Gaming, and the myriad
disciplines which overlap with the concept of video games, are gaining ground in academic circles as a valid field of
research and study.
With MMOs used for social and anthropological experiments, film-making papers focusing on machinima, and computer
scientists investigating hardware and algorithms, computer games research can cover a wide range of subjects, and it's
often hard to find exactly what's going on in the field.A new journal called "Games and Culture" will help with this, as it plans to cover everything from gaming culture to development and even the political ramifications of games. Often fantastic ideas occur in academia before they hit the mainstream, so it should be worth a read for anyone interested in games--there's a free trial of the first volume to get you started, and many of the first issue's papers are on the topic "Why Game Studies Now?"
[update: fixed typo]
