History of Gaming Culture
Video or computer gaming has been around for a very long time. From the earlier games like “Space Invaders” and “Pacman” to more recent games like “Halo” and “World of Warcraft”, the gaming industry has surely come a long way. The fanaticism of millions of gamers around the world has given rise to a computer or video gaming culture which influences the way they think and act. It’s not uncommon to find some popular catchphrases being used in everyday conversations or some gamers dressing up like their favorite gaming characters. Here’s some information on the history of gaming culture.
Academic Game Research
- Game Research & Technology: Great resource center for gamers who are interested in game research and development.
- Did They Begin at Brookhaven?: A look at the origin of video games.
- Computer and Video Games for Learning: A study on the use of video and computer games for academic purposes.
- Youth Violence & Game Violence: Discusses why youth violence cannot be solely attributed to violent games.
- Computer Games for Education: NASA’s mandate to use computer games in educating and inspiring students.
- Video Games and ADHD: A study on the effects of video games on ADHD symptoms in youths.
- How They Got Game: Dedicated to the exploration of cultural and historical influence of video games.
- Intelligent Virtual Environments: A laboratory for the development of interactive models based on AI techniques.
- Aggressive Youths, Violent Video Games Trigger Unusual Brain Activity: A study on how violent video games may effect young people.
Conferences
- Electronic Entertainment Expo: Official website of the conference to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 15 to 17, 2010.
- Game Developers Conference: Possibly the most important conference for game developers around the world.
- CGames 2010 USA: A computer game conference to be held at Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky from 28 to 31 July, 2010.
- Independent Games Festival: A festival to acknowledge the efforts of independent game developers.
- LA Games Conference: A conference for game developers held in Los Angeles.
- Sense of Wonder Night: Dedicated to pushing the boundaries of video games.
- Games for Health Conference: Special conference to be held at the Hyatt Harborside in Boston from May 25 to 27, 2010.
- IEEE Virtual Reality: An international conference focusing on virtual reality.
- CGDC: Homepage of the Christian Game Developers Conference.
Organizations
- IGDA: The official site of the International Game Developers Association.
- ESA: Homepage of the Entertainment Software Association.
- NVGA: Homepage of the National Video Game Association.
- ELSPA: Website of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association.
- MLG: Homepage of Major League Gaming.
- UConn V.G.O.: The video game organization at the University of Connecticut.
- On-Line Gamers Anonymous: Offers help for hopelessly addicted online gamers.
- Child’s Play: A place where gamers can give back to society.
Articles about Game Culture
- Game Studies: An archive of articles about many aspects of gaming culture.
- PADI: Some interesting articles on the preservation of digital games.
- Cultural Framing: An article that looks at how video and computer games can influence culture.
- A Harmless Addiction?: Discusses whether the gaming culture is just a harmless addiction.
- Video Game Culture: An article that examines the phenomenon.
- A Tale of Two Childhoods: Discusses why video games have such a strong hold on children.
- Video Game Culture Clash: Explores gaming culture in Japan and the US.
- Game Culture Journal: Provides free articles in PDF format.
- Games and Culture: A look at how games can expand the imagination of gamers.
