DOOM
IIPlaying the Game
The Culture of Digital Games
Playing the Game: The Culture of Digital Games
Bibliography
Recommended Texts
The two following texts provide useful introductions to the study of digital
games, each taking a different approach to the medium.
Salen,
Katie and Zimmerman, Eric (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals.
Cambridge, MA: MIT.This substantial tome comprises a systematic examination
of how games work (their rules), how they are experienced (played), and
how they fit into broader society (their cultural contexts). Written principally
for game designers and theorists, the material is thought-provoking and
engaging. The book is carefully structured, beautifully designed, and
even includes four specially commissioned games to illustrate key concepts.
See Pelletier (2005a) and Järvinen
(2004) for informative reviews.
Poole,
Steven (2000). Trigger Happy: Videogames and the Entertainment
Revolution. New York: Arcade. Retrieved 7th June 2008 from here
and here.This accessible and lively text sets out to discuss
the 'inner life' of digital games: their history, increasing popularity,
and their place within contemporary culture. Chapters examine key aspects
of the medium including genre, realism, film, narrative, space, gender,
interaction, semiotics, pacing, violence, and games of the future. Available
as a free download here
and here.
Reviewed by Dickinson (2001). See also the BBC
documentary of the same name, presented by Poole.
Books and Articles
Aarseth, E. J. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Difficult
but thought-provoking.
Aarseth, Espen. (2004). Genre Trouble: Narrativism
and the Art of Simulation. In: Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan,
(eds) (2004). First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and
Game. Designed by Michael Crumpton. Cambridge, MA: MIT, pp. 45-55.
Alvisi, Alberto (2006). The Economics of Digital Games. In: Rutter,
Jason and Bryce, Jo (eds) (2006). Understanding Digital Games. London:
Sage, pp. 58-74.
Anderson, Craig A., Gentile, Douglas A., and Buckley, Katherine E.
(2006). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory,
Research, and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Atkins,
Barry (2003a). More than a Game: The Computer Game as Fictional
Form. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Focuses
on four case studies: Tomb-Raider (adventure), Half-Life (action), SimCity
(simulation) and Close Combat (strategy). Reviewed by Kücklich
(2003).
Atkins,
Barry (2003b). The Aesthetics of Iteration: The Plurality of Spectacle
in Narrative Video Games. Presented at Level
Up Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference. Retrieved
14th October 2005 from here.
Atkins discusses the distinctive aesthetic (enjoyment)
of playing digital games by means of the concept of iteration, i.e.
repetition with difference.
Atkins,
Barry (2004). To Infinity and Beyond? Dialogue and Critique in Popular
Cinema's Portrayals of Video Games. TEXT Technology 1, pp. 35-51.
Retrieved 10th September 2007 from here.
Atkins uses Men
in Black II and Toy
Story 2 to examine the convergence of digital game and film.
Beck, John (2004). Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping
Business Forever. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School.
Bekoff, Marc and Byers, John A. (eds) (1998). Animal Play: Evolutionary,
Comparative And Ecological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. On the evolution, functions, and benefits
of play, in animals (including humans).
Bogost, Ian (2006). Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame
Criticism. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Bogost
synthesises literary and information theory as a proposed method of
digital game analysis.
Bogost, Ian (2007). Persuasive Games: The
Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Bogost
examines the forms of rhetoric unique to digital games. See also his
NPR interview.
Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard (1999).
Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Borries, Friedrich von, Walz, Steffen P., and Böttger, Matthias (eds)
(2007). Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism:
the Next Level. Basel: Birkhäuser. Introduction
available here.
Braithwaite, Brenda (2006). Sex in Video Games. Boston, MA:
Charles River Media. Chapter 1 is available here.
Brazell, Jim Brodie, Kim, Nicholas, and Starbuck, Honoria (2004).
Gaming: A Technology Forecast, Implications for Community and Technical
Colleges in the State of Texas. IC2 Institute, University of Texas.
February. Report examining the trends, opportunities,
and potential benefits of academic participation in the game industry,
including much useful research and information.
Bryce, Jo and Rutter, Jason (2002). Killing
Like a girl: Gendered Gaming and Girl Gamers Visibility. In: Frans Mäyrä,
ed. Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings. Tampere:
Tampere University Press, pp. 243-55. Retrieved 29th November 2005 from
here or here.
Buckingham, David, Burn, Andrew, Carr, Diane, Thompson, John and
Schott, Gareth (2006). Computer Games: Text, Narrative And Play.
