This book examines the complex network of influences that collide in the culture of digital fighting games, looking at everything from the influence of arcade spaces, to the place of gender and ethnicity in the community, to the clash of philosophies over how these games should be played in the first place. In the process, it establishes the role of technology, gameplay, and community in how these players define both themselves and the games that they play.

Todd Harper is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MIT Game Lab, US

1. Introduction 2. The Arcade Ideal 3. Play Practice 4. Playing Together, Online and Off 5. Online Fighting Game Communities 6. "Asian Hands" and Women's Invitationals 7. Defining the Game and Defining the Self