The call for entries left editor, Daniel Wade, more than 2600 pieces to sift though and this year, we get 358 new characters to appreciate and drool over.  You may recognize a few gaming characters like Reiko Nagas from the Ridge Racer series, Sarah from Tabula Rasa, characters from and inspired by The Legend of Norrath, Magic: The Gathering, and even fanart of Marvel comics character, Ms. Marvel.  The programs used for each piece varies.  Most have been created using Photoshop and Painter with a complete listing of the programs used featured in the book’s index.  The index also features a list of artists with email addresses, websites, and page numbers of their featured artwork.

I’m always so impressed with not only the artist’s skill with the digital paint programs but their unbridled imaginations as well.  One of my favorite pieces featured in this collection is entitled “Sakura” by ScarletGothica from Italy.  It features a beautiful Geisha with Sakura branches growing painfully from her back with a big red sun, cherry blossoms, and koi fish in the background.  The background also features the famous wave from the Hokusai woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.  While I say that this piece is one of my favorites, with so many wonderful pieces, it’s very difficult to narrow it down.

Exotique 7 is a must have for people who love and appreciate digital character art.  Use it to inspire your own artwork or just to enjoy some of the hard work and endless imagination that these artists have shared with the world.

Exotique 7 is available for pre-order now though Ballistic Pulbisher’s website in a standard soft cover edition for $59.00 and a hardcover edition for $115.00. The hardcover edition is bound in black leather and features gold metallic embossing.  The first 100 customers to purchase Exotique 7 will also receive a  free A3 poster print of “Nimhue” by Omar Diaz which is featured in the collection and will be sent separately in a flatpack mailer to keep the print fold-free.

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Not only does this book feature the artwork from the game but also provides an in-depth look at the artwork from Art Director Robh Ruppel, Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells, Creative Director Amy Hennig and many more involved in the game’s creation.  You will see  how the characters developed into the ones we know from the game from their initial inception to their final look.  One of the coolest sections of the book is the Production Art Cinematics chapter.  Here you can see stills from the game paired up with stills taken from the motion capture sessions.  You get a great feel for the amount of time and effort that went into making the game as believable and as good as it turned out to be.  You can see how well the emotions on the mo-cap actor’s face is translated to its CGI counterpart.

You can really see how Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was one of the best games of 2009 and those of you who have not yet played it really need to run out and get it…now.  Fans of the Uncharted series will love getting the insight to how the game was created and art and cinematic lovers will enjoy this book for the beautiful imagery and information.

The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is available in three editions: the softcover for $65, the Special Edition for $129, and the Limited Folio Edition for $300.  The Special Edition features a brown suede leather-bound cover with gold embossed title and glossy art tip-on.  According to Ballistic’s website, this edition is sold out although you may be able to find it at other retailers. The Limited Folio Edition features a black suede leather-bound cover with gold embossed cover art, and a matching hand-crafted, black suede leather-bound presentation case with a ribbon so you can easily remove or store the Folio Edition book.  The Limited Folio Edition also comes with an individually numbered and hand-signed certificate of authenticity signed by Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells, Creative Director Amy Hennig, and Art Directors Robh Ruppel and Erick Pangilinan.  This edition is limited to 200 copies and is close to selling out.  If you order through the Ballistic Publishing website, you can even pick out the number of the edition that you want.

The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is available now.

A review copy of the softcover edition was provided by Ballistic Publishing and did not affect the outcome of this review.

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Each image has been color corrected to make sure that it’s as bright and vibrant as the artist’s original work.  The layouts are arranged by color palette to show off the artwork to its fullest beauty.  EXOTIQUE 6 features 11 double-page spreads and 93 full-page images.

“The EXOTIQUE series has launched the careers of many talented artists, and continues to shine a light on the best new talent in character design,” explains Publisher Daniel Wade. “The record number of entries from artists in many new countries shows that the EXOTIQUE series is reaching out to more artists, and providing a valuable platform to showcase their inspirational art.”

EXOTIQUE 6 features 229 artists with 344 pieces of digital artwork.  95 of these artists are being published for the first time.

EXOTIQUE 6 features artwork inspired by science fiction, fantasy, and anime/manga as well as some video game inspired pieces.  Not only are there works featuring beautiful women but some amazing and unique creatures as well.  The pieces range from photorealistic to painterly in style and will amaze and inspire any artist.

EXOTIQUE 6 makes a wonderful addition to any artist’s library and a wonderful coffee table book for those that appreciate great digital works.  Almost every print featured deserves to be framed and put on display.  Much thought and planning was put into the arrangement of the pieces and the book’s layout as each piece complements the one it resides next to and the eye flows from image to image with a natural ease.

