ONLINE GAMING IN CONTEXT: THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ONLINE GAMES

Anders Drachen, Aphra Kerr, Artemesia, Astrid Ensslin, Ben Light, Celia Pearce, Christopher A. Paul, Chuen-Tsai Sun, Douglas Brown, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Fern M. Delamere, Frans Mäyrä, Garry Crawford, Holin Lin, Jeffrey Philpott, José Carlos Ribeiro, Kate E. Taylor, Keith Massie, Kristine Jørgensen, Luca Rossi, Neil Randall, René Glas, Thiago Falcão, Torill Mortensen, Victoria K. Gosling

There is little question of the social, cultural and economic importance of video games in the world today, with gaming now rivalling the movie and music sectors as a major leisure industry and pastime. The significance of video games within our everyday lives has certainly been increased and shaped by new technologies and gaming patterns, including the rise of home-based games consoles, advances in mobile telephone technology, the rise in more 'sociable' forms of gaming, and of course the advent of the Internet.

This book explores the opportunities, challenges and patterns of gameplay and sociality afforded by the Internet and online gaming. Bringing together a series of original essays from both leading and emerging academics in the field of game studies, many of which employ new empirical work and innovative theoretical approaches to gaming, this book considers key issues crucial to our understanding of online gaming and associated social relations, including: patterns of play, legal and copyright issues, player production, identity construction, gamer communities, communication, patterns of social exclusion and inclusion around religion, gender and disability, and future directions in online gaming.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
English	Hardcover		9780415556194	2011	320
English	Paperback		9780415556200	2011	320
English	eBook		N/A	2013	320