Defining Play: Producers, Mediators, and Users in the History of Video Arcade Games, 1971-1985

Abstract

My dissertation is a history of video arcade games. It examines the actions and interactions of "producers," "mediators," and "users"in constituting the development, economics, and meanings of technology. I pay particular attention to how these groups of actors defined the social and technical characteristics of video arcade games, affecting such things as design philosophy, placement, and play patterns. This study provides an analytical and critical perspective on the history of video games, fills a significant lacuna in the history of computing, and contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions of how technologies arise, proliferate, and acquire significance.