Handbook of Computer Game Studies

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.

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.

 

 

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
I	Computer Games	1
1	Slots of Fun, Slots of Trouble: An Archaeology of Arcade Gaming Erkki Huhtamo	3
2	The History of the Video Game Steven Malliet and Gust de Meyer	23
3	Future of Games: Mobile Gaming Justin Hall	47
II	Design	57
4	Game Design and Meaningful Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman	59
5	Click Reading: Screenwriting and Screen-Reading Practices in Film and Multimedia Fictions Isabelle Raynauld	81
6	Computer Games and Learning: Digital Game-Based Learning Marc Prensky	97
III	Reception	123
7	Cognitive Effects of Video Games Sandra L. Calvert	125
8	Children's Social Behavior during Video Game Play Robyn M. Holmes and Anthony D. Pellegrini	133
9	Psychological Effects of Video Games Barrie Gunter	145
10	The Therapeutic Value of Video Games Mark Griffiths	161
IV	Games as an Aesthetic Phenomenon	173
11	Games, the New Lively Art Henry Jenkins	175
12	Genre and the Video Game Mark J. P. Wolf	193
13	The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Computer Game Genres John E. Laird and Michael van Lent	205
14	Games Telling Stories? Jesper Juul	219
15	Narrativity in Computer Games Britta Neitzel	227
V	Games as a Cultural Phenomenon	249
16	The Game of Life: Narrative and Ludic Identity Formation in Computer Games Jos de Mul	251
17	Computer Games as Evocative Objects: From Projective Screens to Relational Artifacts Sherry Turkle	267
18	Gaming with Grrls: Looking for Sheroes in Computer Games Birgit Richard and Jutta Zaremba	283
19	Gendered Gaming in Gendered Space Jo Bryce and Jason Rutter	301
20	Serious Play: Playing with Race in Contemporary Gaming Culture Anna Everett	311
21	Simulation, History, and Computer Games William Uricchio	327
VI	Games as a Social Phenomenon	339
22	Violent Video Games Jeffrey Goldstein	341
23	Does Video Games Addiction Exist? Mark Griffiths and Mark N. O. Davies	359
24	Computer Games as Participatory Media Culture Joost Raessens	373
25	I Am What I Play: Participation and Reality as Content Jan-Willem Huisman and Hanne Marckmann	389
26	Game Reconstruction Workshop: Demolishing and Evolving PC Games and Gamer Culture Anne-Marie Schleiner	405
27	Renaissance Now! The Gamers' Perspective Douglas Rushkoff	415
	About the Contributors	423
	Games Index	429
	Name Index	435
	Subject Index	447