Unboxing Japanese Videogames by Martin Roth - ISBN: 9780262552226
Paperback
Uncover the hidden spatial dimensions within Japanese videogame history and culture.

Unboxing Japanese Videogames

A Metadata-Based Approach to the Production and Distribution of Spatial Instability

$108.37

  • Paperback

    192 pages

  • Release Date

    25 March 2025

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Summary

Unboxing Japanese Videogames

A new perspective on the spatial complexity and plurality of Japanese videogames.

Unboxing Japanese Videogames uncovers the complex and plural spatialities of commercial videogames published in Japan between 1985 and 2015. Rejecting the “boxing” inherent in the phrase “Japanese videogames,” Martin Roth explores a series of spatialities that unfold in videogame production and distribution. The book develops a notion of spatialization that…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780262552226
ISBN-10:0262552221
Author:Martin Roth
Publisher:MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:MIT Press
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:192
Release Date:25 March 2025
Weight:369g
Dimensions:229mm x 178mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Unboxing Japanese Videogames fascinates us like a toy box. By mapping the subject in global and multidisciplinary scopes, Martin Roth cautiously unpacks the closet of Japanese gaming culture in a way that even Japanese researchers have never imagined before.”
—Hiroshi Yoshida, Associate Professor, University of Tokyo

“Roth’s excellent book brings new, accessible methods in metadata analytics to Japanese games in circulation to understand how these games are always already global and local artifacts simultaneously.”
—Jennifer deWinter, Dean of Science and Letters, Illinois Institute of Technology; coeditor of the Influential Game Designers book series; author of Shigeru Miyamoto

“An important and timely volume that lifts the lid on the complex spatialities of game production and distribution. Inviting the reader to rethink the fundamental concept of the ‘Japanese videogame,’ Roth’s analysis is characteristically deep, rigorously theorized, and packed full of examples.”
—James Newman, Research Professor and Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Computing, Bath School of Design

About The Author

Martin Roth

Martin Roth is Associate Professor at Ritsumeikan University and a Research Fellow at Stuttgart Media University. He works on videogames, play, and digital culture, with a regional focus on Japan. His first monograph, Thought-Provoking Play, is available open access from ETC Press.

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