshaw's worlds by reading his afterword and signing up for his newsletter.  The adventures don't have to end when you finish Blind Gambit.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on July 1, 2019:

https://waa.ai/XAAH

The global DIY PC gaming chassis market is estimated to reach USD 2.93 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of 7.0%. The market is primarily driven by the rising gaming enthusiasm across the globe coupled with technological developments such as AR/VR coupled with hardware developments such as high-end graphics cards and others. Owing to these developments gaming has evolved as the preferred source of entertainment, this is in-directly boosting the demand for DIY PC gaming chassis as these new gamers are opting for customization in PC gaming chassis.

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The market study allows us to understand various aspects of the DIY PC gaming chassis by assessing the market by considering various technology and hardware developments, regional trends, product launches, and trends in the gaming industry. The report on global DIY PC gaming chassis market covers several qualitative aspects of the market such as the drivers, restraints, key industry trends, market share by players and product offerings of the key market players. Further, the market study provides an in-depth analysis of the strategic framework of the players, key insights about the top five players in the market.

The way people play games has changed a lot during the last decade owing to the technology and hardware updates that stakeholder in the gaming industry is offering to the end users. In terms of technology trend such as VR gaming that offers a 3-D image that is explored interactively on a computing device by using interactive keyboards, mouse or touchscreen. More stylish examples might include VR headsets, wrap-around display screens connected PCs driving the growth of the gaming industries in mature markets such as the U.S. and China which is indirectly boosting the demand for high-end DIY PC gaming chassis.

Today, gaming has empowered people to actively participate that is allowing them to enjoy their passion in a way that suits their mood, lifestyle, budget, location, and personality. Today’s gaming experience has become more engaging and is actively becoming a part of the gaming DNA. Thus many professional gaming competitions, live events, and pro gaming along with international level e-Sports gaming tournaments have become the driving forces of the gaming industry and thus the propelling the demand for DIY PC gaming chassis. Further, understanding this, Olympic Council of Asia in 2017 announced that e-sport will be included as an official sport at The Asian Games in 2022. This has led to increased demand for high-end gaming PCs driving the demand for DIY PC gaming chassis globally.

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On the price basis, the global DIY PC gaming chassis market has been segmented into USD under 50, 50~74, 75~99, 100~149, 150~199, 200~299, 300~499, and over 500 USD. The over 500 USD price segment is projected to grow with the fastest CAGR of 7.7% in terms of revenue and volume sales. DIY chassis under this price range are majorly targeted towards gamers who are willing to pay a premium price for high-end customization which is required for video gaming and e-sports. The chassis for this price range is majorly rising in demand from North America and China as e-sports gaming tournaments have gained tremendous traction propelling the demand for high-end DIY PC gaming chassis.

The Asia Pacific market is majorly driven by the growth of countries like India, Japan and other Southeast Asia countries such as Thailand and Taiwan. In Asia, Pacific gaming is projected to be more than a hobby and is likely to become an integral part of the millennial’s lifestyle in the region. As a source of entertainment, adventure and education people are indulging and are exploring themselves in the gaming world. This has led to a rise in the demand for high-end gaming PC and related PC peripherals. This increasing demand for high-end gaming PCs is positively driving the demand for DIY PC gaming chassis in the region. Owing to the above, Asia Pacific DIY PC gaming chassis market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% in the global DIY PC gaming chassis market by 2025. Further, e-sport and gaming competition are achieving exceptional grip in the region owing to which many academies/institutions are opening throughout Asia market to teach the gaming enthusiast the required skill sets and technique/strategies to excel in these competitions. This is boosting the demand DIY PC gaming cases in the region driving the growth of the global DIY PC gaming chassis market during the forecast period.

Key players in the global DIY PC gaming chassis are Corsair Components, Inc., Cooler Master Co., Ltd., NZXT Corporation, Phanteks, Thermaltake Inc., Deepcool Industries Co., Ltd., Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd, Fractal Design, Rosewill, Inc., Aerocool Advanced Technologies Corp, RIOTORO and others. Players in the market are focused on launching new gaming chassis and related services that offer more customization options to the end gamers. For instance, in 2016, Thermaltake, a manufacturer of PC cases, power supplies, and cooling devices in partnership with 3DHubs launched 3DMakers. According to the company, 3DMakers is a specially designed platform for DIY and modding enthusiasts which means that 3DMakers users can order their personalized PC case mods more ease than before.

Key Segments of the Global DIY PC gaming chassis market

Price Overview, 2015-2025 (USD million) (million units)

Under 50

50~74

75~99

100~149

150~199

200~299

300~499

Over 500

Regional Overview, 2015-2025 (USD million) (million units)

North America

U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Eastern Europe

Western Europe

Asia-Pacific

India

China

Japan

Taiwan

Rest of Asia-Pacific

Rest of the World

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Thanks to NetGalley and to Harper Collins for providing me an early ARC copy of this novel that I freely chose to review.

