Download or read book An Introduction to Game Studies written by Frans Mäyrä and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2008-02-18 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Introduction to Game Studies is the first introductory textbook for students of game studies. It provides a conceptual overview of the cultural, social and economic significance of computer and video games and traces the history of game culture and the emergence of game studies as a field of research. Key concepts and theories are illustrated with discussion of games taken from different historical phases of game culture. Progressing from the simple, yet engaging gameplay of Pong and text-based adventure games to the complex virtual worlds of contemporary online games, the book guides students towards analytical appreciation and critical engagement with gaming and game studies. Students will learn to: - Understand and analyse different aspects of phenomena we recognise as ′game′ and play′ - Identify the key developments in digital game design through discussion of action in games of the 1970s, fiction and adventure in games of the 1980s, three-dimensionality in games of the 1990s, and social aspects of gameplay in contemporary online games - Understand games as dynamic systems of meaning-making - Interpret the context of games as ′culture′ and subculture - Analyse the relationship between technology and interactivity and between ′game′ and ′reality′ - Situate games within the context of digital culture and the information society With further reading suggestions, images, exercises, online resources and a whole chapter devoted to preparing students to do their own game studies project, An Introduction to Game Studies is the complete toolkit for all students pursuing the study of games. The companion website at www.sagepub.co.uk/mayra contains slides and assignments that are suitable for self-study as well as for classroom use. Students will also benefit from online resources at www.gamestudiesbook.net, which will be regularly blogged and updated by the author. Professor Frans Mäyrä is a Professor of Games Studies and Digital Culture at the Hypermedia Laboratory in the University of Tampere, Finland.
Download or read book An Introduction to Game Studies written by Frans Mäyrä and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2008-02-18 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Introduction to Game Studies is the first introductory textbook for students of game studies. It provides a conceptual overview of the cultural, social and economic significance of computer and video games and traces the history of game culture and the emergence of game studies as a field of research. Key concepts and theories are illustrated with discussion of games taken from different historical phases of game culture. Progressing from the simple, yet engaging gameplay of Pong and text-based adventure games to the complex virtual worlds of contemporary online games, the book guides students towards analytical appreciation and critical engagement with gaming and game studies. Students will learn to: - Understand and analyse different aspects of phenomena we recognise as ′game′ and play′ - Identify the key developments in digital game design through discussion of action in games of the 1970s, fiction and adventure in games of the 1980s, three-dimensionality in games of the 1990s, and social aspects of gameplay in contemporary online games - Understand games as dynamic systems of meaning-making - Interpret the context of games as ′culture′ and subculture - Analyse the relationship between technology and interactivity and between ′game′ and ′reality′ - Situate games within the context of digital culture and the information society With further reading suggestions, images, exercises, online resources and a whole chapter devoted to preparing students to do their own game studies project, An Introduction to Game Studies is the complete toolkit for all students pursuing the study of games. The companion website at www.sagepub.co.uk/mayra contains slides and assignments that are suitable for self-study as well as for classroom use. Students will also benefit from online resources at www.gamestudiesbook.net, which will be regularly blogged and updated by the author. Professor Frans Mäyrä is a Professor of Games Studies and Digital Culture at the Hypermedia Laboratory in the University of Tampere, Finland.
Download or read book Games Game Design Game Studies written by Gundolf S. Freyermuth and published by Fuego. This book was released on 2016-03-18 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did games rise to become the central audiovisual form of expression and storytelling in digital culture? How did the practices of their artistic production come into being? How did the academic analysis of the new medium's social effects and cultural meaning develop? Addressing these fundamental questions and aspects of digital game culture in a holistic way for the first time, Gundolf S. Freyermuth's introduction outlines the media-historical development phases of analog and digital games, the history and artistic practices of game design, as well as the history, academic approaches, and most important research topics of game studies.
Download or read book Introduction to Game Analysis written by Clara Fernández-Vara and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-17 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Game analysis allows us to understand games better, providing insight into the player-game relationship, the construction of the game, and its sociocultural relevance. As the field of game studies grows, videogame writing is evolving from the mere evaluation of gameplay, graphics, sound, and replayablity, to more reflective writing that manages to convey the complexity of a game and the way it is played in a cultural context. Introduction to Game Analysis serves as an accessible guide to analyzing games using strategies borrowed from textual analysis. Clara Fernández-Vara’s concise primer provides instruction on the basic building blocks of game analysis—examination of context, content and reception, and formal qualities—as well as the vocabulary necessary for talking about videogames' distinguishing characteristics. Examples are drawn from a range of games, both digital and non-digital—from Bioshock and World of Warcraft to Monopoly—and the book provides a variety of exercises and sample analyses, as well as a comprehensive ludography and glossary.
