[game_edu] FW: New Book, The Ethics of Computer Games

[S. Gold]

-- 
Susan Gold
Skype: tahoegold

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."
Oscar Wilde

------ Forwarded Message
From: Miguel Sicart <miguel at itu.dk>
Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 11:39:10 +0200
To: Miguel Sicart <miguel at itu.dk>
Subject: New Book, The Ethics of Computer Games


I am very happy to announce that my book , The Ethics of Computer Games, is
finally out there in the wild, for anyone to purchase. It's been a long
process, but it's finally here. And it feels good ...

It ended up being quite a philosophy volume, but there are some case
studies, from Defcon to GTA IV, that makes the book a bit more digestible. I
am very interested in feedback and conversations on the book, so you know
where to find me ...

Now, it's time to prepare the release party ... and see if I can get the
movie rights sold ;)

Thank you all!


Miguel


////some information about the book [apologies for cross-posting]////


>> Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry >

(and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of > scholarly
research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of > computer games.
Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom > go beyond intermittent
portrayals of them in the mass media as training > devices for teenage serial
killers. In this first scholarly exploration > of the subject, Miguel Sicart
addresses broader issues about the ethics > of games, the ethics of playing the
games, and the ethical > responsibilities of game designers. He argues that
computer games are > ethical objects, that computer game players are ethical
agents, and that > the ethics of computer games should be seen as a complex
network of > responsibilities and moral duties. Players should not be considered

> passive amoral creatures; they reflect, relate, and create with ethical >

minds. The games they play are ethical systems, with rules that create >
gameworlds with values at play. > > Drawing on concepts from philosophy and game
studies, Sicart proposes a > framework for analyzing the ethics of computer
games as both designed > objects and player experiences. After presenting his
core theoretical > arguments and offering a general theory for understanding
computer game > ethics, Sicart offers case studies examining single-player games
(using > Bioshock as an example), multiplayer games (illustrated by Defcon), and

> online gameworlds (illustrated by World of Warcraft) from an ethical >

perspective. He explores issues raised by unethical content in computer > games
and its possible effect on players and offers a synthesis of design > theory and
ethics that could be used as both analytical tool and > inspiration in the
creation of ethical gameplay. > > Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Computer-Games-Miguel-Sicart/dp/0262012650/ref=sr
Amazon.co.uk: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethics-Computer-Games-M-Sicart/dp/0262012650/ref=sr_1_
MIT Press: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11758


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