Cambridge: Polity. A solid introductory overview
of key aspects of Game Studies, with short, accessible chapters. Illustrative
examples are drawn especially from role-playing games such as Baldur's
Gate and Final Fantasy.
Burill, Derek A. (2002). 'Oh, Grow Up 007': The Performance of Bond
and Boyhood in Film and Videogames. In: Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska,
eds (2002). ScreenPlay: cinema/videogames/interfaces. London:
Wallflower Press, pp. 181-93.
Burrill, Derek A. (2008). Die Tryin': Videogames, Masculinity,
Culture. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Caillois, R. (2001). Man, Play and Games. Barash,
M., trans. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Caillois
suggests a classification of games based on four key qualities - competition,
chance, simulation and vertigo - and examines the social role of each.
Carr, Diane (2006). Games and Gender. In: Buckingham,
David, Burn, Andrew, Carr, Diane, Thompson, John and Schott, Gareth.
Computer Games: Text, Narrative And Play. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cassell, Justine and Jenkins,
Henry (eds) (1998). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and
Computer Games. Harvard: MIT.
Castronova, Edward (2005). The Ideas Interview. Guardian,
19 September. Retrieved 22nd September 2005 from here.
A brief interview discussing the potential for
synthetic worlds like those of massively multiplayer online role-playing
games (MMORPGs).
Castronova, Edward (2005). Synthetic Worlds: The Business and
Culture of Online Games. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Brief
review available on The
Guardian site.
Clarke, A. and Mitchell, G. 2007. Videogames and Art. Chicago:
Chicago University Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1991). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience. Harper Perennial. Reprinted as
Flow: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness.
Cohen, Stanley (1980). Folk Devils and Moral
Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. 2nd ed. Oxford: Martin
Robertson. The original text addressing moral panics
generated by the media.
Combs, James E. (2000). Play World: The Emergence of the New Ludenic
Age. Praeger.
Consalvo, Mia (2003). Hot Dates and Fairy-Tale
Romances: Studying Sexuality in Video Games. In: Mark J. P. Wolf and
Perron, B. (eds) The Video Game Theory Reader. London: Routledge,
pp. 171-94.
Consalvo,
Mia (2005a). Gaining Advantage: How Videogame Players Define and
Negotiate Cheating. Presented at the DiGRA
Changing Views: Worlds in Play Conference, Vancouver, BC,
June 2005. Retrieved 21st June 2008 from here.
Consalvo,
Mia (2005b). Cheating Can be Good For You: Educational Games and
Multiple Play Styles. On the Horizon 13(2).
Consalvo, Mia (2007). Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames.
Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Copier, Marinka and Raessens, Joost (eds) (2003). Level
Up: Digital Games Research Conference Proceedings. Utrecht,
the Netherlands: Faculty of the Arts, University of Utrecht. Retrieved
3rd September 2005 from here.
Book and CD-ROM collecting the papers delivered
at the DiGRA 2003 conference.
Crawford,
Chris (1982). The Art of Computer Game Design. Berkeley,
CA: Osborne McGraw-Hill. Retrieved 3rd September 2005 from here
(pdf), here
(pdf) or here
(html). One of the earliest serious studies of
digital games. (Japanese translation available here.)
Crawford, Chris (2003).
Chris Crawford on Game Design. Thousand Oaks, CA: New Riders.
Critcher, Chas (2003). Moral Panics and the Media. Open University
Press.
Critcher, Chas (ed.) (2006). Critical Readings: Moral Panics and
the Media. Open University Press. Forthcoming.
de Freitas, Sara (2006). Learning in Immersive Worlds: A review of
game-based learning. JISC. Retrieved 16 March 2007 from here.
A report on the use of games for learning. Includes
a literature review, case studies, and discussion of key themes.
DeKoven, Bernie (2002). The Well-Played Game:
A Playful Path to Wholeness. 3rd ed. Lincoln, NE: Writers Club.
See DeKoven's website here.
DeMaria, Rusel and Wilson, Johnny L. (2004).
High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. 2nd
ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. A lush, illustrated
history of computer games from the 1960s to the beginning of the new
millenium.
Dennett, Daniel C. (1979). Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on
Mind and Psychology. Hassocks: Harvester. Includes
an explanation of the intentional stance (pp. 3-9).
Dennett, Daniel C. (1987). The Intentional
Stance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dennett's
notion of the 'intentional stance' provides a potentially useful way
of approaching digital games.
Dennett, Daniel C. (1996). Kinds of Minds:
Towards an Understanding of Consciousness. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson. Includes a short introduction to Dennett's
notion of the 'intentional stance', pp. 35-41.
