Utopic Dreams and Apocalyptic Fantasies invites us to examine critical questions about video game play, pleasure, and fantasy from a sociological perspective.

Edited by Talmadge J. Wright; David G. Embrick and Andras Lukacs - Contributions by Rebecca Carlson; Samuel Coavoux; Jonathan Corlis; Nicolas Ducheneaut; Nick Dyer-Witheford; Thomas S. Henricks; William H. Kelly; Paul R. Ketchum; Lauren Langman; Ken McAll

Part 1 I. Introduction Chapter 2 1. Introduction to Utopic Dreams and Apocalyptic Fantasies Part 3 II. Modern Play and Technology-Defining Digital Play Chapter 4 2. The Transformation of Cultural Play Chapter 5 3. "Is He 'Avin a Laugh?": The Importance of Fun to Virtual Play Studies Chapter 6 4. Capitalism, Contradiction and the Carnivalesque: Alienated Labor vs. Ludic Play Chapter 7 5. Sneaking Mission: Late Imperial America and Metal Gear Solid 8 6. I Blog, Therefore I Am: Virtual Embodiment and the Self 9 III. Marketing Culture and the Video Game Business Chapter 10 7. Marketing Computer Games: Reinforcing or Changing Stereotypes? Chapter 11 8. Censoring Violence in Virtual Dystopia: Issues in the Rating of Videogames in Japan and of Japanese Videogames outside Japan Chapter 12 9. Coding Culture: Video game Localization and the Practice of Mediating Cultural Difference Part 13 IV.Researching Video Game Play Chapter 14 10. Beyond Sheeping the Moon - Methodological Considerations for Critical Studies of Digital Play Chapter 15 11. The Chorus of the Dead: Roles, Identity Formation, and Ritual Processes inside a FPS multiplayer online game Chapter 16 12. The Quantitative/Qualitative Antimony in Virtual World Studies Part 17 V.Summary and Conclusions Chapter 18 13. Virtual Today, Reality Tomorrow: Taking Our Sociological Understanding of Virtual Game play to the Next Level