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Benjamin Beil (Prof. Dr.) is a professor of media studies and digital culture at the department of media culture and theatre at Universität zu Köln. His research interests include game studies, inter- and transmediality, digital media in museums, and participatory cultures.
Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Prof. Dr.) is a professor of media and game studies and co-director of the Cologne Game Lab at TH Köln. He is also an associate professor of comparative media studies at ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln.
Hanns Christian Schmidt is a professor for Game Design at Macromedia University for Applied Sciences (Cologne) and a research assistant at the Institute of Media Culture and Theater at the University of Cologne.
Frontmatter 1
Table of Contents 5
Preface and Acknowledgements 9
Paratext . Paraplay 13
"And You Didn't Even Look at It!" 55
The Cartography of Virtual Empires 75
Unboxing AGE OF EMPIRES 97
Making Mario 131
Player Agency in Audience Gaming 165
Material Culture on Twitch 181
Benefits of Including Let's Play Recordings in Close Readings of Digital Game Texts 213
Fame or Infamy: The Influence of Let's Plays on Independent Game Developers 237
"Here Comes a New Challenger" 257
The Impending Demise of Video Game Packaging: An Eulogy 281
The Ludic Nature of Paratexts 293
[Para]Textually Here: Paratexts and Presence in Games 319
Isekai: Tracing Interactive Control in Non-interactive Media 341
The Paratext, the Palimpsest, and the Pandemic 373
Contributors 399