Deuber-Mankowsky, A. (2005). Lara Croft: Cyber Heroine. Dominic
J. Bonfiglio (trans.). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Chapter 7 ('The Interactive Movie') available here.
Dickinson, Kay (2001). Steven Poole’s Trigger
Happy: The Secret Life of Videogames. New Media and Society
3(2). An informative and somewhat critical review
of Poole (2000).
Dovey, Jon and Kennedy, Helen (2006). Game
Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. Open University Press.
Egenfeldt-Nielson, S., Smith, J. H. and Tosca, S. P. (2008). Understanding
Video Games: The Essential Introduction. London: Routledge. Companion
website available here.
Ehrmann, Jacques (1968). Homo Ludens Revisited. Cathy Lewis and Phil
Lewis (trans.). Yale French Studies 41 ('Game, Play, Literature'),
pp. 31-57. A demanding discussion of the relationship
between play, culture and reality in Huizinga,
Callois and Benveniste.
ESA (2006). 2006 Sales, demographic and usage
data: Essential facts about the computer and video game industry. Entertainment
Software Association. Retrieved 29 January, 2007 here.
Up-to-date sales, demographics and usage data for
the digital games industry in the USA.
Escaping the IP Maze (2006). Edge 165 (August), pp. 8-13.
Informative discussion of intellectual property
(IP), copyright and patents, in relation to digital games.
Facer, Keri (no date). Computer Games and Learning:
Why do we think it’s worth talking about games and learning in the same
breath. Nesta Futurelab discussion paper. Retrieved 1st December 2005
from here.
Facer, Keri, Ulicsak, Mary and Sandford, Richard (2007). Can Computer
Games Go to School? In: Becta. Emerging Technologies for Learning.
Coventry: British Educational Communications and Technology Agency.
Retrieved 30 March 2007 from here.
FAS (2007). Harnessing the Power of Video Games for Learning. Washington,
DC: Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 30 March 2007 from
here.
Friedman, Ted (1999). Civilization and Its Discontents:
Simulation, Subjectivity, and Space. In: Smith, Greg (ed.) On a Silver
Platter: CD-ROMs and the Promises of a New Technology. New York:
New York University Press, pp. 132-150. Retrieved 7th August 2005 from
here and here.
An exploration of player subjectivity whilst playing
Civilization: you identify with the computer and enter into a
'cyborg consciousness'. Simulation games take geography as the narrative's
protagonist.
Fuller, Mary and Jenkins, Henry (1995). Nintendo® and New World
Travel Writing: A Dialogue. In: Jones, Steven G. (ed.) CyberSociety:
Computer-Mediated Communication and Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage,
pp. 57-72. Fuller and Jenkins show how a digital
game can be considered a kind of travel narrative.
Galloway, A. R. (2006). Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture.
Minneapolis, MN: Univeristy of Minnesota Press. Review
by Thomas Beard available here.
Gee, James Paul (2004). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About
Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. A
discussion of the educational benefits of playing digital games.
Geyl, Pieter (1963). Huizinga as Accuser of his Age. History and
Theory 2(3), pp. 231-262. A long, political
critique of the work of Johan Huizinga.
Giddings, Seth (2005). Playing with Nonhumans:
Digital Games as Technocultural Form. In: de Castells and Jensen (eds)
Selected Papers from Worlds in Play: Digra Conference 2005. DiGRA/Simon
Fraser University. Retrieved 25th October from here
and here.
Giddings applies cybernetics,
actor-network theory and Dennett's intentional
stance to digital games. Originally delivered at DiGRA
2005 conference.
Gray, Chris Hables with Figueroa-Sarriera, Heidi J. and Mentor, Steven
(eds) (1995). The Cyborg Handbook. London: Routledge. A
wide-ranging and informative selection of readings on cybernetics and
cyborgs. The editors' introduction is an excellent means of approaching
this topic.
Green, C.S. and Bavelier, D. (2007). Action-Video-Game Experience
Alters the Spatial Resolution of Vision. Psychological Science.
18(1) (January), pp. 88-94. Research demonstrating
that action video games actually enhance several different aspects of
players' visual processing.
Greenfield, Patricia Marks (1984). Mind and Media: The Effects
of Television, Video Games and Computers. London: Fontana. Rather
old now, but one of the first texts to address the pessimistic claims
made about contemporary media. Chapter 7 discusses digital games, including
a lengthy analysis of Pac-Man.