Download or read book Critical Play written by Mary Flanagan and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-02-08 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique. For many players, games are entertainment, diversion, relaxation, fantasy. But what if certain games were something more than this, providing not only outlets for entertainment but a means for creative expression, instruments for conceptual thinking, or tools for social change? In Critical Play, artist and game designer Mary Flanagan examines alternative games—games that challenge the accepted norms embedded within the gaming industry—and argues that games designed by artists and activists are reshaping everyday game culture. Flanagan provides a lively historical context for critical play through twentieth-century art movements, connecting subversive game design to subversive art: her examples of “playing house” include Dadaist puppet shows and The Sims. She looks at artists’ alternative computer-based games and explores games for change, considering the way activist concerns—including worldwide poverty and AIDS—can be incorporated into game design. Arguing that this kind of conscious practice—which now constitutes the avant-garde of the computer game medium—can inspire new working methods for designers, Flanagan offers a model for designing that will encourage the subversion of popular gaming tropes through new styles of game making, and proposes a theory of alternate game design that focuses on the reworking of contemporary popular game practices.
Download or read book Understanding Video Games written by Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-07 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding Video Games is a crucial guide for newcomers to video game studies and experienced game scholars alike. This revised and updated third edition of the pioneering text provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of game studies, and highlights changes in the gaming industry, advances in video game scholarship, and recent trends in game design and development—including mobile, casual, educational, and indie gaming. In the third edition of this textbook, students will: Learn the major theories and schools of thought used to study games, including ludology and narratology; Understand the commercial and organizational aspects of the game industry; Trace the history of games, from the board games of ancient Egypt to the rise of mobile gaming; Explore the aesthetics of game design, including rules, graphics, audio, and time; Analyze the narrative strategies and genre approaches used in video games; Consider the debate surrounding the effects of violent video games and the impact of "serious games." Featuring discussion questions, recommended games, a glossary of key terms, and an interactive online video game history timeline, Understanding Video Games provides a valuable resource for anyone interested in examining the ways video games are reshaping entertainment and society.
Download or read book Queer Game Studies written by Bonnie Ruberg and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2017-03-28 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Video games have developed into a rich, growing field at many top universities, but they have rarely been considered from a queer perspective. Immersion in new worlds, video games seem to offer the perfect opportunity to explore the alterity that queer culture longs for, but often sexism and discrimination in gamer culture steal the spotlight. Queer Game Studies provides a welcome corrective, revealing the capacious albeit underappreciated communities that are making, playing, and studying queer games. These in-depth, diverse, and accessible essays use queerness to challenge the ideas that have dominated gaming discussions. Demonstrating the centrality of LGBTQ issues to the gamer world, they establish an alternative lens for examining this increasingly important culture. Queer Game Studies covers important subjects such as the representation of queer bodies, the casual misogyny prevalent in video games, the need for greater diversity in gamer culture, and reading popular games like Bayonetta, Mass Effect, and Metal Gear Solid from a queer perspective. Perfect for both everyday readers and instructors looking to add diversity to their courses, Queer Game Studies is the ideal introduction to the vast and vibrant realm of queer gaming. Contributors: Leigh Alexander; Gregory L. Bagnall, U of Rhode Island; Hanna Brady; Mattie Brice; Derek Burrill, U of California, Riverside; Edmond Y. Chang, U of Oregon; Naomi M. Clark; Katherine Cross, CUNY; Kim d’Amazing, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Aubrey Gabel, U of California, Berkeley; Christopher Goetz, U of Iowa; Jack Halberstam, U of Southern California; Todd Harper, U of Baltimore; Larissa Hjorth, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Chelsea Howe; Jesper Juul, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts; merritt kopas; Colleen Macklin, Parsons School of Design; Amanda Phillips, Georgetown U; Gabriela T. Richard, Pennsylvania State U; Toni Rocca; Sarah Schoemann, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kathryn Bond Stockton, U of Utah; Zoya Street, U of Lancaster; Peter Wonica; Robert Yang, Parsons School of Design; Jordan Youngblood, Eastern Connecticut State U.
Download or read book Black Game Studies written by Lindsay Grace and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black Game Studies introduces the work of game makers from the African diaspora through academic scholarship, personal narratives and a catalog of works.It aims to provide a foundation from which researchers, designers, developers, game historians and others can draw an understanding of patterns, present practice, and a potential afro-future. Its works tomake more visible, through aggregation and showcase, the creative contributions of Black game makers. It is an effort to meet the need todiversify the game-making communityby not only highlighting the work of Black people, but in creatingan enduring archiveof such work.
Download or read book Game Sound written by Karen Collins and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguishing feature of video games is their interactivity, and sound plays an important role in this: a player's actions can trigger dialogue, sound effects, ambient sound, and music. This book introduces readers to the various aspects of game audio, from its development in early games to theoretical discussions of immersion and realism.
Download or read book Ludoliteracy written by José P. Zagal and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the surface, it seems like teaching about games should be easy. After all, students are highly motivated, enjoy engaging with course content, and have extensive personal experience with videogames. However, games education can be surprisingly complex.
Download or read book An Introduction to Games Studies written by Frans Mäyrä and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume shows how to analyze games by introducing the core analytical concepts in the contexts of games and game cultures of four periods. It covers the prehistory of games, the '70s '80s and '90s and also contemporary developments.
