Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Computer games are one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving media of our time. Revenues from console and computer games have now overtaken those from Hollywood movies; and online gaming is one of the fastest-growing areas of the internet. Games are no longer just kids' stuff: the majority of players are now adults, and the market is constantly broadening. The visual style of games has become increasingly sophisticated, and the complexities of game-play are ever more challenging. Meanwhile, the iconography and generic forms of games are increasingly influencing a whole range of other media, from films and television to books and toys.

This book provides a systematic, comprehensive introduction to the analysis of computer and video games. It introduces key concepts and approaches drawn from literary, film and media theory in an accessible and concrete manner; and it tests their use and relevance by applying them to a small but representative selection of role-playing and action-adventure games. It combines methods of textual analysis and audience research, showing how the combination of such methods can give a more complete picture of these playable texts and the fan cultures they generate. Clearly written and engaging, it will be a key text for students in the field and for all those with an interest in taking games seriously.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of illustrations (p. vii)
• Acknowledgements (p. viii)
• 1 Studying Computer Games (p. 1)
• 2 Defining Game Genres (p. 14)
• 3 Games and Narrative (p. 30)
• 4 Play and Pleasure (p. 45)
• 5 Space, Navigation and Affect (p. 59)
• 6 Playing Roles (p. 72)
• 7 Reworking the Text: Online Fandom (p. 88)
• 8 Motivation and Online Gaming (p. 103)
• 9 Social Play and Learning (p. 119)
• 10 Agency in and around Play (p. 133)
• 11 Film, Adaptation and Computer Games (p. 149)
• 12 Games and Gender (p. 162)
• 13 Doing Game Analysis (p. 179)
• Notes (p. 191)
• Games Cited (p. 195)
• References (p. 197)
• Index (p. 208)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Computer and video games have become serious business, both in economic and scholarly terms. This book focuses on how (not why) to study games and adapts approaches from literary, film, and media theory, as well as textual analysis, audience research, and sociology, to the field of game studies. These strategies are applied in case studies, which address a representative cross-section of role-playing and action-adventure games (Baldur's Gate, Final Fantasy VII, etc.). Early chapters focus on the textual analysis of games, considering elements such as genre, narrative, and navigation. The player's relationship with the game is also discussed, including importance of the avatar and fan art. Finally, the book looks at the social aspects of games and gaming, including gender, and considers design and production. The careful definition of terminology, notes, and the list of references are helpful. The authors have not set out to produce a comprehensive analysis of games and gaming, but have met their goal of providing a solid, well-written, and readable introduction to game analysis and a suggested framework of theoretical lenses for viewing the impact of games and gaming on today's culture. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals; two-year technical program students. J. J. Arnold Central Piedmont Community College