Griffiths, Mark (2005). Video Games and Health. British Medical
Journal 331(7509). July. pp. 122-123. A short
article which summarises research into the health effects of digital
games, and concludes that "video gaming is safe for most players
and can be useful in health care". Available on Brookes' electronic
catalogue.
Hallford, Neal and Hallford, Jana (2002). Swords and Circuitry:
A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games. Course Technology
PTR.
Hawisher, Gail E. and Selfe, Cynthia L. (2007). Gaming Lives in
the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan. This collection examines the claim that
computer games can improve literacy and provide positive learning environments.
Hayles, N. Katherine (1999). How We Became
PostHuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics.
London: University of Chicago Press.
Heins, Marjorie (2002). Brief Amica Curiae of Thirty Media Scholars
in Interactive Digital Software Association et al vs. St. Louis County
et al. Retrieved 20th December 2005 from here.
Submitted by the Free Expression
Policy Project to the United States Court of Appeals, opposing a
law that barred minors from digital games containing 'graphic violence'.
Huizinga, Johan (1970). Homo Ludens: A Study
of the Play Element in Culture. London: Temple Smith.
Huizinga analyses the importance of play for the development of human
culture. See the review by Voegelin (1948).
Herz, J. C. (1997). Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters,
Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds. Boston, MA: Little Brown.
Järvinen, Aki (2004). A Meaningful Read:
Rules of Play reviewed. Game
Studies 4(1). Retrieved 30th December 2005 from here.
Review of Salen and Zimmerman
(2004), one of the module's recommended texts.
Jenkins,
Henry (1999a). Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee,
May 4. Retrieved 3rd October 2005 from here.
This is the text of Henry
Jenkins' testimony before the U.S. Senate on the question of digital
games and violence following the Colombine
High School shootings of 1999. He argues that there is a complex
relationship between media and violence.
Jenkins,
Henry (1999b). Professor Jenkins Goes to Washington. Harper's
Magazine, July. Retrieved 5th January 2005 from here.
Jenkin's (often amusing) account of his testimony
before the U.S. Senate regarding digital games and violence, originally
published in Harper's Magazine.
Jenkins,
Henry (2000). Lessons from Littleton: What Congress Doesn't Want
to Hear about Youth and Media. Independent School, Winter. Retrieved
5th January 2006 from here.
Account of the moral panic following the Colombine
High School shootings of 1999.
Jenkins,
Henry (no date). Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked.
The Video Game Revolution. Retrieved 30th December 2005 from
here.
Jenkins addresses the gap between the public's
perception of digital games and what the research actually shows.
Johnson, Bobbie (2005). Gamers Get to Grips with Hollywood. Guardian,
21 May, p. 12. Retrieved 3rd December 2005 from here.
A short dicussion of the increasing convergence
between digital games and films.
Johnson, Steven (2005a). Everything Bad Is
Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.
London: Allen Lane. In this short book Johnson
argues that increasingly sophisticated popular culture is making us
smarter, not dumber. He discusses digital games throughout, but particularly
on pp. 17-60.
Johnson, Steven (2005b). Want to Exercise Your Mind? Try Playstation.
The Times, Tech & Net Section. 13th May. Retrieved 27th September
2005 from here.
A short extract from the first sections of Johnson's
book (2005a).
Juul, Jesper (2005). Half-Real: Video Games
between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT. A
technical examination of games which characterises them as half real
(real rules) and half fiction (unreal worlds). Associated website available
here.
Kane, Pat (2005). The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different
Way of Living. London: Pan. Associated website
here,
and interview with the author here.
Kennedy, Helen (2002). Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo? On
the Limits of Textual Analysis. Game Studies 2(2). Retrieved
5th March 2007 from here.
Kerr, Aphra (2006b). The Business of Making
Digital Games. In: Rutter, Jason and Bryce, Jo (eds) (2006). Understanding
Digital Games. London: Sage, pp. 36-57.
Kimppa, K. K. and Bissett, A. K. (2005). The Ethical Significance
of Cheating in Online Computer Games. International
Review of Information Ethics 4 (December 2005).
Kinder, Marsha (1991). Playing with Power in Movies, Television,
and Video Games: From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Berkeley: University of California Press. Analyses
how these media shape the way children perceive the world.
King, Geoff and Krzywinska, Tanya (eds) (2002). ScreenPlay: cinema/videogames/interfaces.
London: Wallflower Press. An examination of the
relationships between digital games and films.
King, Geoff and Krzywinska, Tanya (2005). Tomb Raiders and Space
Invaders: Videogame Forms and Contexts. London: I. B. Tauris. Discusses
many games, concentrating particularly on the experiences and pleasures
available to players.
