In the past decade, digital games have become a widely accepted form of media entertainment, moving from the traditional 'core gamer' community into the media mainstream.

This edited collection takes a closer look at the various forms of human interaction in and around these digital games, providing both students and researchers with an overview of debates, past and present.

Including contributions from leading figures in the field, such as Richard Bartle and Mark Griffiths, this book is unique in bridging the gap between games research and social-scientific communication research.

Section I: Social Aspects of Digital Gaming 1. Introduction: Multiplayer Gaming as Social Media Entertainment Thorsten Quandt and Sonja Kröger 2. Design Principles: Use and Misuse Richard A. Bartle 3. Multiplayer Gaming Around the World Thorsten Quandt, Vivian Chen, Jan Van Looy and Frans Mäyrä Section II: Social Interaction in Virtual Worlds 4. Methodology of Measuring Social Immersion in Online Role-playing Games: Exemplary Experimental Research on Social Interactions in Virtual Worlds Benny Liebold, Daniel Pietschmann, Georg Valtin and Peter Ohler 5. Happy Together? A Gender-comparative Study into Social Practices in Digital Gaming Jan Van Looy and Lotte Vermeulen 6. Player-Centered Game Design: Expectations and Perceptions of Social Interaction in RPG and FPS as Predictors of Rich Game Experience Christina Schumann 7. Analyzing AI in NPCs: An Analysis of Twelve Games Magnus Johansson, Björn Straat, Harko Verhagen and Henrik Warpefelt Section III: Online Gaming 8. Party Animal or Dinner for One: Are Online Gamers Socially Inept? Rachel V. Kowert and Julian A. Oldmeadow 9. "There Is No Place Like Home": The Potential of Commercial Online Gaming Platforms to Become Third Places Jeffrey Wimmer 10. It's a Quest(ion) of Timing Torill Elvira Mortensen 11. Social Interaction Design in MMOs Nelson Zagalo and Aníbal Gonçalves Section IV: Co-located and Console Gaming 12. Get together: Console Playing as a Group Experience Sonja Kröger and Thorsten Quandt 13. Family and Games - Digital Game Playing in the Social Context of the Family Lina Eklund 14. Playing to Win?: Measuring the Correlation between Biometric Responses and Social Interaction in Co-located Social Gaming Steve Bromley, Pejman Mirza-Babaei, Graham McAllister and Jonathan Napier 15. Anything but Speechless - Face-to-Face-Communication during Co-located Gaming Judith Ackermann Section V: Risks and Challenges of Social Gaming 16. An Overview of Online Gaming Addiction Mark D. Griffiths 17. Living in a Virtual World? An Excessive Gamer Typology Emese Domahidi and Thorsten Quandt 18. Friendship Quality Matters for Multiplayer Gamers: The Role of Online and Real-life Friendship Quality in the Relationship between Game Addiction and Psychological Well-being in a Sample of Adolescent Online Gamers Antonius J. van Rooij, Tim M. Schoenmakers , Regina J.J.M. van den Eijnden, Ad A. Vermulst and Dike van de Mheen 19. Isolated Violence, Isolated Players, Isolated Aggression: The Social Realism of Experimental Research on Digital Games and Aggression Malte Elson and Johannes Breuer 20. Self-Discrepancy and MMORPGs: Testing the Moderating Effects of Avatar: Identification and Pathological Gaming in World of Warcraft Jan Van Looy, Cédric Courtois and Melanie De Vocht