Routledge recently published a bumper crop of new game studies books. Details below.
- ‘Online Games, Social Narratives’, by Esther MacCallum-Stewart | ISBN: 978-0-415-89190-5
MacCallum-Stewart studies the different ways in which online games create social environments and how players choose to interpret these. These games vary from the immensely popular social networking games on Facebook such as Farmville to Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games to “Free to Play” online gaming and console communities such as players of Xbox Live and PS3 games.
Read more at http://bit.ly/1TKRhgT
- ‘Video Games and Social Competence’, by Rachel Kowert | ISBN: 978-1-13-880426-5
Despite their popularity, online video games have been met with suspicion by the popular media and academic community. In particular, there is a growing concern that online video game play may be associated with deficits in social functioning. Due to a lack of empirical consistency, the debate surrounding the potential impact of online video game play on a user’s sociability remains an active one. This book contributes to this debate by exploring the potential impact of online video game involvement on social competence outcomes, theoretically and empirically.
Read more at http://bit.ly/1Iws6pH
- ‘Sexuality in Role-Playing Games’, by Ashley ML Brown | ISBN: 978-1-13-881255-0
This book offers an in-depth, ethnographic look into the phenomenon of erotic role-play through the experiences of players in multiplayer and tabletop role-playing games. Brown explores why participants engage in erotic role-play; discusses the rules involved in erotic role-play; and uncovers what playing with sexuality in ludic environments means for players, their partners, and their everyday lives.
Read more at http://bit.ly/1GEqyvy
- ‘Gender, Age and Digital Games in the Domestic Context’, by Alison Harvey | ISBN: 978-1-13-879714-7
This book is the first study to provide a situated investigation of the site of family play— the shared spaces and private places of gameplay within the domestic sphere. It carries out an empirically grounded and critical analysis of what marketing and sales discourses about shifts in the digital games audience actually look like in the space of the home, as well as the social and cultural role these ludic technologies take in the everyday practices of the family in the domestic context.
Read more at http://bit.ly/1Gxicmy
For more information on this series or to inquire about submitting a proposal, please contact Felisa Salvago-Keyes, felisa.salvago-keyes@taylorandfrancis.com.
If you are interesting in reviewing one of these titles and would like to receive a review copy, please contact Melanie Pheby, melanie.pheby@tandf.co.uk.
