Last year (and part of this year!) I wrote an essay on games and comics called “Equip Shield: The Role of Semipermeable Cultural Isolation in the History of Games and Comics.” (I wanted the title to be a bit longer, but the world’s supply of lead couldn’t be melted down fast enough to cast the appropriate type.) It’s a chapter in Nina Huntemann and Ben Aslinger’s book Gaming Globally: Production, Play and Place. (According to reports, the book is either out now [present], or will be soon [future indicative], or was out habitually, but is now interrupted [past imperfect].)
I’ve read much of the book, and it provides a fascinating snapshot of the current state of videogame development. Within less than twenty years, development has spread from a few disparate pockets to nearly the entire globe. It’s really worth checking out. And having local libraries order.
The above is my illustration that heads the section in my chapter on games (it references the transference of themes from Dungeons and Dragons to text adventures and modern computer RPGs).
Bryant Paul Johnson 