Handbook of Computer Game Studies

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 469 pages
• Published by: The MIT Press June 1, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0262182408
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0262182409
• Book Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 3.4 pounds

Product Description
New media students, teachers, and professionals have long needed a comprehensive scholarly treatment of digital games that deals with the history, design, reception, and aesthetics of games along with their social and cultural context. The Handbook of Computer Game Studies fills this need with a definitive look at the subject from a broad range of perspectives. Contributors come from cognitive science and artificial intelligence, developmental, social, and clinical psychology, history, film, theater, and literary studies, cultural studies, and philosophy as well as game design and development. The text includes both scholarly articles and journalism from such well-known voices as Douglas Rushkoff, Sherry Turkle, Henry Jenkins, Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman, and others.

Part I considers the "prehistory" of computer games (including slot machines and pinball machines), the development of computer games themselves, and the future of mobile gaming. The chapters in part II describe game development from the designer's point of view, including the design of play elements, an analysis of screenwriting, and game-based learning. Part III reviews empirical research on the psychological effects of computer games, and includes a discussion of the use of computer games in clinical and educational settings. Part IV considers the aesthetics of games in comparison to film and literature, and part V discusses the effect of computer games on cultural identity, including gender and ethnicity. Finally, part VI looks at the relation of computer games to social behavior, considering, among other matters, the inadequacy of laboratory experiments linking games and aggression and the different modes of participation in computer game culture.

About The Author
Joost Raessens is Associate Professor of New Media Studies in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Utrecht.

Jeffrey Goldstein is Professor in the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Utrecht.

Reader Reviews
For readers who grew up with Pong, Space Invaders and Atari, this book might come as a shock. Those "kids games" and the people [who are not necessarily kids] are now the subject of scholarly discourses?! Wow. Who would have dared to guess back in 1980? Hence, it possible to read this book at several levels. One is the way its authors intend. A sober, poker faced analysis of computer gaming. But other readers might try [and fail] to stifle numerous giggles. The book is SO serious! Although on second consideration, the authors deserve commendation from active players. They are taking computer gaming down the same academic route to respectability that science fiction, in written and movie form, took decades ago. Still, can you imagine a "Chair of Computer Gaming"??