Archive for 2014

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

Thu Oct 23 13:57:27 GMT 2014



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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