Download or read book Games and Gaming written by Larissa Hjorth and published by Berg. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The computer games industry has rapidly matured. Once a preoccupation only of young technophiles, games are now one of the dominant forms of global popular culture. From consoles such as Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's Xbox, to platforms such as iPhones and online gaming worlds, the realm of games and their scope have become all-pervasive. The study of games is no longer a niche interest but rather an integral part of cultural and media studies. The analysis of games reveals much about contemporary social relations, online communities and media engagement. Presenting a range of approaches and analytical tools through which to explore the role of games in everyday life, and packed with case material, Games and Gaming provides a comprehensive overview of this new media and how it permeates global culture in the twenty-first century.
Download or read book Computer Games for Learning written by Richard E. Mayer and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-07-11 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive and up-to-date investigation of what research shows about the educational value of computer games for learning. Many strong claims are made for the educational value of computer games, but there is a need for systematic examination of the research evidence that might support such claims. This book fills that need by providing, a comprehensive and up-to-date investigation of what research shows about learning with computer games. Computer Games for Learning describes three genres of game research: the value-added approach, which compares the learning outcomes of students who learn with a base version of a game to those of students who learn with the base version plus an additional feature; the cognitive consequences approach, which compares learning outcomes of students who play an off-the-shelf computer game for extended periods to those of students who do not; and the media comparative approach, which compares the learning outcomes of students who learn material by playing a game to those of students who learn the same material using conventional media. After introductory chapters that describe the rationale and goals of learning game research as well as the relevance of cognitive science to learning with games, the book offers examples of research in all three genres conducted by the author and his colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara; meta-analyses of published research; and suggestions for future research in the field. The book is essential reading for researchers and students of educational games, instructional designers, learning-game developers, and anyone who wants to know what the research has to say about the educational effectiveness of computer games.
Download or read book Game Production Studies written by Olli Sotamaa and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-18 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1. Production as a major factor of video game culture Media research often revolves around the triumvirate of texts, audiences, and industries as its main focal points. Writing in 2017, Aphra Kerr, the leading expert on video game industry, noted that video game production is an understudied area both in game studies and in media studies more broadly, especially when compared to how much has been written games and players. This edited collection aims to address this research gap by zooming in on particular issues connected to labor, development, publishing, and monetization and catch up on other areas of research, such as screen studies, which started paying attention to production decades ago. 2. A contextualized treatment of video game production As the first collection to exclusively focus on video game production, Game Production Studies offers a unique package of 16 chapters, which explore major themes of labor, development, publishing, and monetization. Building upon the rich foundations of production studies, the collection combines various methodological approaches in order to analyze the cultural practices of video game production. Altogether, it tackles a wide range of issues and topics and aspires to provide the go-to resource for anyone interested in video game production. 3. Timely case studies from across the world This edited collection brings together 16 all-new essays based on empirical research carried out in recent years across the world. Our contributors present case studies from Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Poland, and the US among other countries. Considering how fast the video game production networks are evolving, the collection provides both timely discussion of new trends and phenomena such as boutique publishers, in-game monetization regulation, or game jam natives and also historical probes into particular industries, which address the wider socio-historical context of these changes.
Download or read book Games Game Design Game Studies written by Gundolf S. Freyermuth and published by transcript Verlag. This book was released on 2015-11-30 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did games rise to become the central audiovisual form of expression and storytelling in digital culture? How did the practices of their artistic production come into being? How did the academic analysis of the new medium's social effects and cultural meaning develop? Addressing these fundamental questions and aspects of digital game culture in a holistic way for the first time, Gundolf S. Freyermuth's introduction outlines the media-historical development phases of analog and digital games, the history and artistic practices of game design, as well as the history, academic approaches, and most important research topics of game studies. With contributions by André Czauderna, Nathalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman.
Download or read book Games Game Design Game Studies written by Gundolf S. Freyermuth and published by Transcript Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did games rise to become the central audiovisual form of expression and storytelling in digital culture? How did the practices of their artistic production come into being? How did the academic analysis of the new medium's social effects and cultural meaning develop? Addressing these fundamental questions and aspects of digital game culture in a holistic way for the first time, Gundolf S. Freyermuths introduction outlines the media-historical development phases of analog and digital games, the history and artistic practices of game design, as well as the history, academic approaches, and most important research topics of game studies.
Download or read book Introduction to Game Development written by Steve Rabin and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 980 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the most recent curriculum guidelines of the IGDA, updated in 2008, "Introduction to Game Development, Second Edition" surveys all aspects of the theory and practice of game development, design, and production. Divided into seven independent parts: Critical Game Studies, Game Design, Game Programming (Languages and Architecture), Game Programming Mathematics, Collision Detection, and Physics), Game Programming (Graphics, Animation, Artificial Intelligence, Audio, and Networking), Audio Visual Design and Production, and Game Production and the Business of Games, it features contributions from twenty seven of the leading game developers, programmers, and designers. A must-have resource for anyone looking to understand the entire game development process, the accompanying CD-ROM includes tutorials, animations, images, demos, source code, and PowerPoint lecture slides that reinforce the concepts presented in the book.