Kline, Stephen, Dyer-Witheford, Nick and De Peuter, Greig (2003).
Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing.
McGill-Queen's University Press.
Kücklich , Julian (2003). Review: The Return
of the Aura – Barry Atkins' More Than A Game. Game Research.
Retrieved 5th January 2005 from here.
A review of Atkins (2003).
Latour, Bruno (1992). Where are the Missing Masses?
The Sociology of a Few Mundane Artefacts’. In: Bijker, W. & Law J. (eds)
Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change.
Boston MA: MIT Press. Retrieved 25th October from here.
Lister, Martin et al. (2003). New Media: A
Critical Introduction. London: Routledge. Includes
a useful discussion of 'Gameplay', pp. 260-86.
Loftus, G. R. and Loftus, E. F. (1983). Mind
at Play: The Psychology of Video Games. New York: Basic Books. An
examination of why we enjoy playing digital games.
Mäyrä, Frans (ed.) (2002). Computer Games and Digital Cultures.
Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere. Introduction
available here
and here.
Mäyrä, Frans (2008). An Introduction to Game Studies: Games in
Culture. London: Sage. A critical analysis
of the development of digital games through the decades. Accompanying
websites available here and
here.
McFarlane, Angela, Sparrowhawk, Anne and
Heald, Ysanne (2002). Report on the Educational Use of Games. Cambridge:
TEEM. Retrieved 1st December 2005 from here.
Mitchell, Alice and Savill-Smith, Carol (2004).
The Use of Computer and Video Games for Learning: A Review of the Literature.
London: Learning & Skills Development Agency. Retrieved 1st December
2005 from here.
Montola, Markus (2005). Exploring the Edge of the Magic Circle: Defining
Pervasive Games. DAC 2005 conference, 1-3 December. IT University of
Copenhagen. Retrieved 16 March 2007 from here.
Montola relates the magic circle to pervasive games
such as alternate reality games, reality games, trans-reality games
and crossmedia games.
Murray, J. H. (2001). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative
in Cyberspace. Cambridge, MA: MIT. On the potential
of interactive storytelling, of relevance to the future of digital games.
Myers, David (2003). The Nature of Computer Games: Play As Semiosis.
New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Taking a semiotic
approach to digital games, Myers discusses Spacewar!,
DOOM, Civilization, Might
and Magic, and many more.
Newman, James (2004). Videogames. London: Routledge.
Oram, Barney and Newman, James (2006). Teaching Video Games.
London: British Film Institute.
Pelletier, Caroline (2005a). Review of Katie
Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals.
Visual Communication 4(1), pp. 121-24. Retrieved 12 January 2006 from
here.
Review of Salen and Zimmerman
(2004), one of the module's recommended texts.
Pelletier, Caroline (2005b). The Uses of Literacy
in Studying Computer Games: Comparing Students' Oral and Visual Representations
of Games. English Teaching: Practice and Critique 4(1) (May),
pp. 40-59. Retrieved 29th November from here.
Discusses digital gameplay and the performance
of gender.
Pickering, Michael (2001). Stereotyping: The
Politics of Representation. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Chapter
7 discusses moral panics.
Provenzo, Eugene F. (1991). Video Kids: Making Sense of Nintendo.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Provenzo
examines Nintendo games in the early 90s, arguing that they are worryingly
sexist and aggressive.
Pytlik, Mark (2007). The Gaming Industry: An Opportunity for Brands.
Contagious Special Reports. Xtreme Information. Retrieved 4 September
2008 from here.
Report on gaming from a marketing perspective.
Raessens, Joost and Goldstein, Jeffrey (eds) (2005). Handbook
of Computer Game Studies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rutter, Jason and Bryce, Jo (eds) (2006). Understanding Digital
Games. London: Sage. Introduction is available
here.
Ryan, M. (2003). Narrative As Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity
in Literature and Electronic Media. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Salen, Katie and Zimmerman, Eric (eds) (2005). The Game Design
Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. MIT Press. A
collection of key readings on games which complements Salen & Zimmerman's
own text.
Saunders, Wayne (2000). Family Resemblances. The
Life of Games. April. Retrieved 26th September 2005 from here.
A discussion of the problems involved in trying
to draw a sharp distinction between games and puzzles.
Schechter, Harold (2005). Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History
of Violent Entertainment. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Shaffer, David Williamson (2006). How Computer Games Help Children
Learn. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. On the
educational potential of digital games.
