Garry Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology at the University of Salford. He is the author or editor of a number of books including Consuming Sport (2004), Dictionary of Leisure Studies (2009, with T. Blackshaw) and Online Gaming in Context (2011, edited with V.K Gosling and B. Light).

• 1. Studying Video Games 2. Understanding Video Gameplay 3. Video Gamers as Audience 4. Who Plays Video Games? 5. Key Aspects of Video Gameplay 6. Conceptualizing Video Game Culture 7. Video Gamer Productivity 8. Video Games and Everyday Life

"'Video Gamers' outlines the extensive range and richness of player studies, and provides great service to students and research community alike by building bridges between several important research traditions. Moving from theories of gameplay to audience studies, player demographic research, as well as to studies of effects, immersion, performance, gamer fandom, subcultures, and beyond, Garry Crawford manages to demonstrate the versatility and depth of the social approach into the field of video gaming." - Frans Mäyrä, Professor of Digital Culture & Game Studies, University of Tampere, Finland"This concise, persuasive volume is an exemplar of recent scholarship that focuses on video game contexts instead of video games as texts... With its useful chapter summaries and substantial bibliography, this accessible, thorough study would serve as an excellent introductory textbook. But it also makes original contributions to the study of video gamers, and so would be a valuable resource outside the classroom. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - N. A. Baker, Earlham College, CHOICE

Garry Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology at the University of Salford. He is the author or editor of a number of books including Consuming Sport (2004), Dictionary of Leisure Studies (2009, with T. Blackshaw) and Online Gaming in Context (2011, edited with V.K Gosling and B. Light).

• 1. Studying Video Games 2. Understanding Video Gameplay 3. Video Gamers as Audience 4. Who Plays Video Games? 5. Key Aspects of Video Gameplay 6. Conceptualizing Video Game Culture 7. Video Gamer Productivity 8. Video Games and Everyday Life

"'Video Gamers' outlines the extensive range and richness of player studies, and provides great service to students and research community alike by building bridges between several important research traditions. Moving from theories of gameplay to audience studies, player demographic research, as well as to studies of effects, immersion, performance, gamer fandom, subcultures, and beyond, Garry Crawford manages to demonstrate the versatility and depth of the social approach into the field of video gaming." - Frans Mäyrä, Professor of Digital Culture & Game Studies, University of Tampere, Finland"This concise, persuasive volume is an exemplar of recent scholarship that focuses on video game contexts instead of video games as texts... With its useful chapter summaries and substantial bibliography, this accessible, thorough study would serve as an excellent introductory textbook. But it also makes original contributions to the study of video gamers, and so would be a valuable resource outside the classroom. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - N. A. Baker, Earlham College, CHOICE

Garry Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology at the University of Salford. He is the author or editor of a number of books including Consuming Sport (2004), Dictionary of Leisure Studies (2009, with T. Blackshaw) and Online Gaming in Context (2011, edited with V.K Gosling and B. Light).

• 1. Studying Video Games 2. Understanding Video Gameplay 3. Video Gamers as Audience 4. Who Plays Video Games? 5. Key Aspects of Video Gameplay 6. Conceptualizing Video Game Culture 7. Video Gamer Productivity 8. Video Games and Everyday Life

"'Video Gamers' outlines the extensive range and richness of player studies, and provides great service to students and research community alike by building bridges between several important research traditions. Moving from theories of gameplay to audience studies, player demographic research, as well as to studies of effects, immersion, performance, gamer fandom, subcultures, and beyond, Garry Crawford manages to demonstrate the versatility and depth of the social approach into the field of video gaming." - Frans Mäyrä, Professor of Digital Culture & Game Studies, University of Tampere, Finland"This concise, persuasive volume is an exemplar of recent scholarship that focuses on video game contexts instead of video games as texts... With its useful chapter summaries and substantial bibliography, this accessible, thorough study would serve as an excellent introductory textbook. But it also makes original contributions to the study of video gamers, and so would be a valuable resource outside the classroom. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - N. A. Baker, Earlham College, CHOICE