The Video Game Theory Reader Review

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The Video Game Theory Reader ReviewThis book is an introduction to a nascent field within new media studies: video game theory, or ludology. As such, many of the essays contained herein are trying to get a grasp on what constitutes video game studies, period. Some of the questions broached are as follows:
What would constitute a formal analysis of a video game?
What features do all video games share (what can we classify as a video game, anyhow?)
Which approaches are best for the analysis of video games: semiotics, psychoanalysis, cinema studies, cognitive psychology?
This volume takes a few baby steps towards answering those questions. Gonzalo Frasca, for instance, makes the important argument that even the simplest games cannot be considered in mere narratological terms, but must be considered as a simulation. He then uses Roger Caillois's terms paidia and ludus to establish a tentative typology of video games.
Other essays, such as Mia Consalvo's essay on the Sims and Final Fantasy IX, are more shallow and contribute little beyond a superficial plot analysis and trite comments about how radical it is that a guy can have a girl avatar (and vice-versa) in a video game.
I found Patrick Crogan's essay on Combat Flight Simulator 2 and Pearl Harbor (the movie) especially insightful, as it drew some fascinating connections between Manuel De Landa, Paul Virilio, and the simulation representational ethos (as opposed to narrative).
In conclusion, this is a really hit-or-miss collection, which is perhaps to be expected considering how marginal video game studies currently is within the academy. Nevertheless, it contains some valuable contributions to this inchoate field between its covers, which will certainly help to legitimate game studies in the future.The Video Game Theory Reader OverviewThe Video Game Theory Reader brings together exciting new work on video games as a unique medium and nascent field of study - one that is rapidly developing new modes of understanding and analysis, like film studies in the 1960s and television studies in the 1980s. This pioneering collection addresses the many ways video games are reshaping the face of entertainment and our relationship with technology. In the volume, leading media studies scholars develop new theoretical tools and concepts to study video games. Drawing upon examples from a number of popular games ranging from Space Invaders to Final Fantasy , the contributors discuss the relationship between video games and other media; the shift from third- to first-person games; gamers and the gaming community; and the important sociological, cultural, industrial, and economic issues that surround gaming.

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