Play, an essential component of human experience, has been understudied. Although there have been some classic works on play including, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture by J. Huizinga (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979) and Man, Play, and Games by R. Callois (translated by M. Barash, New York: Schoken, 1955) and there have been many studies of play by researchers in psychology trying to discern its meanings for children, it has not been a major object of investigation in media and cultural studies.

With the emergence of electronic games, the idea of play and an analysis of its complicated relationship to everyday life has catapulted it centrestage. In this chapter, we want to explore how electronic games in all their various incarnations are presenting play as a central component of contemporary experience that may parallel other forms of entertainment but has significant qualitative differences. The interactive architecture of electronic games, which changes dramatically the cultural experience of games and play, is also investigated. Games present a particularly powerful example of the distinctive kinds of investments and engagements that are part of new media cultures. In their own way, game players enact a form of cultural production in their remaking of the game through play. This chapter works through a reading of game play from the perspective of cultural production and finally an interpretation of the kinds of communities that have developed through online gaming…