Two new volumes in the Approaches to Digital Game Studies http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/series/approaches-to-digital-game-studies/ book series have been published.
Violent Video Games: Rules, Realism, and Effect
http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/violent-games-9781628925609/
(Gareth Schott, Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato, New Zealand)
This monograph draws on new insights achieved from research located at an intersection between humanities, social and computer sciences, to interrogate the nature and meaning of the “violence” encountered and experienced by game players. In focusing on the various ways “violence” is mediated by both the rule system and the semiotic layer of games, the aim is to draw out the distinctiveness of games’ exploitation of violence or violent themes.
Music Video Games: Performance, Politics, and Play
http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/music-video-games-9781501308536/
(Michael Austin, Assistant Professor at Howard University, USA)
This anthology investigates important themes surrounding the ways in which we play music and play with music in video games. Starting with the precursors to music games –
including Simon, the hand-held electronic music game from the 1980s, this collection goes on to discuss issues in musicianship and performance, authenticity and “selling out,” and composing, creating, and learning music with video games.
Both volumes will be available on July 28, 2016 in paperback, hardback, and various ebook formats.
Authors interested in proposing a volume to the series can learn more at https://sites.google.com/site/approachestodigitalgamestudies/ and contact the series editors at gamestudies.books@gmail.com.