Skip to Content

Videogames

By James Newman

Published January 22nd 2004 by Routledge – 208 pages

Purchasing Options:

Description

Newman's lucid and engaging introduction guides the reader through the world of videogaming. It traces the history of the videogame, from its origins in the computer lab, to its contemporary status as a global entertainment industry, where characters such as Lara Croft and Sonic the Hedgehog are familiar even to those who've never been near a games console.

Topics covered include:

  • What is a videogame?
  • Why study videogames?
  • a brief history of videogames, from Pac-Man to Pokémon
  • the videogame industry
  • Who plays videogames?
  • Are videogames bad for you?
  • the narrative structure of videogames
  • the future of videogames

Reviews

'A wealth of well-written, scholarly but accessible perspectives on industry practice and commerical imperatives … Newman can do this only because he is a serious games scholar.' - Media Educaiton Association

Contents

1. Why Study Videogames? 2. What is a Videogame? Rules, Puzzles and Simulations: Defining the Object of Study 3. Manufacturing Fun: Platforms, Development, Publishing and Creativity 4. Videogame Players: Who Plays, for How Long and What it’s Doing to Them 5. Videogame Structure: Levels, Breaks and Intermissions 6. Narrative and Play, Audiences and Players: Approaches to the Study of Videogames 7. Videogames, Space and Cyberspace: Exploration, Navigation and Mastery 8. Videogames Players and Characters: Narrative Functions and Feeling Cyborgs 9. Social Gaming and the Culture of Videogames: Competition and Collaboration On and Off Screen 10. Future Gaming: Online/Mobile/Retro Bibliography Index

Name: Videogames (Paperback) – Routledge 
Description: By James Newman. Newman's lucid and engaging introduction guides the reader through the world of videogaming. It traces the history of the videogame, from its origins in the computer lab, to its contemporary status as a global entertainment industry, where...
Categories: Cinema Studies & Popular Cinema