Video games research sometimes struggles against the perception that the field is trivial and superficial, yet video games and play expose basic human motivations and behavior that offer new and useful insights into mechanisms of human cognition, interpretation and self-awareness. The December 2005 and the March 2006 issues of Simulation & Gaming focus on the serious business of video games for both designers and users.

The six articles offer some surprising and intriguing research and analyses that directly contradict widely held assumptions about video gaming. Among the thought-provoking conclusions are Diane Carr's observations about whether girls really prefer different games than boys. Her research shows that the characteristics that are normally associated with gender identity and role in nongame contexts may be disassociated from their culturally determined functions during video game play; this disassociation, such as female players disinterest in selecting female avatars, upsets some commonly assumed gender-related preferences.

Habgood et al. suggest that game play is interrupted rather than aided by the imposition of endogenous fantasies (e.g., narratives) and that players are engaged more often by "flow, representation, and game mechanics." The article distinguishes between endogenous fantasies and the core mechanics of video games with important implications for practical video game design and burgeoning video game theory. Zagal et al.'s research on collaborative games and Thomas' research on pervasive learning games, explore group and social play. In contrast to the common assumption of video games as socially isolating, both articles suggest that online play creates a social community and that contextual frames and overlays have important implications for video game design.

Apperley examines the aesthetic components of video games, contrasting market-driven genres that pigeonhole video games into prior media genres versus genres based on visual aesthetic or narrative structure. His conclusions highlight the disassociation of video game play, content, and analysis from previously embedded conventions of market, culture and critique. Williams unifies the articles by examining the relevance of traditional media studies methods, assumptions, and controversies (social scientific versus humanistic approaches) within contemporary video game research.

Video games research is adapting methods and techniques similar to those used in the infancy of other media studies to understand the uses and effects of video games. These two issues of Simulation & Gaming are a substantial step forward in documenting current theoretical and conceptual issues in video games research and belong in the library of every social scientist and video game designer and researcher!

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