Playing with Feelings: Video Games and Affect

Description

Aubrey Anable applies affect theory to game studies, arguing that video games let us "rehearse" feelings, states, and emotions that give new tones and textures to our everyday lives and interactions with digital devices. Rather than seeing video games as an escape from reality, Anable demonstrates how they have been intimately tied to our emotional landscape since digital computers emerged.

Aubrey Anable is assistant professor of film studies at Carleton University.

"Playing with Feelings traces a compelling intellectual history and uses affect theory to rethink some core game studies debates. Aubrey Anable's insights on casual, indie, and art games are particularly important at this historical moment in game studies. This is the book many humanistic game scholars have been waiting for."-Adrienne Shaw, author of Gaming at the Edge "Playing with Feelings is one of few works to deeply engage with the theory of affect as developed in media philosophy, sociology, and information studies relative to video games. Written with an eye to the canonical concerns circulating in the lucrative and vibrant field of game studies, the book balances engagement with familiar themes and issues in the game studies and game theory world."-Lisa Cartwright, University of California, San Diego "Playing With Feelings breaks down some fairly weighty themes and theories to create an engaging exploration of how a person's feelings are influenced by gaming." -The Guardian