Sniderman, Stephen (1999). Unwritten Rules. The Life of Games
1 (October), pp. 2-7. Retrieved 14th October 2005 from here.
Spock, Benjamin and Parker, Stephen J. (1998). Dr. Spock's Baby
and Child Care. 7th ed. New York: Pocket Books. Includes
a brief discussion of the evils of computer games (p. 625). See also
Johnson (2005a, pp. 17-25).
Squire, Kurt (2001). Moral Panic, Cultural Backlash and Reconstructing
Video Games. Re:constructions. Retrieved 5th January 2006 from
here.
Discussion of digital games and moral panics following
the September 11 attacks.
Stephenson, William (1988). The Play Theory of Mass Communication.
New Brunswick: Transaction Books. Stephenson develops
Huizinga's approach to the importance of play for
human culture.
Suits, Bernard (1967). What Is A Game? Philosophy of Science
34, p. 148. Retrieved 13th November 2005 from here.
Suits provides a precise definition of what he
believes it is to play a game.
Sutton-Smith, Brian (2001). The Ambiguity
of Play. Boston: Harvard University Press. Sutton-Smith
discusses the ambiguous nature of play, and examines the rhetoric underlying
several different attempts to explain it. Clearly written.
Swalwell, Melanie and Wilson, Jason (eds) (2008). The Pleasures
of Computer Gaming: Essays on Cultural History, Theory and Aesthetics.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Szulborski, Dave (2005). This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate
Reality Gaming. New Fiction Publishing.
Taubin, Amy (1999). He Got Game: David Cronenberg’s Virtual Surreality.
Village Voice. 21-27 April. Retrieved 22nd October 2005 from
here.
Interview with Cronenberg discussing eXistenZ.
Taylor, T. L. (2006). Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game
Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Examination of
persistent virtual worlds, focusing particularly on Everquest.
Thompson, Kenneth (1998). Moral Panics. London: Routledge.
Accessible introduction to the topic with several
examples (though none focusing on digital games).
Tilghman, B. R. (1973). Wittgenstein, Games, and Art. Journal
of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 31(4) (Summer), pp. 517-524. Includes
an accessible explanation and discussion of Wittgenstein's approach
to games.
Turkle, Sherry (1996). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age
of the Internet. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Chapter
7 discusses MUDs.
Turkle, Sherry (2005). The Second Self: Computers
and the Human Spirit. 20th Anniversary edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Gaming and identity. A short extract is included
in Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort (2003).
Voegelin, Eric (1948). Book Review: Homo
Ludens: Versuch einer Bestimmung des Spielements der Kultur by Jan
Huizinga. Journal of Politics 10(1) (February), pp. 179-187.
Informative review of Huizinga's Homo
Ludens (1970).
Vorderer, Peter and Bryant, Jennings (eds) (2006). Playing Video
Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Montfort, Nick (eds)
(2003). The New Media Reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Includes
some discussion of games, e.g. Turkle (pp. 499-513),
Laurel (pp. 571-73) and Morningstar and Farmer (pp. 663-77). The associated
CD-ROM includes a number of games, including Spacewar! and several early
Atari and Apple games. There is an accompanying website, with exerpts,
here.
Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Harrigan, Pat (eds) (2004). First Person:
New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. Designed by Michael Crumpton.
Cambridge, MA: MIT. A series of intertwining essays
discussing aspects of digital games considered as storytelling or literature.
Authors respond to one another's essays here and on the associated
website.
Wark, McKenzie (2007). Gamer Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press. Densely theoretical discussion
of games as a way of understanding contemporay life; a short podcast
in which Wark discusses his book is available here.
Wiener, Norbert (1950). The Human Use of Human
Beings: Cybernetics and Society. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
A popular explanation of cybernetics by Wiener
himself.
Wiener, Norbert (2003). Men, Machines, and the
World About. In: Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Montfort,
Nick (eds) The New Media Reader. Cambridge, MA: MIT. A
short, accessible account by Weiner of the background to his investigations
into cybernetics.
Williams, Dmitri
(2003a). The Video Game Lightning Rod: Constructions of a New Media
Technology, 1970-2000. Information, Communication and Society,
6(4), pp. 523-550. Retrieved 14 January 2005 from here.
Meticulously researched socio-historical account
of the reception and rhetoric of digital games in the American press,
including sections on age, gender, vilification and redeption.
Williams,
Dmitri (2003b). Review of Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.), The Medium of
the Video Game. Popular Communication, 1(4), pp. 251-253.
Retrieved 14 January 2005 from here.
