I recently came across some video game related academic papers that I found very interesting. All of the papers are from the Proceedings of the Fifth International Digital Arts and Culture Conference currently being held in Sydney Au: http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/

Here are some of my favorite titles:

Hypertext and Empire

The Sopranos Meets EverQuest: Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games

SIMple & Personal: Domestic Space and The Sims

Interactivity or Interpassivity: a Question of Agency in Digital Play


And, my ultimate favorite:

PlayStation 2: Selling the Third Place

Here's the abstract:

As the "Third Place", Sony markets its PlayStation 2 game platform as a new digital commons, as well as a surreal, dreamlike space. Simulated adventures are promoted as being preferable to physical experiences. While players connect to form gaming communities, online communities are becoming more like structured games. The result is a displacement of public space by privately owned and controlled electronic amusement parks.

Spooky... or heartening. I'm not sure which.