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Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon by A. Jahn-Sudmann,R. Stockmann Pdf
Internationally renowned media and literature scholars, social scientists, game designers and artists explore the cultural potential of computer games in this rich anthology, which introduces the latest approaches in the central fields of game studies and provides an extensive survey of contemporary game culture.
From their inception, video games quickly became a major new arena of popular entertainment. Beginning with very primitive games, they quickly evolved into interactive animated works, many of which now approach film in terms of their visual excitement. But there are important differences, as Arthur Asa Berger makes clear in this important new work. Films are purely to be viewed, but video involves the player, moving from empathy to immersion, from being spectators to being actively involved in texts. Berger, a renowned scholar of popular culture, explores the cultural significance of the expanding popularity and sophistication of video games and considers the biological and psychoanalytic aspects of this phenomenon. Berger begins by tracing the evolution of video games from simple games like Pong to new, powerfully involving and complex ones like Myst and Half-Life. He notes how this evolution has built the video industry, which includes the hardware (game-playing consoles) and the software (the games themselves), to revenues comparable to the American film industry. Building on this comparison, Berger focuses on action-adventure games which, like film and fiction, tell stories but which also involve culturally important departures in the conventions of narrative. After defining a set of bipolar oppositions between print and electronic narratives, Berger considers the question of whether video games are truly interactive or only superficially so, and whether they have the potential to replace print narratives in the culture at large. A unique dimension of the book is its bio-psycho-social analysis of the video game phenomenon. Berger considers the impact of these games on their players, from physical changes (everything from neurological problems to obesity) to psychological consequences, with reference to violence and sexual attitudes. He takes these questions further by examining three enormously popular games-Myst/Riven, Tomb Raider, and Half-Life-for their attitudes toward power, gender, violence, and guilt. In his conclusion, Berger concentrates on the role of violence in video games and whether they generate a sense of alienation in certain addicted players who become estranged from family and friends. Accessibly written and broad-ranging in approach, Video Games offers a way to interpret a major popular phenomenon. Arthur Asa Berger is professor of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University, where he has taught since 1965. He is the author of more than one hundred articles and forty books on media, popular culture, humor, and everyday life.
Guns, Grenades, and Grunts by Gerald A. Voorhees,Joshua Call,Katie Whitlock Pdf
Known for their visibility and tendency to generate controversy, first-person shooter (FPS) games are cultural icons and powder-kegs in American society. Contributors will examine a range of FPS games such as the Doom, Half-Life, System Shock, Deus Ex, Halo, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. By applying and enriching a broad range of perspectives, this volume will address the cultural relevance and place of the genre in game studies, game theory and the cultures of game players. Guns, Grenades, and Grunts gathers scholars from all disciplines to bring the weight of contemporary social theory and media criticism to bear on the public controversy and intellectual investigation of first-person shooter games. As a genre, FPS games have helped shepherd the game industry from the early days of shareware distribution and underground gaming clans to contemporary multimillion dollar production budgets, Hollywood-style launches, downloadable content and worldwide professional gaming leagues. The FPS has been and will continue to be a staple of the game market.
Changing the Rules of the Game by S. Hotho,N. McGregor Pdf
The computer games industry is one of the most vibrant industries today whose potential for growth seems inexhaustible. This book adopts a multi-disciplinary approach and captures emerging trends as well as the issues and challenges faced by businesses, their managers and their workforce in the games industry.
Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific by Larissa Hjorth,Dean Chan Pdf
This collection explores the politics of game play and its cultural context by focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing from micro ethnographic studies to macro political economy analysis of techno-nationalisms and transcultural flows of cultural capital, it provides an interdisciplinary model for thinking through the politics of gaming.
Social Exclusion, Power, and Video Game Play by David G. Embrick,Talmadge J. Wright,Andras Lukacs Pdf
While many books and articles are emerging on the new area of game studies and the application of computer games to learning, therapeutic, military and entertainment environments, few have attempted to contextualize the importance of virtual play within a broader social, cultural and political environment that raises the question of the significance of work, play, power and inequalities in the modern world. Many studies tend to concentrate on the content of virtual games, but few have questioned how power is produced or reproduced by publishers, gamers or even social media; how social exclusion (e.g., race, class, gender, etc.) in the virtual environments are reproduced from the real world; and how actors are able to use new media to transcend their fears, anxieties, prejudices and assumptions. The articles presented by the contributors in this volume represent cutting-edge research in the area of critical game play with the hope to draw attention to the need for more studies that are both sociological and critical.
