xviii ◾ How to Read This Book
for videogames does not include many potentially important details, such
as the names of the devices on which the soware is available. Readers
interested in this information are referred to the Mobygames website cited
in the bibliography at the end of the book. (In general, games are made for a
selection of the hardware platforms available at the time of release. Earlier
works were oen created for either personal computers, games consoles
intended for use in the living room, or handheld games devices; more
modern ones will typically be published on both computers and consoles,
though some are built primarily for smartphones and tablets, or for use on
social networking sites. Recently, however, many older games have been
revised for rerelease on more modern systems, meaning that any attempt
to list the devices for which games are available rapidly becomes obsolete.)
Finally, the text makes extensive use of the singular “they”—as employed
in such works as Oscar Wilde’s e Importance of Being Earnest—to refer
to game players and other individuals of unknown gender.
Each franchise entry follows a particular format, beginning with the
name of the intellectual property or game, followed by the date on which
it was rst published, the name of the company which developed it (if any),
and then the name or names of the designers (if known). If the company
name is used again later in the same section, an abbreviation may be given
in parentheses aer its rst appearance and employed subsequently, e.g.
(SSI) for “Strategic Simulations Inc.” It should also be noted that the com-
pany name is always that of the developer rather than the publisher, if
there is a distinction to be made. e main body of the entry then follows,
with peripheral material listed at the end under “Related works.” Both the
chapters that deal with individual game forms and those that describe
franchises associated with particular works then end with the optional
sections “Further Reading” (which lists any relevant nonction works)
and “Web Links” (specifying relevant websites).
Various games, books, and other media are mentioned in the body of
the text. ese citations follow a specic set of conventions:
• Games: e name of the game in italics, followed by parentheses
containing the date of rst publication (in italics), the name of the
company that developed the work (if any), a list of alternate titles,
and the dates and (if dierent) names of any revisions, followed by
the names of the designers (if known). us, PsychoDeathRoboKiller
(1994 theBorg; also known as Slaughter in Simtown; revised 1995;
1996 revised as PsychoDeathRoboKiller: Gold Edition) designed
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