Game designer turns geek mafia

by Vladimir Cole { Jan 9th 2007 at 8:55AM }

Before you lynch us for recommending entertainment that's neither electronic nor interactive (books, they're the ultimate retro portable), know that GEEK MAFIA ain't just any book. First, it's hella cheap: $5. Second, the book features as hero protagonist a video game designer who gets entangled in a comic book counterfeiting scheme and uses game design skills to pull off a big con.

Author Rick Dakan's bio includes a hint of the intrigue that may have inspired the novel. According to his bio, Dakan dreamed up the idea for popular MMORPG City of Heroes, helped found Cryptic Studios, and was fired by his business partners three years later.

The kid's got chops, the book's getting props, and the price is right. We bought one.

[Via Seth Godin]

Tags: books, dakan, geek mafia, l33t, leet, richard dakan, rickdakan, videogames

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

pn18 @ Jan 9th 2007 9:03AM

n33d

theRat @ Jan 9th 2007 9:35AM

They mentioned this book in BoingBoing over the last month.
And of course, you can always download this book for free from the official page, if you are itching so much to give it a read before buying.

jon @ Jan 9th 2007 9:40AM

doesn't everybody already know J Allard's GT is Hero Protagonist?

chris @ Jan 9th 2007 10:51AM

If the book is good, I'm hoping it'll be turned into a movie.

Nick Mercer @ Jan 9th 2007 12:20PM

Should be an interesting read :)
-Nick

m3mnoch @ Jan 9th 2007 1:08PM

ha! that's awesome!

i was sitting here reading, "via seth godin? who the hell on the joystiq staff subscribes to his feed?"

"oh, yeah! vlad! i bet he posted it."

scrolled up. yep. there he is.

seth's the freakin' man.

word.

m3mnoch.

FSK405K @ Jan 9th 2007 3:54PM

$5? Amazon says, "Buy new: $11.86"

Mike @ Jan 9th 2007 7:48PM

Actually the name Hiro (not Hero) Protagonist is the name of the half-Black, half-Japanese protagonist from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. J Allard took it from him. It's kinda like calling yourself Harry Potter, but more obscure and interesting sounding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash