Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders: Videogame Forms and Contexts

by Geoff King, Tanya Krzywinska

Overview

The first in the field to focus on the key aspects of videogames themselves as a distinctive medium, this is a rich and original read for gamers as well as students and researchers of popular culture internationally, which reviews the passionate gamer/game relationship viz all types of games from "Doom" to "EverQuest". Videogames now rival Hollywood cinema in popularity and profits and there are huge followings for titles such as "Tomb Raider" or "The Sims". Exactly what games offer, however, as a distinct form of entertainment, has received scant attention. This book is a valuable contribution to this new field. Its main focus is on key formal aspects of games and the experiences and pleasures offered by the activities they require of the player. A wide range of games are considered, from first-person shooters to third-person action-adventures, strategy, sports-related and role-playing games. Issues examined in detail include the characteristics of gameplay and its relationship with narrative, genre, virtual landscapes, realism, spectacle and sensation.
Lively and accessible in style, this book is written for both an academic readership and the wider audience of gamers and those interested in popular culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845111083
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/28/2005
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Geoff King is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at Brunel University London, UK, and author of numerous books, including The Cinema of Discomfort: Disquieting, Awkward and Uncomfortable Experiences in Contemporary Art and Indie Film (Bloomsbury, 2021), Positioning Art Cinema: Film and Cultural Value (Bloomsbury, 2019) and Quality Hollywood: Markers of Distinction in Contemporary Studio Film (Bloomsbury, 2015)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations * Acknowledgements * Introduction: Space Invaders, Tomb Raiders * Gameplay and its Contexts * Gamescapes: Exploration and Virtual Presence in Game Worlds * Realism, Spectacle, Sensation * Social, Cultural and Political Dimensions * Afterword * Notes * Bibliography * Index

Editorial Reviews

"As one of the uninitiated, the sum total of my knowledge of the world of computer gaming was almost zero-before I read this book." —Thes

From the Publisher