Understanding Digital Games

Understanding Digital Games
Author: Jason Rutter
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2006-04-20
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1847877664

There are an increasing number of courses on digital games and gaming, following the rise in the popularity of games themselves. Amongst these practical courses, there are now theoretical courses appearing on gaming on media, film and cultural studies degree programmes. The aim of this book is to satisfy the need for a single accessible textbook which offers a broad introductions to the range of literatures and approaches currently contributing to digital game research. Each of the chapters will outline key theoretical perspectives, theorists and literatures to demonstrate their relevance to, and use in, the study of digital games.

Understanding Digital Culture

Understanding Digital Culture
Author: Vincent Miller
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012-08-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1446246485

"This is an outstanding book. It is one of only a few scholarly texts that successfully combine a nuanced theoretical understanding of the digital age with empirical case studies of contemporary media culture. The scope is impressive, ranging from questions of digital inequality to emergent forms of cyberpolitics." - Nick Gane, York University "Well written, very up-to-date with a good balance of examples and theory. It′s good to have all the major issues covered in one book." - Peter Millard, Portsmouth University "This is just the text I was looking for to enable first year undergraduates to develop their critical understanding of the technologies they have embedded so completely in their lives." - Chris Simpson, University College of St Mark & St John This is more than just another book on Internet studies. Tracing the pervasive influence of ′digital culture′ throughout contemporary life, this text integrates socio-economic understandings of the ′information society′ with the cultural studies approach to production, use, and consumption of digital media and multimedia. Refreshingly readable and packed with examples from profiling databases and mashups to cybersex and the truth about social networking, Understanding Digital Culture: Crosses disciplines to give a balanced account of the social, economic and cultural dimensions of the information society. Illuminates the increasing importance of mobile, wireless and converged media technologies in everyday life. Unpacks how the information society is transforming and challenging traditional notions of crime, resistance, war and protest, community, intimacy and belonging. Charts the changing cultural forms associated with new media and its consumption, including music, gaming, microblogging and online identity. Illustrates the above through a series of contemporary, in-depth case studies of digital culture. This is the perfect text for students looking for a full account of the information society, virtual cultures, sociology of the Internet and new media.

Understanding Digital Games

Understanding Digital Games
Author: Jason Rutter
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2006-04-20
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1446235963

There are an increasing number of courses on digital games and gaming, following the rise in the popularity of games themselves. Amongst these practical courses, there are now theoretical courses appearing on gaming on media, film and cultural studies degree programmes. The aim of this book is to satisfy the need for a single accessible textbook which offers a broad introductions to the range of literatures and approaches currently contributing to digital game research. Each of the chapters will outline key theoretical perspectives, theorists and literatures to demonstrate their relevance to, and use in, the study of digital games.

Understanding Games and Game Cultures

Understanding Games and Game Cultures
Author: Ingrid Richardson
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2021-03-24
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1529738520

Digital games are one of the most significant media interfaces of contemporary life. Games today interweave with the social, economic, material, and political complexities of living in a digital age. But who makes games, who plays them, and what, how and where do we play? This book explores the ways in which games and game cultures can be understood. It investigates the sites, genres, platforms, interfaces and contexts for games and gameplay, offering a critical overview of the breadth of contemporary game studies. It is an essential companion for students looking to understand games and games cultures in our increasingly playful and ‘gamified’ digital society.

Understanding Digital Literacies

Understanding Digital Literacies
Author: Rodney H. Jones
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2012-05-31
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1136212892

Assuming no knowledge of linguistics, Understanding Digital Literacies provides an accessible and timely introduction to new media literacies. It supplies readers with the theoretical and analytical tools with which to explore the linguistic and social impact of a host of new digital literacy practices. Each chapter in the volume covers a different topic, presenting an overview of the major concepts, issues, problems and debates surrounding the topic, while also encouraging students to reflect on and critically evaluate their own language and communication practices. Features include: coverage of a diverse range of digital media texts, tools and practices including blogging, hypertextual organisation, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, websites and games an extensive range of examples and case studies to illustrate each topic, such as how blogs have affected our thinking about communication, how the creation and sharing of digital images and video can bring about shifts in social roles, and how the design of multiplayer online games for children can promote different ideologies a variety of discussion questions and mini-ethnographic research projects involving exploration of various patterns of media production and communication between peers, for example in the context of Wikinomics and peer production, social networking and civic participation, and digital literacies at work end of chapter suggestions for further reading and links to key web and video resources a companion website providing supplementary material for each chapter, including summaries of key issues, additional web-based exercises, and links to further resources such as useful websites, articles, videos and blogs. This book will provide a key resource for undergraduate and graduate students studying courses in new media and digital literacies.

