Book Description
In the early days of Pong and Pac Man, video games appeared to be little more than an idle pastime. Today, video games make up a $20 billion dollar industry that rivals television and film, and their influence is felt throughout all aspects of popular culture.
The Video Game Theory Reader brings together exciting new work on video games as a unique medium and nascent field of study--one that is rapidly developing new modes of understanding and analysis, like film studies in the 1960s and television studies in the 1980s. This pioneering collection addresses the many ways video games are reshaping the face of entertainment and our relationship with technology. In the volume, leading media studies scholars develop new theoretical tools and concepts to study video games. Drawing upon examples from widely popular games ranging from Space Invaders to Final Fantasy and Combat Flight Simulator, the contributors discuss the relationship between video games and other media; the shift from third- to first-person games; gamers and the gaming community; and the important sociological, cultural, industrial, and economic issues that surround gaming.
Accompanied by an extensive listing of all gaming consoles developed over thirty years since the birth of the video game in 1972, The Video Game Theory Reader is essential reading for scholars, gaming enthusiasts, and anyone interested in understanding the ever-changing world of digital entertainment.
The Video Game Theory Reader brings together exciting new work on video games as a unique medium and nascent field of study--one that is rapidly developing new modes of understanding and analysis, like film studies in the 1960s and television studies in the 1980s. This pioneering collection addresses the many ways video games are reshaping the face of entertainment and our relationship with technology. In the volume, leading media studies scholars develop new theoretical tools and concepts to study video games. Drawing upon examples from widely popular games ranging from Space Invaders to Final Fantasy and Combat Flight Simulator, the contributors discuss the relationship between video games and other media; the shift from third- to first-person games; gamers and the gaming community; and the important sociological, cultural, industrial, and economic issues that surround gaming.
Accompanied by an extensive listing of all gaming consoles developed over thirty years since the birth of the video game in 1972, The Video Game Theory Reader is essential reading for scholars, gaming enthusiasts, and anyone interested in understanding the ever-changing world of digital entertainment.
About the author
Mark J.P. Wolf is Assistant Professor of Communications at Concordia University, Wisconsin. Bernard Perron is Assistant Professor of Cinema at the University of Montreal.