Jeffery Deaver does not need an introduction. He has been writing and publishing crime and mystery novels and thrillers for a very long time, and he has been collecting awards and accolades for almost as long. Despite my interest in those genres, I hadn’t read any of his books yet, partly because I always hesitate to start reading a series halfway through (yes, and I had many other books to get on with). When I saw this novel, the first in a new series, I thought this was a good chance to remedy that.

This novel has all the required elements for those who love the genre: an enticing opening (in fact, we are given a glimpse of an extremely tense scene that will come much later in the book), a hero with pretty amazing abilities, a complex past, and a few secrets (and a curious name too, Colter Shaw), a twisted case that gets more and more complicated as we go along (red herrings, false endings, action scenes, bizarre clues, plenty of suspects), useless and useful members of law enforcement (LaDonna Standish is my favourite character in the whole book, and she ticks all the boxes: African-American, lesbian, married with a child, a woman from the wrong side of the tracks, intelligent, a good professional, dismissed and bullied by her co-workers), some sort of love-interest (I didn’t care too much for that aspect of the story), an intriguing backdrop to the story (Silicon Valley and the gaming industry), another case he is working on as well that is pretty personal for the hero, and a twist/hook at the end.

If you like the description and are seeking for those elements in a story, do not hesitate. I can’t fault Deaver’s writing. He knows his stuff and he delivers in all aspects. He knows how to bait the reader’s interest, and his mastery of plot is evident. He drops hints, and when you think you have worked out who is the guilty party, or what is going on, he pulls the rug from under your feet. He is good at combining a fairly modern writing style, including plenty of action and the latest technologies, with well-tried classical elements; including the final explanation of how he worked out who the guilty party was (it is not quite a Sherlock Holmes or Poirot moment, but not that far from it). Although most of the story is told in the third-person from Shaw’s point of view, we don’t get all the information he does, for very good narrative reasons.

Any negatives? I cannot compare this book to his previous novels, and although I’ve checked the reviews, it seems that some people see this as the beginning of another winning series (it seems that the character of Colter Shaw had already been introduced in one of his short-stories), and others feel that is far from his best work. For me, one of the issues was the main character. If you had told me about this man, who was home-schooled and grew up raised in a survivalist household in the mountains of California, whose parents were both brilliant professors, but whose father (Ash) suffered from paranoia and insisted in educating his children (two boys and a girl) in the art of survival, totally isolated from the world and who ended up dead in somewhat unclear circumstances; whose mother was her husband’s psychiatrist and chose to follow his radical lifestyle and indulge (?) his paranoia, whose brother disappeared, and who now lives by working on a variety of criminal cases and collecting rewards (but seems to have other financial means) while at the same time pursues his own investigation, I would have said we were onto a winner. He is skilled, he seems to be attractive, he has commitment issues (unsurprisingly), he is somewhat obsessive and does things his own way (he loves to keep notebooks and writes his observations by hand), he is clever and witty, calm and collected under pressure, and no danger or risk faces him. Although he is not that bothered about rules and regulations, he has a sense of morality and of right and wrong (and he chooses to do the right thing). Despite all those characteristics and his back story, which should have made the character irresistible and compelling, I didn’t feel a particular connection to him. I wonder if it was the third-person narration (we also get flashbacks of episodes of his childhood, as a way to flesh out the character’s background and to build up interest and offer more clues) or something else, but although he was interesting, I felt as if I was observing the action rather than getting really engaged and worried about what might happen to him (or most of the other characters). Perhaps it read too much like a movie, and I can take or leave action flicks (I enjoy them, but they don’t engage my mind for long). Some reviewers have compared the character (negatively) to Jack Reacher, and I guess other characters will come to mind for those who love the genre. The character himself goes to pains to explain he is neither a private investigator nor a bounty hunter, but I’m not sure that makes him unique or distinctive enough. As I said, most readers love the character, and I am convinced he’ll be further developed in future novels in the series, so this should not put anybody off if the rest interests you.

I saw some readers complaining about the fact that the book was centred around the world of computer games, some because they didn’t enjoy it and found that slowed the novel down, and others because they felt there were inaccuracies (I can’t comment on that), but although I’m not a gamer, I found the descriptions interesting (not too detailed) and enjoyed the main plot line and the mystery behind the kidnappings (it is not unique but it works well). I made some general comments about the ending earlier, and I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I won’t go into it in more detail, but I agree that there seems to be a sudden and surprising change of direction at one point (some readers have complained of a “rushed” ending), although everything is explained and I guess that is the name of the game.

In sum, personally I enjoyed the story and the plot, but at this point I am not sure I’m interested enough to keep reading the series. On the other hand, I am convinced Deaver’s reputation is well deserved, and I intend to read more of his novels in the future. (I read a very early ARC copy of the novel, so it might well be that not all I say applies to the finished product).

GOG has been an alternative for the PC gaming fans; it is now putting extra efforts to place itself in a critical situation where it has launched GOG Galaxy 2.0. With this advanced and updated gaming platform, GOG makes efforts to conclude all your gaming locations in one place. It has provided a solution to a common and current issue with PC games.

You might be aware of the ruckus, which has been created over the last few months pertaining to the PC gaming community seen divided over the other platforms. The summary of the issue created is that a point in the present store war which is between the developers of Epic Games and Valve Stream. In addition, the war was all about having a misconception that most of the gamers believe in having different gaming platforms for their games is an inconvenience. The complaint, which hasn’t come to limelight, is that the developers of Epic Games are dividing the gaming community and are forcing the gamers to visit their gaming stores and buying the games with exclusive deals on published games. Whereas, according to other game developers it is not as big as to criticize the issue.

However, GOG Galaxy has marked its hopes high to resolve and eliminate the issue with the advanced Galaxy 2.0 platform. One of the key feature id this latest GOG Galaxy is the ability to import the PC games from different gaming libraries into one place i.e, Galaxy Library. Therefore, it means,

You will be able to launch and play your most loved PC games on your GOG Platform, Epic Game Store or anywhere else from accessing just pone platform that is GOG Galaxy.  This is the platform, which allows you to play games in both the integrations, and you can add games manually, in which you need not have a connection with any platform.

The most important update is GOG Galaxy is secured with McAfee gaming security, which will assure you that the gaming platform you are using is completely safe and protected.

Conclusion:-

GOG is claiming that all the games will run in the same manner as you play games on the online gaming platforms or on the platform from which you have purchased them. However, you should have the specific gaming platform installing and active on your PC computers. The games will be updated automatically and will have a backup with the cloud.

John Adward, a creative person who puts his skills in Technical writing by making everything easier for readers to understand the complexity of any tech related issue like mcafee.com/activate. norton.com/setup , office.com/setup , norton.com/setup.  Many popular e-magazines have released his articles. He has also been writing to people’s query related to technology.

Over the past few years, the global gaming market has witnessed a robust growth owing to the increasing penetration of mobile devices and internet coupled with advancements and innovations in hardware and software technologies.

The recent report by IMARC Group, titled “Gaming Market Report: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2018-2023”, estimates that the global gaming market growth reached a value of US$ 98.5 Billion in 2017. Gaming refers to the act of playing video games through different media such as computers, consoles, arcade machines or mobile phones. It helps in improving physical and mental skills, provides relaxation, fosters positive values such as cohesion and friendship, increases self-esteem, and encourages teamwork. These benefits have not only encouraged the growth of the gaming industry but have led to the trend of gamification which encourages and motivates participants to perform daily tasks usually not connected to gaming. Technological proliferation and innovations in both software and hardware, such as voice recognition, and virtual and augmented reality gaming, have further attracted a larger consumer-base.

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Market Drivers:

Rising penetration of internet and mobile phones, particularly in the emerging regions, is majorly stimulating the growth of the global gaming market. Apart from this, manufacturers have introduced downloadable content (DLC) which can range from extensive storyline to aesthetic outfit changes. The increasing sales of wearable gaming devices on account of inflating income levels of the consumers are also providing a thrust to the market growth. Additionally, rising adoption of browser and mobile games which provide free-to-play business models, along with a shift from physical to online games are creating a positive outlook for the market. Furthermore, the educators are seeking ways to supplement classroom teaching with gaming in order to help children develop certain life skills. Looking forward, the global gaming market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of about 10% during 2018-2023, reaching a value of US$ 171.7 Billion by 2023.

Market Summary:

• On the basis of device type, mobiles and tablets represent the largest segment, accounting for the majority of the total market share. Other major devices include consoles and computers.
• Based on platform, the market has been bifurcated into offline and online segments. Amongst these, the offline segment currently holds the largest market share. The online segment is expected to gain traction due to growing demand for multiplayer games on popular social networking sites.  
• The market has also been segregated on the basis of global game market revenue into game purchase and advertising. Currently, game purchase accounts for the dominant share as it offers a seamless gaming experience.
• On the basis of genre, adventure/role playing games represent the leading segment. Other segments include puzzles, social games, strategy and simulation.
• Based on the age group, the market has been divided into adult games and children games. Adult games currently lead the market, holding the largest market share.
• Region-wise, Asia Pacific enjoys the leading position, accounting for the majority of the global share. Within the region, China and Japan dominate the market on account of rising demand for entertainment. Besides Asia Pacific, other major regions include Europe, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa.
• The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the major players being Apple, Disney, Ubisoft, Sony, Nitendo, Microsoft, Sega, Facebook, Zynga and Konami.

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