MACMILLAN Transnational Contexts of Development History, Sociality, and Society of Play: Video Games in East Asia (East Asian Popular Culture)

This book examines the historical background of game development, offline and online gamer interactions, and presents a method to study the health impacts of digital games in East Asia. Focusing on examinations of how video games shape external interactions with the world as well as internal spaces, Lee and Pulos' volume brings together a range of approaches and regions to understand the impact of video games in East Asia and beyond. Contributions range from assessments of Nintendo's lasting technological impact in Japan and globally to analyses of mobile social gaming among teenage girls in Korea, with qualitative and quantitative methodologies set in contact with one another to offer a full spectrum of perspectives on video gaming and its profound cultural impact. From the Back Cover This book examines the development and prominence of video games within historical, industrial, and social contexts of East Asia, the largest global market for the video game industry. The book overviews the history of video game technology and industry, examines recent trends in mobile social games, and discusses social impacts of video games in East Asian contexts. The first part overviews the history of video game industry and the technological landscape of video games. The second part examines the recent trend in social mobile games and how developers and players interact in this new gaming sphere. The last part of the book discusses the social impacts of video games in East Asian context through both quantitative and qualitative lenses. About the Author S. Austin Lee is Assistant Professor at Northern Kentucky University, USA. He received his BA from Seoul National University, South Korea and MA/Ph.D. from Michigan State University, USA. His areas of expertise include communication technology and culture and communication. His scholarly work has been published in top academic journals, including Journal of Applied Psychology. He also received the top paper award from the National Communication Association. Alexis Pulos is Assistant Professor at Northern Kentucky University, USA and teaches games and culture, board game design, and video game analysis. He received his Ph.D. from University of New Mexico where he studied rhetoric, new media, digital games, and film. His current work focuses on the ways player agency is structured through the design and social regulation of rule systems.