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.
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.
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An Introduction to Game Studies 