[ecrea] New book: Playing with Religion in Digital Games

Announcing the new Digital Game Studies series





Playing with Religion in Digital Games

Edited by Heidi A. Campbell & Gregory P. Grieve

   "...[A]n ambitious and impressive compendium offering intriguing 
possibilities for further research and theory for the burgeoning field 
of cultural studies." —Publishers Weekly

    "This volume offers, finally, a space for legitimate discussions on 
the nature of 'play' within our notions of religious participation or 
spiritual searching. The greatest benefit of this book is that it 
highlights how engaging in digital gaming represents new questions about 
what makes a thing (be it a story, an action, or a symbol) religious." 
—Paul Emerson Teusner, RMIT University

   Shaman, paragon, God-mode: modern video games are heavily coded with 
religious undertones. From the Shinto-inspired Japanese video game Okami 
to the internationally popular The Legend of Zelda and Halo, many video 
games rely on religious themes and symbols to drive the narrative and 
frame the storyline. Playing with Religion in Digital Games explores the 
increasingly complex relationship between gaming and global religious 
practices. For example, how does religion help organize the communities 
in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft? What role has censorship played in 
localizing games like Actraiser in the western world? How do evangelical 
Christians react to violence, gore, and sexuality in some of the most 
popular games such as Mass Effect or Grand Theft Auto? With 
contributions by scholars and gamers from all over the world, this 
collection offers a unique perspective to the intersections of religion 
and the virtual world.

Indiana University Press



April 2014 314pp 7 b&w illus., 3 tables 9780253012531 Paperback £19.99 
now only £14.99 when you quote CS1014GAME when you order.



Forthcoming

Playing to Win

Sports, Video Games, and the Culture of Play

Edited by Thomas P. Oates & Robert Alan Brookey

   "A timely volume, with a stellar array of authors." —Toby Miller, 
author of Blow Up the Humanities

   In this era of big media franchises, sports branding has crossed 
platforms, so that the sport, its television broadcast, and its 
replication in an electronic game are packaged and promoted as part of 
the same fan experience. Editors Robert Alan Brookey and Thomas P. Oates 
trace this development back to the unexpected success of Atari's Pong in 
the 1970s, which provoked a flood of sport simulation games that have 
had an impact on every sector of the electronic game market. From golf 
to football, basketball to step aerobics, electronic sports games are as 
familiar in the American household as the televised sporting events they 
simulate. This book explores the points of convergence at which gaming 
and sports culture merge.

Indiana University Press



December 2014 264pp 9780253015020 Paperback £16.99 now only £12.74 when 
you quote CS1014GAME when you order.

UK Postage and Packing £2.95, Europe £4.50

(PLEASE QUOTE REF NUMBER:CS1014GAMEfor discount)

To order a copy please contact Marston on +44(0)1235 465500 or email 
(direct.orders /at/ marston.co.uk)

or visit our website:

http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/

where you can also receive your discount

*Offer excludes the USA, South America and Australasia.


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