Document Type
Book Review
Source
Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies
First Page
1
Last Page
4
Publication Date
9-2009
Department
History
Abstract
Both the digital and real societies produced by Blizzard's Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft, have received a lot of attention in the relatively new field of game studies. Due to its phenomenal size and cultural significance, the interest World of Warcraft draws is justifiable. The book, Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader attempts to dissect the gaming industry's largest MMORPG through a compilation of work consisting of thirteen separate analyses, representing a wide variety of scholars trained with different analytical toolsets. This format was deliberately chosen by the editors, Hilde G. Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg, because it is common among important works in related fields such as literature and media studies. Furthermore, World of Warcraft necessitates "multiple approaches to the game" due to its complex multiplicity (3). These different approaches are categorized into a logical organization and often complement each other, and the result is four delineated sections (three of which makeup the title): Culture, World, Play, and Identity.
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