Fans and Videogames: Histories, Fandom, Archives

Author(s): Melanie Swalwell, Helen Stuckey, Angela Ndelianis

In order to better understand and theorize video games and game playing, it is necessary to study the activities of gamers themselves. Gamers are not only active creators in generating meaning; they are creators of media texts they share with other fans (including games, mods, walkthroughs, machinima, etc); and they have played a central role in curating and preserving games through their collective work on emulation, the creation of online archives and the forensic archaeology of code. This volume brings together essays that explore game fandom from diverse perspectives to reveal the complex processes at work in game fandom and its practices. Contributors aim to historicize game fandom, recognize fan contributions to game history, and critically assess the role of fans in ensuring that game culture endures through the development of archives.