The Video Game Debate 2: Revisiting the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games

145 Pages·2020·2.233 MB·English

by  Rachel Kowert, Thorsten Quandt

“The business and culture surrounding video games have not stopped evolving,
and neither has researchers’ understanding of the new issues and debates that
come with those changes. The experts in this book lay them all out in clear, well-
supported summaries that leave the reader deeply informed.”
Jamie Madigan, Author of The Engagement Game: Why Your
Workplace Culture Should Look More Like a Video Game

THE VIDEO GAME DEBATE 2
This student-friendly book provides an accessible overview of the primary debates about the
effects of video games. It expands on the original The Video Game Debate to address the new
technologies that have emerged within the field of game studies over the last few years.
Debates about the negative effects of video game play have been evident since their
introduction in the 1970s, but the advent of online and mobile gaming has revived these
concerns, reinvigorating old debates and generating brand new ones. The Video Game
Debate 2 draws from the latest research findings from the top scholars of digital games
research to address these concerns. The book explores key developments such as virtual
and augmented reality, the use of micro-transactions, the integration of loot boxes, and the
growth of mobile gaming and games for change (serious games). Furthermore, several new
chapters explore contemporary debates around e-sports, gamification, sex and gender
discrimination in games, and the use of games in therapy.
This book offers students and scholars of games studies and digital media, as well as
policymakers, the essential information they need to participate in the debate.
Rachel Kowert is the Research Director of Take This, a nonprofit organization that provides
mental health information and resources to gaming communities and the gaming industry.
She has been studying games and gamers for more than 10 years, with a specific focus on the
social impact of digital game play. She has published numerous research articles and books on
the topic, including A Parent's Guide to Video Games (2016), which won an INDIES award in
science. For more information on Rachel and her research, please visit rkowert.com.
Thorsten Quandt is Professor of Online Communication at the University of Münster
and a distinguished scientist with extensive experience in digital games research, both
nationally and internationally. He is the founding chair of the ECREA section on Digital
Games Research, and the co-editor of essential books in game studies, including
Multiplayer (2013), The Video Game Debate (2016), and New Perspectives on the Social Aspects
of Digital Gaming (2017).
Routledge Debates in Digital Media Studies
Series editors: Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt
The Routledge Debates in Digital Media Studies series provides critical ex-
aminations of the active debates that surround the uses and effects of new media
and technologies within society. Consisting of essays written by leading scholars
and experts, each volume tackles a growing area of inquiry and debate in the field
and provides readers with an in-depth and accessible overview of the topic in
question.
The Video Game Debate 2
Revisiting the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games
Edited by Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Debates-in-Digital-Media-Studies/book-series/RDDMS
THE VIDEO GAME
DEBATE 2
Revisiting the Physical, Social,
and Psychological Effects
of Video Games
Edited by Rachel Kowert
and Thorsten Quandt
First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested.
ISBN: 978-0-367-36872-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-36694-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-35181-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Contributors x
1 Revisiting Old Debates 1
Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt
2 A Brief Overview of Loot Boxes in Video Gaming 7
Mark D. Griffiths
3 Serious Games: Play for Change 19
Ruud S. Jacobs
4 Digital Divides and Structural Inequalities:
Exploring the Technomasculine Culture of Gaming 41
Thomas H. Apperley and Kishonna L. Gray
5 Twitch and Participatory Cultures 53
Ashley M.L. Brown and Lis Moberly
6 Playing to Win: The Global Esports Industry and Key Issues 66
Stephanie Orme
7 Therapeutic Use of Video Games 81
Anthony Bean
viii Contents
8 Extended Reality Therapy: The Use of Virtual, Augmented,
and Mixed Reality in Mental Health Treatment 95
Jessica Stone
9 Mobile Gaming 107
Frans Mäyrä and Kati Alha
10 The Video Game Debate: Where Do We Go from Here? 121
Thorsten Quandt and Rachel Kowert
Index 129
Illustrations
Figure
7.1 The Seven Paths of Archetypal Valor (adapted from
Bean, 2018) 89
Tables
2.1 Countries That Have Considered Loot Boxes in Relation
to Their Gambling Regulation 12
7.1 Archetypes of Virtual Characters (Adapted from Bean, 2018) 88
8.1 Extended, Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality
(Adopted From Irvine, 2017) 98