{ "item_title" : "Gaming Matters", "item_author" : [" Judd Ethan Ruggill", "Ken S. McAllister "], "item_description" : "In his 2004 book Game Work, Ken S. McAllister proposed a rigorous critical methodology for the discussion of the video game complex--the games themselves, their players, the industry that produces them, and those who review and market them. Games, McAllister demonstrated, are viewed and discussed very differently by different factions: as an economic force, as narrative texts, as a facet of popular culture, as a psychological playground, as an ethical and moral force, even as a tool for military training. In Gaming Matters, McAllister and coauthor Judd Ruggill turn from the broader discussion of video game rhetoric to study the video game itself as a medium and the specific features that give rise to games as similar and yet diverse as Pong, Tomb Raider, and Halo. In short, what defines the computer game itself as a medium distinct from all others? Each chapter takes up a different fundamental characteristic of the medium. Games are: - Idiosyncratic, and thus difficult to apprehend using the traditional tools of media study- Irreconcilable, or complex to such a degree that developers, players, and scholars have contradictory ways of describing them- Boring, and therefore obligated to constantly make demandson players' attention- Anachronistic, or built on age-old tropes and forms of playwhile ironically bound to the most advanced technologies- Duplicitous, or dependent on truth-telling rhetoric even when they are about fictions, fantasies, or lies- Work, or are often better understood as labor rather than play- Alchemical, despite seeming all-too mechanical or predictableVideo games are now inarguably a major site of worldwide cultural production. Gaming Matters will neither flatter game enthusiasts nor embolden game detractors in their assessments. But it will provide a vocabulary through which games can be discussed in academic settings and will create an important foundation for future academic discourse.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/81/731/737/0817317376_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "34.95", "online_price" : "34.95", "our_price" : "34.95", "club_price" : "34.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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