Joystick Soldiers: The Politics of Play in Military Video Games (Paperback)

"Joystick Soldiers plunges into the crossfire surrounding the key issues of war and video games to bring the reader thought provoking analyses and arguments about the history of games, the role of the military and government in game development, and contemporary representations of war in popular games such as Call of Duty 4 and America's Army. Contributors explore how players make sense of war in games, and how the military-entertainment complex is shaping our larger understandings of militarism, war, and what it means to be a citizen today. Along the way, we gain a broader understanding of how both war and games have worked to construct understandings of each other." - Mia Consalvo, author of Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames

"Joystick Soldiers is an extremely valuable collection that offers multiple perspectives--contributors include a military trainer and a retired officer, as well as academics in various disciplines--on the relationship between militarism and video games. The collection as a whole provides the richest and most detailed picture yet of what theorists have called the 'military-entertainment complex,' while focusing attention on the specific video games that help to manifest that complex in the culture but also, surprisingly, offer a platform for critique and resistance." - Steven E. Jones, author of The Meaning of Video Games

"...theoretically satisfying, the book is approachable as the authors explore a diverse range of topics..." - Context Magazine