Networking and Online Games

Networking and Online Games
Author: Grenville Armitage
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2006-08-04
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0470030461

The computer game industry is clearly growing in the direction of multiplayer, online games. Understanding the demands of games on IP (Internet Protocol) networks is essential for ISP (Internet Service Provider) engineers to develop appropriate IP services. Correspondingly, knowledge of the underlying network's capabilities is vital for game developers. Networking and Online Games concisely draws together and illustrates the overlapping and interacting technical concerns of these sectors. The text explains the principles behind modern multiplayer communication systems and the techniques underlying contemporary networked games. The traffic patterns that modern games impose on networks, and how network performance and service level limitations impact on game designers and player experiences, are covered in-depth, giving the reader the knowledge necessary to develop better gaming products and network services. Examples of real-world multiplayer online games illustrate the theory throughout. Networking and Online Games: Provides a comprehensive, cutting-edge guide to the development and service provision needs of online, networked games. Contrasts the considerations of ISPs (e.g. predicting traffic loads) with those of game developers (e.g. sources of lag/jitter), clarifying coinciding requirements. Explains how different technologies such as cable, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and wireless, etc., affect online game-play experience, and how different game styles impose varying traffic dynamics and requirements on the network. Discusses future directions brought by emerging technologies such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone Service), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), Wireless LANs, IP service Quality, and NAPT/NAT (Network Address Port Translation/Network Address Translation) Illustrates the concepts using high-level examples of existing multiplayer online games (such as Quake III Arena, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, and Half-Life 2). Networking and Online Games will be an invaluable resource for games developers, engineers and technicians at Internet Service Providers, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Multimedia Engineering.

Understanding Digital Literacies

Understanding Digital Literacies
Author: Rodney H. Jones
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2021-07-04
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000394034

Understanding Digital Literacies Second Edition provides an accessible and timely introduction to new media literacies. This book equips students with the theoretical and analytical tools with which to explore the linguistic dimensions and social impact of a range of digital literacy practices. Each chapter in the volume covers a different topic, presenting an overview of the major concepts, issues, problems, and debates surrounding it, while also encouraging students to reflect on and critically evaluate their own language and communication practices. Features of the second edition include: • expanded coverage of a diverse range of digital media practices that now includes Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Tinder, and WhatsApp; • two entirely new chapters on mobility and materiality, and surveillance and privacy; • updated activities in each chapter which engage students in reflecting on and analysing their own media use; • e-resources featuring a glossary of key terms and supplementary material for each chapter, including additional activities and links to useful websites, articles, and videos. This book is an essential textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying courses in new media and digital literacies.

Understanding Digital Ethics

Understanding Digital Ethics
Author: Jonathan Beever
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2019-11-28
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1315282119

Rapid changes in technology and the growing use of electronic media signal a need for understanding both clear and subtle ethical and social implications of the digital, and of specific digital technologies. Understanding Digital Ethics: Cases and Contexts is the first book to offer a philosophically grounded examination of digital ethics and its moral implications. Divided into three clear parts, the authors discuss and explain the following key topics: • Becoming literate in digital ethics • Moral viewpoints in digital contexts • Motivating action in digital ethics • Speed and scope of digital information • Moral algorithms and ethical machines • The digital and the human • Digital relations and empathy machines • Agents, autonomy, and action • Digital and ethical activism. The book includes cases and examples that explore the ethical implications of digital hardware and software including videogames, social media platforms, autonomous vehicles, robots, voice-enabled personal assistants, smartphones, artificially intelligent chatbots, military drones, and more. Understanding Digital Ethics is essential reading for students and scholars of philosophical ethics, those working on topics related to digital technology and digital/moral literacy, and practitioners in related fields.

Understanding Digital Technologies and Young Children

Understanding Digital Technologies and Young Children
Author: Susanne Garvis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2015-09-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317619803

Understanding Digital Technologies and Young Children explores the possibilities digital technology brings to enhance the learning and developmental needs of young children. Globally, the role of technology is an increasingly important part of everyday life. In many early childhood education frameworks and curricula around the world, there is an expectation that children are developing skills to become effective communicators and are using digital technology to investigate their ideas and represent their thinking. This means that educators throughout the world are expected to actively enhance children’s learning in ways that provide learning experiences with technology that are balanced and purposeful to allow the transformation of traditional authentic learning experiences. Digital technologies can be used to explore, manipulate, discover, play and interact with real and imaginative worlds to allow active meaning making. With a wide range of expert contributors, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the current research on technology and young children and the importance of engagement for learning. This approach encourages the reader to rethink the possibilities and potential of digital technologies for learning in the early years, especially in the years before formal schooling when children might be attending early childhood settings. This will be a valuable reference for anyone looking for an international perspective on digital technology and young children, and is particularly aimed at current and future teachers.