This collection explores the politics of game play and its cultural context by focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing from micro ethnographic studies to macro political economy analysis of techno-nationalisms and transcultural flows of cultural capital, it provides an interdisciplinary model for thinking through the politics of gaming.

Dr. Larissa Hjorth is a lecturer at RMIT University and is the author of The Art of Being Mobile (London, Routledge, 2008).

Dr. Dean Chan teaches at the School of Communications and Arts, Edith Cowan University (ECU), in Perth, Australia.

List of Figures. List of Tables. Acknowledgments 1. Locating the Game: Gaming Cultures in/and the Asia-Pacific Region Larissa Hjorth and Dean Chan Section 1: Industries 2. The Politics of Online Gaming Florence Chee and Dal Yong Jin 3. Gaming Nation: The Australian Game Development Industry Sam Hinton 4. The Dynamics of New Media Globalization in Asia: A Comparative Study of the Online Gaming Industries in South Korea and Singapore Peichi Chung Section 2: Localities 5. Consuming and Localizing Japanese Combat Games in Hong Kong Benjamin Wai-Ming Ng 6. The "Bang" where Korean Online Gaming Began: The Culture and Business of the PC bang in Korea Jun-Sok Huhh 7. Lan Gaming Groups: Snapshots from an Australasian Case Study, 1999-2008 Melanie Swalwell Section 3: Genres and New Rubrics 8. Beyond the "Great Firewall": The Case of In-game Protests in China Dean Chan 9. Pokemon 151: Complicating kawaii David Surman 10. Watching StarCraft, Strategy and South Korea Christian McCrea 11. The Re-presentation of Country as Virtual Artefact in Australian Aboriginal Cultural Heritage using a Game Engine Theodor G. Wyeld, Brett Leavy and Patrick Crogan 12. Sticky Games and Hybrid Worlds: A Post-phenomenology of Mobile Phones, Mobile Gaming and the iPhone Ingrid Richardson Section 4: Players, Playing, and Virtual Communities 13. Managing Risks in Online Game Worlds: Networking Strategies Among Taiwanese Adolescent Players Holin Lin & Chuen-Tsai Sun 14. Games of Gender: A Case Study on Females who Play Games in Seoul, South Korea Larissa Hjorth, Bora Na and Jun-Sok Huhh 15. Playing the Gender Game: The Performance of Japan, Gender and Gaming via Melbourne Female Cosplayers Larissa Hjorth. Contributors. Index