Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games: Analyzing Words, Design, and Play

Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture

by Christopher A. Paul

In this timely new book, Christopher Paul analyzes how the words we use to talk about video games and the structures that are produced within games shape a particular way of gaming by focusing on how games create meaning, lead to identification and division, persuade, and circulate ideas. Paul examines the broader social discourse about gaming, the way players are socialized into games; the impact of the lingering association of video games as kid's toys; the dynamics within specific games (including Grand Theft Auto and EA Sports Games); and the ways in which players participate in shaping the discourse of games, demonstrated through examples like the reward system of World of Warcraft and the development of theorycraft. Overall, this book illustrates how video games are shaped by words, design and play; all of which are negotiated, ongoing practices among the designers, players, and society that construct the discourse of video games.

Genres: Games

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2012

Reviews

[José · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a promising Introduction to Wordplay, the content of the book feels almost empty. It was a little overwhelming because I was hoping for more in-depth ideas, and got something barely acceptable for an introduction to game studies.

[Mjhancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul takes a "wordplay" approach to game studies, which he defines as a focus on the words used to discuss games, the design decisions carried out in them, and the way players actually play them. The first half of the book is on general discourse regarding games, and the second looks at specific games more closely. The book lacks a certain theoretical rigour, as he tends to rely more on player accounts and close playings than other scholars, and his own approach is more a general frame of mind than something more technical. But the individual chapters are very good. Special standouts were the essays on obsolescence and the EA Sports franchise, World of Warcraft and welfare epics, and video games as general being branded toys for kids. A good read, and forms an especially interesting contrast with Astrid Ensslin's Language of Gaming.

[Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a great historical overview of the development of video games as well as an interesting way to understand what is happening in AAA video games. It looks like it'll be a good citation for the dissertation.