Scrawled Shortcuts through the Research Maze
Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents and the Media
Does gaming improve coordination, image processing, etc. or does it rot the brain? Are gamers affected by violent/stereotypic content? How are high-risk kids affected?
Reference 302.23083 E56e
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
Read about the early (pre-2000) history of video games here.
Reference 973.9 S143s or online under Resources by Title
Salem History
What was the Arcade era like? What pre-Grand Theft Auto violent games triggered the creation of the ESRB? When did “God games” like SimCity come in?
Online under Resources by Title
ACM Digital Library
Our Association for Computing Machinery database covers subjects from game design to “grouping in world of warcraft” and “percussive gestural interface” for music.
Online under Resources by Title Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology (2005)
How did we get from text-based “MUDS” to Everquest and WOW? Lots of tech here:
http://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.drew.edu/book/routt
Contemporary Youth Culture: An International Encyclopedia
As generations turn, video games are no longer a youth speciality, but see here for an analysis of “Youth Culture and Video Games”
Online via Credo: http://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.drew.edu/book/gwyouth
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Looking for a definition of “adventure games”? Look under video games, but also check out Virtual Reality and Human Computer Interaction.
Reference 503 M147
Proquest Research Library
Books on video games age fast; check out Proquest and Academic Search for articles on the cultural effects of Playstation Move as well as WoW, the Xbox, and the Wii.
Online under Resources by Subject
Daedalus Project: MMPORGs
Research by a Stanford PhD student on players of Massively Multiplayer games.
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/arch_cat.php