Williams, J. Patrick and Smith, Jonas Heide (2007). The Players’
Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming. Jefferson,
NC, McFarland. Digital games from a broadly sociological
perspective.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1968). Philosophical
Investigations. 3rd edition. Oxford: Blackwell. One
of the most important philosophical works of the twentieth century,
which includes a short discussion of the concept 'games' (§66-71).
Wolf, Mark J. P. (ed.) (2001). The Medium of the Video Game.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. A collection
of essays examining the history, form and culture of video games. Chapter
6 is available
online. Reviewed by Williams (2003b).
Wolf, M. J. P. and Perron, B. (eds) (2003). The Video Game Theory
Reader. London: Routledge. A collection of
essays discussing different aspects of digital gameplay, particularly
players' engagement with games.
Academic Journals
Communications
of the ACM. Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery.
Vol. 50 No. 7 (July 2007) is a special issue on
'Creating a science of games'.
Eludamos. Journal for Computer
Game Culture. Transdisciplinary journal, established
2007.
European Journal of Cultural Studies.
Vol. 11 No. 2 (May 2008) is a special issue devoted
to digital games.
Fibreculture. Australian-based
journal of network theory. Issue 8 concerns 'Gaming Networks'.
Games and
Culture. A Journal of Interactive Media. University of Southern
California. 2006-to date. Published quarterly from
January 2006.
Game Studies. The International
Journal of Computer Game Research. 2001-to date.
E-journal examining the aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects
of computer games. Published once or twice a year.
International Review of Information
Ethics. Issue 4 (December 2005) is a special
issue on 'The Ethics of E-Games'.
The Journal of Computer
Game Design. 1987-1996. Chris
Crawford produced journal. Name changed to Interactive Entertainment
Design in 1993.
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Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. Established
2007.
Media
International Australia. No. 110 (Feb 2004),
edited by Chris Chesher and Brigid Costello, is entitled 'The Games
Issue: Studying Computer Games as Media'.
On the Horizon. Strategic Planning
Resource for Education Professionals. MCB University Press. Vol.
12 No. 1 (2004) and Vol. 13 No. 2 (2005) are special issues on 'Serious
Games'.
Refractory.
A Journal of Entertainment Media. The essays in
Volume 13 (May 2008) concern 'Games and Metamateriality'.
Conferences
Several international conferences devoted to the study of digital games
have made papers, presentations, abstacts and videos available online.
Broadening the
Band. The Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
Conference 4, University of Toronto, October 2003.
Four-day conference on the internet, including panels on Gaming:
Communities of Play, Online
Gaming Networks, Network
Formations: Producing and Consuming Online Games and Fans
and Players: Media Communities. All
abstracts listed.
Computer Games and Digital Textualities.
Nordic Conference, Information Technology University of Copenhagen,
March 2001. Two-day conference. Abstracts
available.
DiGRA
2002: Computer Games and Digital Cultures. Digital Games Research
Association Conference, University of Tampere, June 2002. Conference
on digital games. All
papers available.
DiGRA
2003: Level Up. Digital Games Research Association Conference, University
of Utrecht, November 2003. Four-day conference
on digital games. All
papers available.
DiGRA
2005: Changing Views, Worlds in Play. Digital Games Research Association
Conference, Vancouver, June 2005. Four-day conference
on digital games. Most
papers available.
DiGRA
2007: Situated Play. Digital Games Research Association Conference,
University of Tokyo, September 2007. Five-day conference
on digital games. All
papers available.
Digital Arts & Culture
Conferences, 1998-present. A series of international
conferences including many papers on games. Most papers available.
Games
in Education. Education
Arcade Conference, Los Angeles Convention Center, May 2004. Two-day
conference on games and education. Videos
and audios of all presentations available (if you can get them to
work).
Games
in Education. Education
Arcade Conference, Los Angeles Convention Center, May 2005. Two-day
conference on games and education. Videos
of all presentations available (if you can get them to work).
Law, Games, and Virtual
Worlds. State of Play Conference 1, New
York Law School, November 2003. Three-day conference
on digital games. Most
papers available.
Playing With
the Future. Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC)
Conference, University of Manchester, April 2002. Three-day
conference on digital games. All
abstracts are listed, and several of the papers have been published
in Game Studies and in
Information,
Communication and Society.
Serious Games Summit.
CMP Game Group, Washington DC, 2005. Annual conference
devoted to the study of "non-entertainment games". Abstracts
available.
Women
in Games. Conference, University of Portsmouth, June 2004. Two-day
conference on women and games. PowerPoint
presentations available.
