Social exclusion, power, and video game play : new research in digital media and technology / edited by David G. Embrick, J. Talmadge Wright, and Andras Lukacs.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Marking the territory : Grand theft auto IV as a playground for masculinity / Elena Bertozzi -- Discursive engagements in World of warcraft : a semiotic analysis of player relationships / Elizabeth Erkenbrack -- The intermediate ego : the location of the mind at play / Vanessa Long -- Producing place and play in virtual game spaces / J. Talmadge Wright -- Racism in video gaming : connecting extremist and mainstream expressions of white supremacy / Jessie Daniels and Nick LaLone -- Worlds of whiteness : race and character creation in online games / David Dietrich -- Gendered pleasures : the Wii, embodiment and technological desire / Adrienne L. Massanari -- Sincere fictions of whiteness in virtual worlds : how fantasy massively multiplayer online games perpetuate color-blind, white supremacist ideology / Joel Ritsema and Bhoomi K. Thakore -- The goddess paradox : hyper-resonance shaping gender experiences in MMORPGs / Zek Cypress Valkyrie -- World of warcraft and "the world of science" : ludic play in an online affinity space / Sean C. Duncan -- Cosmo-play : Japanese videogames and western gamers / Mia Consalvo -- Beyond the virtual realm : Fallout fans and the troublesome issue of ownership in videogame fandom / R.M. Milner -- Apocalyptic fantasies and utopic dreams untold : where do we go from here? / Andras Lucacs, David G. Embrick, and J. Talmadge Wright.

"We divide this book into three major sections that address major issues of social exclusion, power and liberatory fantasies in virtual play. The first section, social-psychological implications of virtual gameplay, highlights recent research that examines how the virtual realms of MMORPGs and other games shape emotion and influence social interactions between players within the game. Section two features studies that entertain questions on the marketing of race and gender stereotypes in video games and how (and if) traditional forms of social inequality are reproduced or contested in virtual realms. Finally, section three offers insight on game fans and virtual play. Specifically, the contributions in this section explore the relationship between software developers and game fans"-- Provided by publisher.