Unboxing Age of Empires: Paratexts and the Experience of Historical Strategy Games

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter in a book

243 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In this chapter, Richard Cole expands upon the relationship between paratexts and audiences by considering the imaginative, historiographical, and action-orientated possibilities raised by the manual, cover art, and technology tree of the 1997 videogame AGE OF EMPIRES, as well as player responses to these. He considers the insight such paratexts offer into early historical videogames, including how they were deployed by developers, how they could be exploited by players, and how, through sustained usage, such devices have been incorporated into the virtual worlds of recent games, suggesting that paratexts are less peripherals and more a central part of the experience.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationParatextualizing Games
Subtitle of host publicationInvestigations on the Paraphernalia and Peripheries of Play
EditorsBenjamin Beil, Gundolf S. Freyermuth , Hanns Christian Schmidt
PublisherBerlin: Transcript Verlag
Pages97-130
Number of pages34
ISBN (Electronic) 978-3-8394-5421-3
ISBN (Print) 978-3-8376-5421-9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Nov 2021

Publication series

NameStudies of Digital Media Culture
Publishertranscript Verlag

Research Groups and Themes

  • Centre for Material Texts
  • Institute of Greece, Rome, and the Classical Tradition

Keywords

  • Video Games
  • History
  • Age of Empires
  • Paratexts
  • Media
  • Popular culture < Digital/media literacies
  • Media Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Unboxing Age of Empires: Paratexts and the Experience of Historical Strategy Games'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this