Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2017 -

Responding to a pressing need in game cultures, Queer Game Studies issues a challenge to the field of game studies and the game industry. The ease with which the essays in this collection address both of these sectors is one of this book's strengths. Chapters featuring original research by established and emerging academic authors are woven together with essays by activists, game designers, and games journalists. Another highlight of the book is the short but rewarding dialog between noted queer theorist Jack Halberstam and games scholar Jesper Juul on how both games and queer activism constitute "arts of failure." Ultimately, the narrative that Ruberg (Univ. of Southern California and Univ. of California, Irvine) and Shaw (Temple Univ.) communicate over the course of the anthology begins by acknowledging recent spikes in the toxicity of game culture, but also draws attention to an entire ecology of queer games, players, and forms of gameplay that are flourishing. This anthology is essential reading for scholars, students, and lay persons who are interested in the issues that arise at the intersection of digital games and queer theory.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.