Construction of Chinese Nationalism in the Early 21st Century by Suisheng Zhao Pdf
Chinese nationalism is powered by a narrative of China's century of shame and humiliation in the hands of imperialist powers and calls for the Chinese government to redeem the past humiliations and take back all "lost territories." The continuing surge of Chinese nationalism in the early 21st century therefore has fed a roiling sense of anxiety in many political capitals about whether a virulent nationalism has emerged to make China’s rise anything but peaceful. This book addresses this anxiety by examining the domestic sources and foreign policy implications of Chinese nationalism in the early 21st century. It is divided into three parts. Part I is an overview of the scholarly debate about if the rise of Chinese nationalism has driven China’s foreign policy in a more irrational and inflexible direction in the first one and half decades of the 21st century. Part II analyzes the construction of Chinese nationalism by a variety of domestic forces, including the communist state, the angry youth (fen qing), liberal intellectuals, and ethnic groups. Part III explores whether Chinese nationalism is affirmative, assertive, or aggressive through the case studies of China’s maritime territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, the border controversy over the ancient Koguryo with Korea, and the cross-Taiwan Strait relations. This book was based on articles published in the Journal of Contemporary China.
Author : Mark J. P. Wolf Publisher : MIT Press Page : 715 pages File Size : 54,6 Mb Release : 2015-05-01 Category : Games & Activities ISBN : 9780262527163
Video Games Around the World by Mark J. P. Wolf Pdf
Thirty-nine essays explore the vast diversity of video game history and culture across all the world's continents. Video games have become a global industry, and their history spans dozens of national industries where foreign imports compete with domestic productions, legitimate industry contends with piracy, and national identity faces the global marketplace. This volume describes video game history and culture across every continent, with essays covering areas as disparate and far-flung as Argentina and Thailand, Hungary and Indonesia, Iran and Ireland. Most of the essays are written by natives of the countries they discuss, many of them game designers and founders of game companies, offering distinctively firsthand perspectives. Some of these national histories appear for the first time in English, and some for the first time in any language. Readers will learn, for example, about the rapid growth of mobile games in Africa; how a meat-packing company held the rights to import the Atari VCS 2600 into Mexico; and how the Indonesian MMORPG Nusantara Online reflects that country's cultural history and folklore. Every country or region's unique conditions provide the context that shapes its national industry; for example, the long history of computer science in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, the problems of piracy in China, the PC Bangs of South Korea, or the Dutch industry's emphasis on serious games. As these essays demonstrate, local innovation and diversification thrive alongside productions and corporations with global aspirations. Africa • Arab World • Argentina • Australia • Austria • Brazil • Canada • China • Colombia • Czech Republic • Finland • France • Germany • Hong Kong • Hungary • India • Indonesia • Iran • Ireland • Italy • Japan • Mexico • The Netherlands • New Zealand • Peru • Poland • Portugal • Russia • Scandinavia • Singapore • South Korea • Spain • Switzerland • Thailand • Turkey • United Kingdom • United States of America • Uruguay • Venezuela
Exploring Animal Crossing by Bruce Baer Arnold Pdf
Animal Crossing is an innovative virtual world with a global audience beyond traditional online gamers. The book is the first major study, offering an interdisciplinary exploration of copyright and other laws, user creativity and sociability, psychology, the virtual world’s economic and technological basis, uptake during COVID-19, gamification of offline brands, relationships with past/contemporary computer games, and Animal Crossing as an example of the Japanification of online popular culture. The book provides insights for students, researchers and non-specialist readers.
Performance, Politics, and the War on Terror by Sara Brady Pdf
Using a performance studies lens, this book is a study of performance in the post-9/11 context of the so-called war on terror. It analyzes conventional theatre, political protest, performance art and other sites of performance to unpack the ways in which meaning has been made in the contemporary global sociopolitical environment.
