ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses video games, also known as computer or digital games, as a distinct form of meaning-making. It explores the production process of games, accounting for how other media leave their mark on the creation of new games, followed by a survey of the basic media types and their role in generating meaning in games. The qualifying aspects of computer games shed light on how different service models, development stages, player modes and platforms affect their form and reception. If the computing machine is the technical medium for delivering the experience, then code is its basic medium in the production of computer games. Game design can be the work of a single person or a vast collaborative studio. Digital games make use of all available media modalities to create a gaming experience. The chapter concludes with how the four media modalities can be apprehended in video games, and what each contributes to the joys of gaming.