EXOTIQUE 6 comes in two editions: a softcover for $59 and a Special Edition for $115.  The Special Edition features a leather-bound cover, with glossy tip-on artwork, gold foil titles, and specially-printed full-color endpapers featuring the art of Drazenka Kimpel and Jia Tian Yu.  If you pre-order either version through the Ballistic Publishing Store, you can download a specially-commissioned video walkthrough by EXOTIQUE 6 artist, Ruoxing Zhang.  The video walks you through Zhang’s panting style and her approach with her entry “Chang_e”.

EXOTIQUE 6 will begin shipping in December 2010.

A review copy of the softcover edition was provided by Ballistic Publishing and did not affect the outcome of this review.

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The book features the art along with commentary from the artists themselves.  The book starts off featuring storyboard concept art for the Opening sequences and the Final battle.  Next it showcases some of the key marketing art some of which has never been seen before!  The book is full of character concept art, 3d production models as well ass concept and production art for the weapons and environments seen throughout the game.  You will get an in-depth look at some of the inspirations of one of the greatest visual game series of our time from the artists that penned the artwork.  The book also showcases the “Lost Art” of God of War III that was not included in the game and can be seen for the first time in  ever in the pages of this book.  They are marked with a red Omega symbol.

If you are a fan of the God of War games, game art, or even Greek inspired art, you need to have this book in your library.  The book has 272 pages of glorious color images (some black and white ones too) all printed on glossy paper.  There are three versions of the book available: The soft cover versionfor $65.00 (which is what this review is based on), a leather-bound Special Edition for $129.00, and a collector’s Limited Folio Edition with a hand-crafter leather-bound presentation case, a hand-signed and numbered Certificate of Authenticity from Santa Monica Studios’s key creators, and a beautifully hand-carved metal cover ornament of the “Blade of Exile” for $300.00.

A review copy of the book was provided but did not affect the outcome of this review.

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Taylor was 14 years old and almost 300 pounds when he devised a weight loss plan that used strategies from his favorite past time, playing video games.  So many of us out there have tried to find that secret that will magically shed unwanted pounds.  While there have been fitness games in the past, there have been a mountain of them released when Nintendo released the Wii in 2006 and its fitness focused peripheral, WiiFit, later in 2007.  Since then, just about every game developer has tried to release the next best fitness game.  Taylor’s program isn’t actually a game at all, well, not for any particular game system.  His game, which he calls The Ultimate Fitness Game (UFG), can be played by anyone regardless of age or their love of gaming.

Taylor used the skills he learned playing video games to help devise a simple and extremely effective weight loss plan that allowed him to lose more than half his body weight over the course of 18 months.  He’s even been able to keep the weight off and even struggles sometimes with being a little underweight.

As a gamer, he realized that the same skills he used to build up a character or to successfully defeat a boss could be used to help him lose weight.  He named junk food as his enemies and fruits, vegetables, and exercise as his allies.  He researched every food he put in his mouth and learned about their nutritional values.  Foods that were good for him, he ate and foods that were not good for him, he ate in moderation or cut out from his diet completely.  Every morning he would convert his daily calories into money and he was only allowed to spend, or eat, what was in his budget.

This diet may not be for everyone but it’s probably one of the best ones out there.  It really focuses on the math and the common sense of caloric intake and output.  While it can be time consuming, it’s really no different to the countless hours we as gamers may spend on carefully leveling up a character.  If we were to take that same time and effort and put it into ourselves, results are guaranteed.

The book is broken up into two parts, the first half chronicles Taylor’s struggles with his weight and how he fought back.  The second half is focused on how you, the reader, can incorporate the UFG into your life.  He is quite open and honest about the things that he went through as an overweight kid and preteen and it’s inspirational how positive he remained throughout the entire process.  The book is very repetitive but it does so to drive the point home.  The book is a very easy read and can be read in a day or so.  Understandably, it is aimed at kids and teenagers however, adults can follow this plan with ease as well.

Taylor’s story is more than just a positive mark toward video games it is also a powerful story that shows that a little knowledge and will power can go a long way.  The true secret to weight loss isn’t in a pill or a fad diet, it lies within yourself to eat less and exercise more and Taylor is living proof of that.

You can check out Taylor’s website http://cuttingmyselfinhalf.com for recipes and more inspiration.  You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.  Since the book’s release in January 2010, Taylor was featured on several TV talk shows including Good Morning America and recently was chosen as one of ten teens who would represent Coca-Cola in the 2010 Winter Olympics and carry the Olympic torch.  The nominees were judged on their involvement in community service, concern for the environment, and physical fitness.  Taylor is an inspiration to no only kids and teens but adults who struggle with weight issues.  As he says, “everybody is amazingly amazing in their own way”.

A review copy of the book was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.