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New

Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds

by Jesper Juul
$11.90
Compare to estimated retail price: S$60.00  

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Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds
Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds

Dissecting the duality of video game worlds.

If you're fascinated by how video games straddle the line between structured rules and imaginative worlds, "Half-Real" offers insight into this balancing act. Jesper Juul pulls apart the layers that make games unique, making it a thought-provoking read for game designers, players, and anyone curious about the interplay of reality and fiction in this form of digital entertainment.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
New

Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds

by Jesper Juul
$11.90
Compare to estimated retail price: S$60.00  

The item you've got your eye on is secondhand. You probably already know that, but just in case!

The estimated retail price shown next to any listed item represents the first-hand prices we've seen elsewhere, or the estimated original retail price of a comparable item of the same quality, construction and material offered elsewhere in new condition.

Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

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ISBN: 9780262101103
Authors: Jesper Juul
Publisher: Mit Pr
Date of Publication: 2005-01-01
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: Sociology, Philosophy, History
Related Topics: Social Issues, History, Economics, Anthropology, Theory, World History
Goodreads rating: 3.9
(rated by 359 readers)

Description

A video game is played by real rules while imagining a fictional world. We win or lose the game in the real world, but we slay a dragon (for example) only in the world of the game. In this thought-provoking study, Jesper Juul examines the constantly evolving tension between rules and fiction in video games. Discussing games from Pong to The Legend of Zelda, from chess to Grand Theft Auto, he shows how video games are both a departure from and a development of traditional non-electronic games. The book combines perspectives from such fields as literary and film theory, computer science, psychology, economic game theory, and game studies, to outline a theory of what video games are, how they work with the player, how they have developed historically, and why they are fun to play. Locating video games in a history of games that goes back to Ancient Egypt, Juul argues that there is a basic affinity between games and computers. Just as the printing press and the cinema have promoted and enabled new kinds of storytelling, computers work as enablers of games, letting us play old games in new ways and allowing for new kinds of games that would not have been possible before computers. Juul presents a classic game model, which describes the traditional construction of games and points to possible future developments. He examines how rules provide challenges, learning, and enjoyment for players, and how a game cues the player into imagining its fictional world. Juul's lively style and eclectic deployment of sources will make Half-Real of interest to media, literature, and game scholars as well as to game professionals and gamers.
 

Dissecting the duality of video game worlds.

If you're fascinated by how video games straddle the line between structured rules and imaginative worlds, "Half-Real" offers insight into this balancing act. Jesper Juul pulls apart the layers that make games unique, making it a thought-provoking read for game designers, players, and anyone curious about the interplay of reality and fiction in this form of digital entertainment.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.