The Video Game Industry

The Video Game Industry provides a platform for the research on the video game industry to draw a coherent and informative picture of this industry. Previously this has been done sparsely through conference papers, research articles, and popular science books. Although the study of this industry is still stigmatized as frivolous and 'only' game oriented, those who grew up with video games are changing things, especially research agendas, the acceptance of studies, and their interpretation. This book describes and defines video games as their own special medium. They are not pinball from which they grew, nor movies which they sometimes resemble. They are a unique form of entertainment based on meaningful interactions between individuals and machine across a growing sector of the population. The Video Game Industry provides a reference foundation for individuals seriously interested in the industry at the academic level. As a result, this book will serve as a reference in curricula associated with video game development for years to come.

Peter Zackariasson is an associate professor in marketing at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Timothy Wilson is Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Management at Umeå University, Sweden.

Introduction Peter Zackariasson and Timothy L. Wilson 1. This is Not a Software Industry Casey O'Donnell 2. Video Games - A Subcultural Industry Mikolaj Dymek 3. Marketing of Video Games Peter Zackariasson and Timothy L. Wilson 4. An Exploration of the Mobile Gaming Ecosystem from Developers' Perspective Claudio Feijoó 5. The North American Game Industry Casey O'Donnell 6. The UK and Irish Game Industries Aphra Kerr 7. The Development of the Swedish Game Industry: A True Success Story? Ulf Sandqvist 8. Console Hardware: The Development of Nintendo Wii Mirko Ernkvist 9. "Warm and Stuffy": The Ecological Impact of Electronic Games Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller 10. Gamification as the Post-Modern Phalanstère - Is the Gamification Playing With Us or Are We Playing With Gamification? Flavio Escribano 11. The Evolving European Video Games Software Ecosystem Giuditta De Prato, Sven Lindmark and Jean-Paul Simon 12. Through the Looking Glass Sharply Timothy L. Wilson and Peter Zackariasson