Unboxing Japanese Videogames: A Metadata-Based Approach to the Production and Distribution of Spatial...

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Martin Roth

Unboxing Japanese Videogames

A Metadata-Based Approach to the Production and Distribution of Spatial Instability

Martin Roth

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English

MIT Press
25 March 2025

Computing: general

A new perspective on the spatial complexity and plurality of Japanese videogames.

A new perspective on the spatial complexity and plurality of Japanese videogames.

Unboxing Japanese Videogames uncovers the complex and plural spatialities of commercial videogames published in Japan between 1985 and 2015. Rejecting the ""boxing"" inherent in the phrase ""Japanese videogames,"" Martin Roth explores a series of spatialities that unfold in videogame production and distribution. The book develops a notion of spatialization that is applied in the analysis of contents or genre distributions in Japan, the US, the UK, Germany, and France, the distribution of videogame works across different important markets, the geography of actors involved in videogame production and their gradual spatialization over time, and the functional spatialization of game production across a diverse range of platforms.

This book is the first English-language study to provide an overview of the subject and also the first to explore the spatial history of FromSoftware games. It stands out because it does so quantitatively, offering a macro-perspective on the field of commercial videogames instead of relying on sales statistics or case studies. In addition to a wide range of related scholarship in English, the book engages actively with scholarship and other relevant resources in Japanese. Over thirty visualizations make the findings of the book tangible and invite the reader to explore the spatial complexity of commercial videogames further.

By: Martin Roth
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 178mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780262552226
ISBN 10: 0262552221
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 25 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Martin Roth is Associate Professor at Ritsumeikan University and a Research Fellow at Stuttgart Media University. He works on videogames, play, and digital culture, with a regional focus on Japan. His first monograph, Thought-Provoking Play, is available open access from ETC Press.