Routledge Handbook of New Media in Asia by Larissa Hjorth,Olivia Khoo Pdf
While a decade ago much of the discussion of new media in Asia was couched in Occidental notions of Asia as a "default setting" for technology in the future, today we are seeing a much more complex picture of contesting new media practices and production. As "new media" becomes increasingly an everyday reality for young and old across Asia through smartphones and associated devices, boundaries between art, new media, and the everyday are transformed. This Handbook addresses the historical, social, cultural, political, philosophical, artistic and economic dimensions of the region’s new media. Through an interdisciplinary revision of both "new media" and "Asia" the contributors provide new insights into the complex and contesting terrains of both notions. The Routledge Handbook of New Media in Asia will be the definitive publication for readers interested in comprehending all the various aspects of new media in Asia. It provides an authoritative, up-to-date, intellectually broad, conceptually cutting-edge guide to the important aspects of new media in the region — as the first point of consultation for researchers, advanced level undergraduate and postgraduate students in fields of new media and Asian studies.
The SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects by Robin L. Nabi,Mary Beth Oliver Pdf
Part III emphasizes the various factors that influence the critical functions of message selection and processing central to a host of mass media application contexts.
Author : Patrick Jagoda Publisher : University of Chicago Press Page : 403 pages File Size : 44,6 Mb Release : 2020-12-07 Category : Social Science ISBN : 9780226630038
In our unprecedentedly networked world, games have come to occupy an important space in many of our everyday lives. Digital games alone engage an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide as of 2020, and other forms of gaming, such as board games, role playing, escape rooms, and puzzles, command an ever-expanding audience. At the same time, “gamification”—the application of game mechanics to traditionally nongame spheres, such as personal health and fitness, shopping, habit tracking, and more—has imposed unprecedented levels of competition, repetition, and quantification on daily life. Drawing from his own experience as a game designer, Patrick Jagoda argues that games need not be synonymous with gamification. He studies experimental games that intervene in the neoliberal project from the inside out, examining a broad variety of mainstream and independent games, including StarCraft, Candy Crush Saga, Stardew Valley, Dys4ia, Braid, and Undertale. Beyond a diagnosis of gamification, Jagoda imagines ways that games can be experimental—not only in the sense of problem solving, but also the more nuanced notion of problem making that embraces the complexities of our digital present. The result is a game-changing book on the sociopolitical potential of this form of mass entertainment.
The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology by Alison Attrill-Smith,Chris Fullwood,Melanie Keep,Daira J. Kuss Pdf
The internet is so central to everyday life, that it is impossible to contemplate life without it. From finding romance, to conducting business, receiving health advice, shopping, banking, and gaming, the internet opens up a world of possibilities to people across the globe. Yet for all its positive attributes, it is also an environment where we witness the very worst of human behaviour - cybercrime, election interference, fake news, and trolling being just a few examples. What is it about this unique environment that can make people behave in ways they wouldn't contemplate in real life. Understanding the psychological processes underlying and influencing the thinking, interpretation and behaviour associated with this online interconnectivity is the core premise of Cyberpsychology. The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology explores a wide range of cyberpsychological processes and activities through the research and writings of some of the world's leading cyberpsychology experts. The book is divided into eight sections covering topics as varied as online research methods, self-presentation and impression management, technology across the lifespan, interaction and interactivity, online groups and communities, social media, health and technology, video gaming and cybercrime and cybersecurity. The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology will be important reading for those who have only recently discovered the discipline as well as more seasoned cyberpsychology researchers and teachers.
Gamification for Tourism by Feifei Xu,Dimitrios Buhalis Pdf
This book examines the cutting-edge concept of gamification in tourism. It provides a theoretical foundation for tourism gamification and discusses the concepts of gaming and gamification and their application in the tourism and hospitality industry. The chapters offer valuable insights by showcasing examples of best practice from different countries and addressing key issues of game mechanism and game design principles. They focus on areas such as game design elements, game player types and their motivation, location-based games, augmented reality and virtual reality games. The volume will be useful for students and researchers in tourism marketing, digital tourism, smart tourism and tourism futures. It also serves as a helpful tool for tourism industry practitioners looking to increase customer engagement, enhance loyalty and raise brand awareness.