Promotional Information

A critical discussion of the experience and theory of flow (as conceptualized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) in video games.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 An Introduction to the Ideology of Flow 27
2 Flow, Alienation, and the Politics of Enjoyment 65
3 Streams of Consumption: Video Games and Televisual Flow 103
4 Flow, Play, and Critical Distance 139
5 Playfulness Untamed: Innovation, Play, and Flow in Independent
Games 175
Conclusion: The Critical Futures of Flow 211
Notes 243
References 273
Index 305

About the Author

Braxton Soderman is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies in the School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine.