| Video Games: A Popular Culture Phenomenon Contributor(s): Berger, Arthur Asa (Author) |
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ISBN: 0765809133 ISBN-13: 9780765809131 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $52.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2001 Annotation: From their inception, video games quickly became a major new arena of popular entertainment. Beginning with very primitive games, they quickly evolved into interactive animated works, many of which now approach ¬lm in terms of their visual excitement. But there are important differences, as Arthur Asa Berger makes clear in this important new work. Films are purely to be viewed, but video involves the player, moving from empathy to immersion, from being spectators to being actively involved in texts. Berger, a renowned scholar of popular culture, explores the cultural signi¬cance of the expanding popularity and sophistication of video games and considers the biological and psychoanalytic aspects of this phenomenon. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Popular Culture - Games & Activities | Video & Electronic - Language Arts & Disciplines | Communication Studies |
| Dewey: 306.487 |
| LCCN: 2001058538 |
| Physical Information: 0.43" H x 6.02" W x 9.06" (0.47 lbs) 132 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From their inception, video games quickly became a major new arena of popular entertainment. Beginning with very primitive games, they quickly evolved into interactive animated works, many of which now approach film in terms of their visual excitement. But there are important differences, as Arthur Asa Berger makes clear in this important new work. Films are purely to be viewed, but video involves the player, moving from empathy to immersion, from being spectators to being actively involved in texts. Berger, a renowned scholar of popular culture, explores the cultural significance of the expanding popularity and sophistication of video games and considers the biological and psychoanalytic aspects of this phenomenon.Berger begins by tracing the evolution of video games from simple games like Pong to new, powerfully involving and complex ones like Myst and Half-Life. He notes how this evolution has built the video industry, which includes the hardware (game-playing consoles) and the software (the games themselves), to revenues comparable to the American film industry. |
Contributor Bio(s): Berger, Arthur Asa: - Arthur Asa Berger is professor emeritus of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University. He is the author of numerous articles, book reviews, and books on media, popular culture, humor, and tourism, and he is the series editor of Transaction's Communication and Mass Culture and Humor series. |