Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction / Edition 3

by Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Jonas Heide Smith, Susana Pajares Tosca

Overview

The fifth edition of this pioneering textbook takes video game studies into the next decade, highlighting changes in mobile, social, and casual gaming.

This book introduces students to both the major theories used to analyze games, such as ludology and narratology, and the commercial and organizational aspects of the game industry. Drawing from historical and contemporary examples, this student-friendly text also explores the aesthetics of games, evaluates the cultural position of video games, and considers the potential effects of both violent and "serious" games. This new edition includes updates to the history, statistics, and developments in the vast game studies landscape throughout. The book has been expanded with additional theory, research, and insights from scholars around the world, making it more inclusive and broadening its global perspective.

Extensively illustrated and featuring discussion questions, a glossary of key terms, and a detailed video game history timeline, Understanding Video Games, Fifth Edition is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in examining the ways video games are reshaping entertainment, education, and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138849822
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/09/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen is CEO of the award-winning company Serious Games Interactive and has worked as an assistant professor at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen.

Jonas Heide Smith is head of digital communication at SMK. He has previously taught computer-mediated communication at the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Business School, the IT University of Copenhagen, and Roskilde University.

Susana Pajares Tosca is an associate professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and is a founding editor of the journal Game Studies.

Table of Contents

1. Studying Video Games 2. The Game Industry 3. What is a Game? 4. History 5. Video Game Aesthetics 6. Video Games in Culture 7. Narrative 8. Serious Games—When Entertainment Is Not Enough 9. Video Games and Risks

What People are Saying About This

Kurt Squire

A book like this needs to get written and will undoubtedly some day become a standard. (Kurt Squire, University of Wisconsin-Madison; co-director, The Education Arcade; co-founder, joystick101)

Editorial Reviews

"A user-friendly, eminently readable account that has something to offer to both the neophyte and the specialist, Understanding Video Games is the text that is needed to secure a durable place to game studies in the academic curriculum." —Marie-Laure Ryan, author of Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media

"As the core text for my introductory games course, Understanding Video Games has remained an essential guide since its first edition. Ever attentive to the practicalities of classroom needs, this superb update presents its most complete and accessible overview of game studies yet." —Soraya Murray, University of California, Santa Cruz

"Understanding Video Games is an admirably comprehensive treatment of the video game industry, history, culture, and theory. This new edition remains the best general textbook I've found for teaching video games in the college classroom." —Alf Seegert, University of Utah

From the Publisher