Gaming as a Cultural Commons: Risks, Challenges, and Opportunities

This book explores the cultural aspects and ethical issues of simulation and gaming, including interviews with researchers and commercial game designers, and discusses the potential for propaganda use. It also highlights the lack of recognition of women in the field and the recent discussion of gender issues at an international conference.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 199 pages
Publication date: 25 April 2023
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

This book delves into relatively underrepresented areas of simulation and gaming (S&G), encompassing cultural aspects and ethical considerations, while also providing a foundational understanding of S&G. While the educational benefits of S&G, along with related techniques like gamification and serious games, have been extensively studied and acknowledged, their potential drawbacks often go unnoticed. For instance, maliciously designed and facilitated games can pose a risk of manipulation. Consequently, ethical codes for game designers, facilitators, and educators must be established through rigorous academic research.

The ethics of games are of paramount importance not only for S&G researchers and educators but also for the broader public, as games have been used for propaganda purposes in the past and could potentially be utilized in the present and future.

Considering the cultural dimension, this book offers insights into the knowledge of pioneers within the S&G community, including archival interview data. Notably, it is the first book to feature extensive interviews with researchers, commercial game designers, and critics. Furthermore, the book covers diverse topics from a gender and Japanese cultural perspective, as Japan has gained attention in the field of board games due to the presence of numerous independent game designers and an expanding market. While women have made strides.

Weight: 332g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789811903502
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022