Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

1 Paradox Lost: Faith and Possibility in the "Information Age" 3

Pt. 1 Theoretical Trajectories 27

2 Media Analysis in the High-Intensity Marketplace: The Three Circuits of Interactivity 30

3 An Ideal Commodity? The Interactive Game in Post-Fordist/Postmodern/Promotional Capitalism 60

Pt. 2 Histories: The Making of A New Medium 79

4 Origins of an Industry: Cold Warriors, Hackers, and Suits, 1960-1984 84

5 Electronic Frontiers: Branding the "Nintendo Generation," 1985-1990 109

6 Mortal Kombats: Console Wars and Computer Revolutions, 1990-1995 128

7 Age of Empires: Sony and Microsoft, 1995-2001 151

8 The New Cyber-City: The Interactive Game Industry in the New Millennium 169

Pt. 3 Critical Perspectives 193

9 Workers and Warez: Labour and Piracy in the Global Game Market 197

10 Pocket Monsters: Marketing in the Perpetual Upgrade Marketplace 218

11 Designing Militarized Masculinity: Violence, Gender, and the Bias of Game Experience 246

12 Sim Capital 269

Coda: Paradox Regained 294

Notes 299

Bibliography 331

Index