Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: Games Without Frontiers - War Without Tears

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.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction; A.Jahn-Sudmann & R.Stockmann PART 1: GAME DESIGN AND AESTHETICS The Aesthetic Vocabulary of Video Games; J.Van Dreunen Can Games Get Real? A Closer Look at 'Documentary' Digital Games; I.Bogost & C.Poremba Emotional Design of Computer Games and Fiction Films; D.C.Rusch 'Applied Game Theory': Innovation, Diversity, Experimentation in Contemporary Game Design; H.Jenkins & K.Squire PART 2: SPACE AND TIME There and Back Again: Reuse, Signifiers, and Consistency in Created Game Spaces; P.Berger Another Bricolage in the Wall: Deleuze and Teenage Alienation; J.P.Cain PART 3: WAR AND VIOLENCE Programming Violence: Language and the Making of Interactive Media; C.Herbst Impotence and Agency: Computer Games as a Post-9/11 Battlefield; H.Lowood S(t)imulating War: From Early Films to Military Games; D.Rentfrow PART 4: ETHICS AND MORALITY Player in Fabula. Ethics of Interaction as Semiotic Negotiation Between Authorship and Readership; M.Maietti 'Moral Management': Dealing with Moral Concerns to Maintain Enjoyment of Violent Video Games; C.Klimmt, H.Schmid, A.Nosper, T.Hartmann & P.Vorderer Beyond Good and Evil: The Inhuman Ethics of Redemption and Bloodlines; W.Slocombe PART 5: POLITICS AND IDEOLOGY Preconscious Apocalypse. The Failure of Capitalism in Computer Games; S.O.Cavalcanti Borders and Bodies in City of Heroes: (Re)imaging American Identity Post 9/11; N.Marshall Anti-PC Games. Exploring Articulations of the Politically Incorrect in GTA San Andreas; A.Jahn-Sudmann & R.Stockmann Strip-Shift-Impose-Recycle-Overload-Spill-Breakout-Abuse. Artists' (Mis-)Appropriations of Shooter Games; M.Engeli PART 6: COMPUTER GAME PLAY(ERS) AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES Presence-Play: The Hauntology of the Computer Game; D.Lockwood & T.Richards Negotiating Online Computer Games in East Asia: Manufacturing Asian MMORPGs and Marketing 'Asianness'; D.Chan Teenage Girls 'Play House' - The Cyber-drama of the Sims; L.Dyson Cited Computer Games References Index

About the Author :
PETER BERGER is a software developer for Apple IAN BOGOST is Assostant Professor of Digital Media, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA JEFFREY P. CAIN is Associate Professor of English, Sacred Heart University, USA SVEN O. CAVALCANTI is at the Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology, Hanover University, Germany DEAN CHAN is Research Fellow, School of Communications and Contemporary Arts, Edith Cowan University, Australia JOOST VAN DREUNEN is at Columbia University, USA LYNDA DYSON is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, London College of Communication, University of the Arts, UK MAIA ENGELI is Assistant Professor, School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Canada TILO HARTMANN is Research Assistant, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland CLAUDIA HERBST is Associate Professor, Department of Digital Art, Pratt Institute, USA HENRY JENKINS is the Deflorz Profesor of Humanities and the Co-Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program, MIT, USA CHRISTOPH KLIMMT is Research Assistant, Hanover University of Music and Drama, Germany DEAN LOCKWOOD is Senior Lecturer in Media Theory, University of Lincoln HENRY LOWOOD is Curator for History of Science and Technology Collections, Stanford University, USA MASSIMO MAIETTI is a researcher in the field of semiotics of interactive media NOWELL MARSHALL is at the University of California, Riverside, USA ANDREAS NOSPER is Project Manager for the media and marketing consulting agency Aserto in Hanover, Germany CINDY POREMBA is a digital media theorist working at Montreal's Concordia University, Canada DAPHNÉE RENTFROW is at Brown University, USA TONY RICHARDS teaches video and new media theory at University of Lincoln DORIS C. RUSCH is fellow at the Institute for Design and Assessment of Technology, Vienna University of Technology, Austria HANNAH SCHMID is a research executive at the market research company Synovate in Munich, Germany WILL SLOCOMBE is Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literatuve, University of Wales, UK KURT SQUIRE is Assistant Professor of Educational Comunicatons and Technology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA PETER VORDERER is Professor of Communication and Psychology, Annenberg School for Communication and Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, USA

Review :

'The book is an excellent option for everyone interested in cultural criticism and/or videogames to get an overview of the subject...the contributors have excellent insights into both the current literature, as well as the most important discussions related to their specific field of interest. ' - Kulturkapellet