Considering my interest for design and technology, gaming is obviously a subject that fascinates me. This fast growing field of the economy has come a long way since Pong to a $9.5 billion industry in 2007. The commercial aspect is obviously getting a lot of attention. But what about the way this is changing the social landscape?
What i find most interesting is the way contemporary gaming is creating new types of communications without this being clearly noticeable. Phenomenons like mods and social gaming are a strong influence on the virtual landscape and create many new aspects in human interaction and communication that go by relatively unnoticed. It seems that at the speed with which the game industry is expanding, academic research is having trouble to keep up.
There are however sites like Waffler.org that have a very theoretical approach towards gaming and the game industry. This particular website is run by a Columbia Ph.D student, and it handles subjects like social gaming and virtual worlds, and the way in which gamers communicate through virtual interaction. It also has an extensive game theory resources section that provides information on specific game theory related subjects and a useful overview of game related events.
