Video games are temporal artifacts: They change with time as players interact with them in accordance with rules. In this study, Federico Alvarez Igarzábal investigates the formal aspects of video games that determine how these changes are produced and sequenced. Theories of time perception drawn from the cognitive sciences lay the groundwork for an in-depth analysis of these features, making for a comprehensive account of time in this novel medium. This book-length study dedicated to time perception and video games is an indispensable resource for game scholars and game developers alike. Its reader-friendly style makes it readily accessible to the interested layperson.

Computer and video games are leaving the PC and conquering the arena of everyday life in the form of mobile applications—the result is new types of cities and architecture. How do these games alter our perception of real and virtual space? What can the designers of physical and digital worlds learn from one another?

A series of mental exercises designed for group participation focuses on the roles of reasoning and imagination in achieving sensory perception

Video game spaces have vastly expanded the built environment, offering new worlds to explore and inhabit. Like buildings, cities, and gardens before them, these virtual environments express meaning and communicate ideas and affects through the spatial experiences they afford. Drawing on the emerging field of embodied cognition, this book explores the dynamic interplay between mind, body, and environment that sits at the heart of spatial communication. To capture the wide diversity of forms that spatial expression can take, the book builds a comparative analysis of twelve video games across four types of space, spanning ones designed for exploration and inhabitation, kinetic enjoyment, enacting a situated role, and enhancing perception. Together, these diverse virtual environments suggest the many ways that video games enhance and extend our embodied lives.

Jonathan Hicks, published twice in the British Science Fiction Association's writer's magazine 'FOCUS' and the mission designer/dialogue writer of the mobile telephone game of acclaimed television show 'Battlestar Galactica', presents twelve short stories about the little people in the big universe. "I grew up with the grandiose science fiction tales, in books and on film, with great galaxy-spanning adventures or life-changing technologies," said Jonathan Hicks. "In this book I concentrate on the 'little guy', the people who work behind the scenes and those who get a less than stellar deal out of the supposed adventure travelling the galaxy and exploring new technologies offers." Click on the 'preview this book' under the cover picture above to find out more about these stories. Contains strong language and some violence

Offers computer programs for a dozen games, explains how each program works, and suggests ways to modify the games.