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 Escapist has been published since 2005, and has the benefit of being open access, edited games magazine. Note, that this is not an academic journal, but if you are looking for accessible games journalism, and a source of topical information on games cultures, you might be interested to check out The Escapist. See:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/
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An Introduction to Game Studies 