Videogames

by James Newman

In the few decades since they first blipped their way onto television screens, videogames have become one of the most culturally, socially and economically significant media forms. Newman’s volume considers how we might approach videogames as media texts to be read, experiences to be played and played with, systems and simulations to be decoded and interrogated, and performances to be captured, codified and preserved. The updated second edition examines the emergence of new platforms as well as changing patterns of production and consumption in its analysis of Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and mobile gaming. The new final chapter explores recent developments in games scholarship with particular focus falling on the study of gameplay as socially situated, ‘lived experience’, and on strategies for game history, heritage and preservation. In drawing attention to the fragility and ephemerality of hardware, software and gameplay, this new edition encourages readers and players not only to consider how games might be studied but also what can, will and should be left behind for the next generation of games researchers.

Genres: Video Games, Games

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Forrest Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It certainly succeeded on describing what videogames are, in case you are a person who has never played videogames. If you are interested in the industry, the process, the design, or an in-depth analysis of codes used in game design... go somewhere else. Nintendo's Iwata Asks taught me more than this whole book. This is a book trapped in the white tower of academia- almost no interviews with actual developers or publishers, just references to other scholars' work. Hopefully the next edition will be more illuminating, but for now, that princess is in another castle. (If you actually do want some great recommendations, message me.

[Roger Tavares · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you will read only one book about game culture and game design, choose this one. It provides a big picture from early Huizinga to the Games Industry.