Games Sites and Blogs
01play.net. Games
news collated by Massimo Curatella.
Cerise. A
monthly online magazine by and for women gamers.
Digiplay Initiative. Lots
of resources, including a large bibliography
and a useful gaming
timeline.
Dmitri
Williams Research Page. Includes copies of
several useful academic articles and book chapters.
Edge: Videogame Culture.
Accompanying website for the best commercial UK
games magazine.
ELSPA. Website
for the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association of
the UK.
Entertainment Software Association.
US association for digital games publishers.
Erasmatazz. Game
designer Chris Crawford's website, including a huge Library
of game-related writing.
Gamasutra. Huge
site for game developers, including news and articles.
Gamasutra Education.
A large collection of postgraduate research, mostly
focusing on game development but including useful theoretical and academic
material too.
GAM3R 7H3ORY.
Experimental collaborative book by McKenzie Wark.
Game Research. The
art, science and business of digital games, including many useful book
reviews.
GamePolitics. Updates
on legislation and the political reception of digital games, with a
USA focus.
Games are Art. Quirky
site, most interested in innovative and avant-garde games.
Grumpy Gamer. Blog
by Ron Gilbert, creator of the first two Monkey
Island games.
Guardian Unlimited Games
Blog. Guardian newspaper blog.
Half-Real Dictionary
of Video Game Theory. Compiled by Jesper Juul.
Henry Jenkins.
See the sections of Jenkins' site on Media
Convergence, Children's
Culture, and his list of publications.
Internet Archive:
Game Videos. Huge archive of digital game videos,
including previews, machinima, speed runs, replays, and more.
Joystick101.org. Group
blog.
Ludology.org. Blog
by Gonzalo Frasca.
Popular Culture Gaming.
Blog by Bryan-Mitchell Young.
Project Massive. Ongong
research into online gaming.
Red vs Blue. Witty
machinima based on the Halo games. Visit the archive
or watch the most recent
episodes.
Ren Reynolds:
Game Studies. Includes an extensive bibliography
of Game Studies texts and many useful links.
Serious Games Initiative.
Pursues the use of games in education, training,
health, and public policy. Includes links to Games
for Health and Games for
Change.
Steven
Poole. Archive of Poole's column for Edge
magazine (up to 2005).
Teaching
With Games. Reports by Futurelab
on projects investigating the use of commercial games in education.
The Video
Game Revolution. Site accompanying the PBS
TV programme. Includes sections on game
history, essays,
et al.
Virtual Economy Research Network.
Site devoted to the real-money trade of virtual
property and related phenomena, including gaming items and characters.
Includes a useful bibliography and a blog.
Zero
Punctuation. Irreverant, animated, high-speed,
game reviews.
Games Documentaries
Bobin, James (director/producer) (2001). Thumb Candy [television
broadcast]. 49 min. UK: Talkback/Channel 4. Retrieved 6 June 2008 from
here. Iain
Lee presents an account of the early days of digital games (1960s-1980s),
including interviews (and gameplaying) with the early games inventors.
Palmer, Greg (producer) (2004). The
Video Game Revolution [television broadcast]. 120 min. Seattle,
USA: KCTS/PBS. An 'entertaining look at the world
of games', including a history, interviews with key figures, issues
of violence and addiction, and the potential future of the medium.
Parkin, Richard (director) (2004). Trigger
Happy: The Irresistible Rise of the Videogame [television broadcast].
29 min. UK: BBC. Retrieved 6 June 2008 from here.
Enthusiastic documentary looking at the growing
importance of digital games, with talking heads Julian
Opie, David
Puttnam, Peter
Molyneux, Susan
Greenfield, et al. Presented by Steven Poole.
Talk of the Nation: New Video Games Entertain
and Educate (21 June 2007) [radio broadcast]. 17 min. Washington,
DC: NPR. Retrieved 25 June 2008 from here.
Ian Bogost, author of Persuasive
Games, discusses the persuasion, instruction and activism of 'serious
games'. Interview by Neal Conan.
Games on Film
DOOM (2005).
The Rock's team of marines battle nightmarish monsters
and their own demons. Fun gun-fest.
eXistenZ
(1999). Jude Law gets trapped inside a computer
game: or does he? Thoughtful sci-fi written and directed by David
Cronenberg.
The Game
(1997). Michael Douglas gets trapped inside a real-life
game: or does he? Thought-provoking thriller directed by David
Fincher.
Lara
Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). Angelina Jolie
is trapped inside a film adaptation of the popular computer game: fun.
It happened again in a 2003
sequel.
