[Air-L] New Book: "Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape"

[Tama Leaver]

Hi Everyone,



Michele Willson and I are delighted to announce that our collection *Social,
Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape* has been released
by Bloomsbury Academic.



Here’s a quick blurb, the contents and contributors:



Social, casual and mobile games, played on devices such as smartphones,
tablets, or PCs and accessed through online social networks, have become
extremely popular, and are changing the ways in which games are designed,
understood, and played. These games have sparked a revolution as more
people from a broader demographic than ever play games, shifting the
stereotype of gaming away from that of hardcore, dedicated play to that of
activities that fit into everyday life. *Social, Casual and Mobile
Games* explores
the rapidly changing gaming landscape and discusses the ludic,
methodological, theoretical, economic, social and cultural challenges that
these changes invoke. With chapters discussing locative games, the new
freemium economic model, and gamer demographics, as well as close studies
of specific games (including *Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds*, and *Ingress*),
this collection offers an insight into the changing nature of games and the
impact that mobile media is having upon individuals and societies around
the world.



Contents

1. Social networks, casual games and mobile devices: the shifting contexts
of gamers and gaming / Tama Leaver and Michele Willson

*Part I: The (New?) Gaming Landscape*

2. Who are the casual gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture
/ Lina Eklund
3. Between aliens, hackers and birds: non-casual mobile games and casual
game design / Brendan Keogh
4. Casual gaming: the changing role of the designer / Laureline Chiapello
5. Discussions with developers: F2Play and the changing landscape of games
business development / Tom Phillips

*Part II: Reasons to Play*

6. The sociality of asynchronous gameplay: social network games, dead-time
and family bonding / Kelly Boudreau and Mia Consalvo
7. Digital affection games: cultural lens and critical reflection / Lindsay
Grace
8. Mobile games and ambient play / Larissa Hjorth and Ingrid Richardson
9. Affect and social value in freemium games / Fanny Ramirez

*Part III: Locative Play*

10. Riding in cars with strangers: a cross-cultural comparison of privacy
and safety in Ingress / Stacy Blasiola, Miao Feng and Adrienne Massanari
11. Playful places: uncovering hidden heritage with Ingress / Erin Stark
12. Rewriting neighbourhoods: Zombies, Run! and the runner as rhetor / Jamie
Henthorn
13. The de-gamification of Foursquare? / Rowan Wilken

*Part IV: New Markets*

14. Social games and game-based revenue models / Mark Balnaves and Gary
Madden
15. Angry Birds as a social network market / Tama Leaver
16. From premium to freemium: the political economy of the app / David
Nieborg

*Part V. Cheating, Gambling and Addiction*

17. Social casino apps and digital media practices: New paradigms of
consumption / Cesar Albarran-Torres
18. Cheating in Candy Crush Saga / Marcus Carter and Staffan Bjork

*Afterword*

19. Reflections on the casual games market in a post-Gamergate world
/ Adrienne Shaw and Shira Chess



Michele and I would like to publicly thank all of our wonderful
contributors, the folks at Bloomsbury, and Troy Innocent for the rather
nifty cover image. For the book’s launch Bloomsbury are offering 40% off
the normal price, which makes the eBook version actually affordable for
humans, not just libraries! Details here:
http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/social-casual-and-mobile-games-9781501310584/


Any feedback or thoughts on the book would, of course, be most welcome.


All the best,

Tama & Michele

-- 
Dr Tama Leaver
Senior Lecturer in Internet Studies
Faculty of Humanities, MCCA, Curtin University
GPO Box U1987 Perth WA Australia 6845
Ph: (+61 8) 9266 1258
Fax: (+61 8) 9266 3166
Email: t.leaver at curtin.edu.au
Web: www.tamaleaver.net
Twitter: @tamaleaver

CRICOS Provider Code: 00301J (WA) 02637B (NSW)