Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen is CEO of the award-winning company Serious Games Interactive and has worked as an assistant professor at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen. Jonas Heide Smith is head of digital communication at SMK. He has previously taught computer-mediated communication at the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Business School, the IT University of Copenhagen, and Roskilde University. Susana Pajares Tosca is an associate professor at Roskilde University and is a founding editor of the journal Game Studies.
Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction is a must-read primer for any student considering game studies. A handbook that is clear, precise, up-to-date and extremely useful for tackling video games, a cultural and technical phenomenon of great complexity and full of nuances. -- Belen Mainer Blance, Professor and Director of the Videogames Department at University Francisco de Vitoria Praise for the previous edition: A user-friendly, eminently readable account that has something to offer to both the neophyte and the specialist, Understanding Video Games is the text that is needed to secure a durable place for game studies in the academic curriculum. -- Marie-Laure Ryan, author of Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media As the core text for my introductory games course, Understanding Video Games has remained an essential guide since its first edition. Ever attentive to the practicalities of classroom needs, this superb update presents its most complete and accessible overview of game studies yet. -- Soraya Murray, University of California, Santa Cruz Understanding Video Games is an admirably comprehensive treatment of the video game industry, history, culture, and theory. This new edition remains the best general textbook I've found for teaching video games in the college classroom. -- Alf Seegert, University of Utah