kognosko
Price: �27.97
In stock

Add to Cart

9 used & new from �4.98

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games (Hardcover)

by E Castronova (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

3 new from �18.95 6 used from �4.98

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition)	�12.50	�9.75	36 used & new from �6.89

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

My Felix Online Pet opens new browser window

catslikefelix.co.uk - Download your own little rascal so you can feed and teach him tricks

KitKat Games online opens new browser window

KitKat-PerfectBreak.co.uk/FreeGames - Have a Break. Play Free fun games online with Kit Kat!

Online Business opens new browser window

www.shortcutconfidential.co.uk - 7 simple steps to starting your own �100k a year online business...

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Exodus to the Virtual World

by Edward Castronova

4.0 out of 5 stars (3) �12.06

Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture

by TL Taylor

�14.82

I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life (Testprep (New Riders'))

by Mark Stephen Meadows

5.0 out of 5 stars (2) �12.49

Coming of Age in Second Life An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human

by Tom Boellstorff

4.5 out of 5 stars (2) �16.36

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: The People, the Addiction and the Playing Experience

by R.V. Kelly

�29.93

› Explore similar items

Product details

Hardcover: 344 pages
Publisher: Chicago University Press (11 Nov 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0226096262
ISBN-13: 978-0226096261
Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.6 x 3 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 581,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories:

#22 in	Books > Computing & Internet > PC & Video Games > Programming > Virtual Reality
#47 in	Books > Computing & Internet > PC & Video Games > Internet Games
#47 in	Books > Computing & Internet > PC & Video Games > History & Culture

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

"There is a surprisingly large and growing number of people spending an astonishingly large amount of time - and financial resources - playing online games. These games build upon the platform of the Internet and enable users to interact in an increasingly realistic world. Synthetic Worlds introduces a wide range of perspectives to this important phenomenon. It is a valuable and informative book that makes a significant contribution to a growing and important area of social life." --Lawrence Lessig, author of Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity"

Product Description

From EverQuest to World of Warcraft, online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours - and dollars - partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs. In "Synthetic Worlds", Edward Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers - outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our own? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete? With more than five million active players worldwide - and with Microsoft and Sony pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into video game development - online games have become too big to ignore. "Synthetic Worlds" spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects.

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

second life

games

game theory

video games

theory

society

sim

mmorpg

game economics

economics

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	75% buy the item featured on this page: Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
	8% buy Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot 4.0 out of 5 stars (1) �8.09
	6% buy The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World 3.7 out of 5 stars (3) �12.74
	6% buy Exodus to the Virtual World 4.0 out of 5 stars (3) �12.06

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Explains virtual worlds well, 6 Nov 2006

By	R. A. S. Brown "Raymondo" (Derby, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ed Castranova is probably the best known academic who writes about virtual worlds and Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games. These include the big online fantasy games such as Everquest and World of Warcaft, where thousands of people go and adventure together in lavish 3D worlds, as well as the more creative virtual playgrounds such as Second Life and Project Entropia, where people can more or less create whatever virtual objects they like and possibly make a real living from it.

In his first proper book on the subject, he refers back to his very first paper where he argued how the `residents' of Everquest were more productive in real dollar terms than the residents of some real countries. This brought him international fame and now many other academics are now researching the subject.

From this basis he describes what makes a virtual world, looking at the design, the technology, the in-game economy, the social aspects and possible futures for the genre. I find Castranova a very accessible writer and found this book very interesting. People who are knowledgeable about the subject may not find too much they didn't know already but nevertheless it's a good read for anyone interested in the subject.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A definitve background account, 3 April 2009

By	Prof A. D. Jankowicz (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games (Paperback)

An essential text that has already become a classic, addressing the issues arising in MMORPGs and MUDs, most of which apply directly to the fundamentals of the more recent 'goal-free' worlds such as Second Life. Castronova writes as a senior economics academic, and deals with all the relevant issues of the synthetic world economy and its relationship to the non-synthetic world. Along the way he successfully establishes and defends a position that asserts the mutual interpenetration of synthetic and non-synthetic worlds, based on the widely-accepted utility (subjective) definition of the value of goods and services offered in a marketplace. Thus, an artefact created within Second Life and sold for the same final bid alongside non-synthetic articles on e-Bay is as real and as valuable as they are: within the economist's definition of value, identical. Text 283pp, Appendix 10pp, Notes 16pp, References 7pp, Index 14pp. It could have been dry but it is emphatically not so; a fascinating account, told with humour and insight.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 2 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }