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OverviewFrom school lunchrooms to the White House press room, video games are an integral part of our popular culture, and the industry behind them touches all aspects of our lives, gamer and non-gamer alike. Business and entertainment, health and medicine, politics and war, social interaction and education, all fall under its influence. Virtual Ascendance tells the story of a formerly fringe enterprise that, when few were paying attention, exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry affecting the very way we live. Griffiths paints a thorough and vivid picture of the video game industry, illuminating the various, and often bizarre, ways it’s changing how we work, play and live. He brings readers along on his own journey of discovery, from the back room of a small Irish pub where members of the second-largest industry enclave meet each month, to a university clinic where the Wii is being used to treat Parkinson’s sufferers — and everywhere in between. Virtual Ascendance is more than just a story about video games, though. It’s the story of an awakening, of a realization that a childhood pastime has exploded into a thriving enterprise — one rooted in entertainment but whose tendrils reach into virtually all aspects of life and society. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Devin C. GriffithsPublisher: Rowman & Littlefield Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield Dimensions: Width: 15.90cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.40cm Weight: 0.499kg ISBN: 9781442216945ISBN 10: 1442216948 Pages: 234 Publication Date: 19 September 2013 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Down The Rabbit Hole I Am Therefore I Game 2: From The Coin-op To The Console: How Did We Get Here? Let The Games Begin 1972: A Pong Odyssey 3: Let The Games Begin: Competitive Videogaming And The Birth Of The Cyberathlete Cyberathletes And The Leagues Who Love Them 4: Alphabet Soup: MMOs, MUDs, And RPGs—D&D In The 21st Century 5: No Console Required: Casual Games (or, Gaming For The Rest Of Us) 6: Dressed For The Symphony: Videogames Take Center Stage 7: From The Flat Screen To The Big Screen: Videogames Invade Hollywood Star Wars 1313: The Empire Strikes Back 8: Virtual Life 9: And We Are Merely Players: Videogames And Society Good Enough For Government Work: CDC Gets Into The Game 10: Games For Health From Rehab to Wii-hab:Using Videogames to Heal 11: War Games: Combat Evolved 12: It’s William Gibson’s World, We’re Just Living In It BibliographyReviewsVirtual Ascendance is an excellent descriptive account of the increasingly widespread use of digital games in our lives, from serious games to playful entertainment. -- J. Talmadge Wright, graduate program director, department of sociology, Loyola University Chicago Videogames matter. Probably more than you even realize. And here Devin Griffiths sets out, in an informed and engaging manner, exactly why and how they matter. From hardcore gamers, to those with a passing interest, or even for those with no knowledge of gaming at all, this book will tell you what you need to know, and why you need to know it. -- Garry Crawford, professor of sociology, author of Video Games Reading Virtual Ascendence is like playing a great videogame - the paths taken are often surprising, the environment is rendered in engaging detail, and the characters are richly drawn. From casual games to war games, Devin Griffiths writes with a warmly intellectual sense of wonder, purpose and play. -- Derek A. Burrill, associate professor of Media and Cultural Studies, U.C. Riverside Virtual Ascendance is an excellent descriptive account of the increasingly widespread use of digital games in our lives, from serious games to playful entertainment. -- J. Talmadge Wright, graduate program director, department of sociology, Loyola University Chicago Videogames matter. Probably more than you even realize. And here Devin Griffiths sets out, in an informed and engaging manner, exactly why and how they matter. From hardcore gamers, to those with a passing interest, or even for those with no knowledge of gaming at all, this book will tell you what you need to know, and why you need to know it -- Garry Crawford, professor of sociology, author of Video Games Reading Virtual Ascendence is like playing a great videogame - the paths taken are often surprising, the environment is rendered in engaging detail, and the characters are richly drawn. From casual games to war games, Devin Griffiths writes with a warmly intellectual sense of wonder, purpose and play. -- Derek A. Burrill, associate professor of Media and Cultural Studies, U.C. Riverside Author InformationDevin C. Griffiths is a professional writer. He started his own communications company, Catamount Communications, in 2001. He writes corporate communications for various clients. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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