One of the key concepts for approaching ‘game cultures’ is the ‘subculture’. There is an entire tradition of scholarship dedicated to studies of subcultures and this book does nice job in explaining the fundamentals of the field.
Hebdige, Dick (1979) Subculture: the Meaning of Style. London: Methuen. Amazon preview available here.
The pedagogic and cognitive character of digital games has been long in the interests of academic educators, but recent years have seen strong rise in the study of so-called ‘serious games’. James Paul Gee points out in his book that we should turn our attention to entertainment games in order to learn about effective pedagogic in interactive media.
Gee, James Paul (2003) What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning And Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Amazon.com preview into the revised edition here.
This is an original document from the New Games Movement, but (like its sequel, More New Games) might be a bit difficult to find these days – second hand bookshops are helpful here. New Games were forms of play that aimed to make a positive impact on culture and society.
Fluegelman, Andrew (ed) (1976) New Games Book. New Games Foundation. New York: Dolphin/Doubleday.
Cultural studies has many tools and approaches to offer to those interested in the complex signification and production processes surrounding digital games, too. This is an interesting book focused on various aspects of Sony Walkman.
du Gay, Paul, Stuart Hall, Linda Janes, Hugh Mackay and Keith Negus (1997) Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. Culture, Media & Identities, Vol. 1. London: Sage Publications.
Many of the key analyses of contemporary games are based on cultural studies and media studies approaches; this book by Dovey and Kennedy is one of the more interesting ones.
Dovey, Jon and Helen W. Kennedy (2006) Game Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Preview available from Amazon.co.uk.
The New Games Movement of the 1970s provides an example on how games and play can take an active stance in societal, ethical and philosophical matters. DeKoven’s book is an accessible presentation that is also available (for an obligatory donation) as a downloadable PDF:
DeKoven, Bernie (2002) The Well Played Game: A Playful Path to Wholeness (3rd edn). San Jose (CA): Writers Club Press. Online site: http://www.deepfun.com/WPG.htm.
There are few as thorough anthropological studies of games and play as this classic work by Stewart Culin, now available as a two-volume paperback version.
Culin, Stewart (1907/1992a) Games of the North American Indians. Vol. 1: Games of Chance. Lincoln and London: Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press.
Culin, Stewart (1907/1992b) Games of the North American Indians. Vol. 2: Games of Skill. Lincoln and London: Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has studied the psychology of intense concentration into challenging tasks and related feelings. His work does not provide all solutions that a student of player experiences requires, but is central reading nevertheless.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1991) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper Perennial. (Excerpts available online from Amazon.com.)
Many of the early critical works of digital game studies have been authored by games industry professionals, rather than academics. Chris Crawford published this classic text originally in 1982, and it has then been made available online by professor Sue Peabody from Washington State University Vancouver. The book has been very influential in the way it discusses games through comparisons to some neighboring cultural forms.
Crawford, Chris (1982/1997) The Art of Computer Game Design. The electronic edition. Online: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/ACGD.pdf
 | Bernie DeKoven on The Well Played Game |
 | imcarelli on Toward a Critical Vocabulary f… |
 | hasserved on What Video Games Have To Teach… |
 | frans on Game Studies Journal |
 | martinpi on Game Studies Journal |
An Introduction to Game Studies 
You must be logged in to post a comment.