The first significant collection of research in videogame linguistics, Approaches to Videogame Discourse features an international array of scholars in linguistics and communication studies exploring lexis, interaction and textuality in digital games.
In the first section, "Lexicology, Localisation and Variation," chapters cover productive processes surrounding gamer slang (ludolects), creativity and borrowing across languages, as well as industry-, genre-, game- and player-specific issues relating to localization, legal jargon and slang. "Player Interactions" moves on to examine communicative patterns between videogame players, focusing in particular on (un)collaborative language, functions and negotiations of impoliteness and issues of power in player discourse. In the final section, "Beyond the 'Text'," scholars grapple with issues of multimodality, paratextuality and transmediality in videogames in order to develop and enrich multimodal theory, drawing on key concepts from ludonarratology, language ideology, immersion and transmedia studies.
With implications for meaningful game design and communication theory, Approaches to Videogame Discourse examines in detail how video games function as means and objects of communication; how they give rise to new vocabularies, textual genres and discourse practices; and how they serve as rich vehicles of ideological signification and social engagement.

Astrid Ensslin is Professor in Digital Humanities and Game Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Isabel Balteiro is Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics at the University of Alicante, Spain.

Acknowledgements
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Introduction
Locating Videogames in Medium-specific, Multilingual Discourse Analyses, Astrid Ensslin (University of Alberta, Canada) and Isabel Balteiro (University of Alicante, Spain)
PART I. Lexicology, Localization, Variation
1. Videogames: A Lexical Approach, Carola Álvarez-Bolado (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) and Inmaculada Álvarez de Mon (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain)
2. Lexical and Morphological Devices in Gamer Language in Fora, Isabel Balteiro (University of Alicante, Spain)
3. Phraseology and Lexico-grammatical Patterns in Two Emergent Paragame Genres: Videogame Tutorials and Walkthroughs, Christopher Gledhill (Paris Diderot, France)
4. Playing with the Language of the Future: the Localization of Science Fiction Terms in Videogames, Alice Ray (Université d'Orléans, France)
5. End-user Agreements in Videogames: Plain English at Work in an Ideal Setting, Miguel Ángel Campos-Pardillos (University of Alicante, Spain)
PART II. Player Interactions: (Un)collaboration, (Im)politeness, Power
6. Bad Language and Bro-up Cooperation in Co-sit Gaming, Astrid Ensslin (University of Alberta, Canada) and John Finnegan (Falmouth University, UK)
7. 'Shut the fuck up re! Plant the Bomb Fast!': Reconstructing language and identity in First Person Shooter Games, Elisavet Kiourti (University of Nicosia, Cyprus)
8. 'I cut it and I ... well now what?': (Un)collaborative Language in Timed Puzzle Games, Luke A. Rudge (University of the West of England, Bristol, UK)
9. 'Watch the Potty Mouth': Negotiating Impoliteness in Online Gaming, Sage L. Graham (University of Memphis, USA) and Scott Dutt (University of Memphis, USA)
PART III. Beyond the 'Text': Multimodality - Paratextuality - Transmediality
10. On the Procedural Mode, Jason Hawreliak (Brock University, Canada)
11. The Player Experience of Bioshock: A Theory of Ludonarrative Relationships, Weimin Toh (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
12. Language Ideologies in Videogame Discourse: Forms of sociophonetic Othering in Accented Character Speech, Tejasvi Goorimoorthee (University of Alberta, Canada), Adrianna Csipo (Ludwig Maximilian University, Germany), Shelby Carleton (University of Alberta, Canada) and Astrid Ensslin (University of Alberta, Canada)
13. Playing it by the Book: Instructing and Constructing the Player in the Videogame Manual Paratext, Michael Hancock (University of Waterloo, Canada)
Afterword, James Paul Gee (Arizona State University, USA)

Bibliography
Index