1st Edition
Sports Videogames
From Pong to Madden NFL to Wii Fit, Sports Videogames argues for the multiple ways that sports videogames—alongside televised and physical sports—impact one another, and how players and viewers make sense of these multiple forms of play and information in their daily lives. Through case studies, ethnographic explorations, interviews and surveys, and by analyzing games, players, and the sports media industry, contributors from a wide variety of disciplines demonstrate the depth and complexity of games that were once considered simply sports simulations. Contributors also tackle key topics including the rise of online play and its implications for access to games, as well as how regulations surrounding player likenesses present challenges to the industry. Whether you’re a scholar or a gamer, Sports Videogames offers a grounded, theory-building approach to how millions make sense of videogames today.
Foreword by Owen Good Introduction: Sports Videogames: Mapping the Field Mia Consalvo, Konstantin Mitgutsch, Abraham Stein I. Defining the Game 1. Games, Sports, and Sport Videogames: Designed Challenges in Racing Games Jonas Linderoth 2. A Tale of Two Games: Football and FIFA 12 Miguel Sicart 3. What Are Sports Videogames? Ian Bogost 4. Joga Bonito: Beautiful Play, Sports and Digital Games Henry Lowood 5. Women, Sports and Videogames Mia Consalvo II. Remediating & Complicating 6. Playing the Game on Television Abe Stein 7. It's in the Game? Shifting the Scene with Online Play Christopher Paul 8. The Slow Grind: Skateboarding Videogames and the Culture and Practice of Skateboarding John Sharp 10. Likeness Licensing Litigation: Student Athletes and the Future of Sports Videogames Nina Huntemann III. Fans & Players 10. Playing Ball: Fan Experiences in Basketball Videogames Fares Kayali 11. Eventful Masculinities: Negotiations of Hegemonic Sporting Masculinities at LANs Emma Witkowski 12. Sports Gaming in Everyday Life: A Meaning Oriented Exploration of the Appropriation of the Online Football Manager Game Hattrick Jeff Wimmer & Jana Nickol 13. Why Sports Videogames Matter to Their Players: Exploring Meaningful Experiences in Playographies Konstantin Mitgutsch 14. Using Sports Videogames to Promote Real-World Physical Activity Among Young Adolescents Cheryl Olsen
Biography
Mia Consalvo is the Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design at Concordia University. She is the author of Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames and is co-editor of the Handbook of Internet Studies.
Konstantin Mitgutsch is a researcher in the field of education science, game studies, learning theories and applied humanities. He works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the MIT Game Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna in Austria.
Abe Stein is a researcher at the MIT Game Lab in the Program in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. His articles and chapters have appeared in Eludamos, Well Played, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Loading... and James Bond in World and Popular Culture. He also writes a monthly sports games column for Kill Screen magazine.
"Sports Videogames is a ground-breaking book that brings much needed attention to this rich domain. Drawing together a terrific diversity of approaches, this collection provides a fascinating exploration of what happens when our enduring sports culture meets digital gaming." —T.L. Taylor, Associate Professor of Comparative Media Studies, MIT, author of Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming
"This excellent collection of essays pulls together an impressive list of new and established writers, to provide an essential examination of the social and cultural significance of sports video games. I’m sure it will become required reading for many of us." —Garry Crawford, Professor of Sociology, University of Salford, author of Video Gamers
