Computer Game Art & Design

This guide provides research resources for the programming and artistic aspects of computer game development.

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  • Game Design Journals & Magazines
  • Core Research and Media Databases
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  Game Design Journals & Magazines

  International journal that publishes theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within interactive media. The journal serves as a premiere outlet for ground-breaking work in the field of game studies.

  Journal publishing research on the aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games.

  Major peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of the creative arts, design and digital technologies; publishes articles of interest to those involved in the practical and theoretical creation and use of digital media in creative disciplines.

  Open Access Journal

  Open access, peer-reviewed, and transdisciplinary journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship in virtual worlds research.

  Peer-reviewed journal publishing theoretical and applied, empirical, critical, rhetorical, creative, economic and professional approaches to the study of electronic games across platforms and genres as well as lucid and serious online environments.

  "The first journal to address Virtual Worlds, it publishes research related to computer animation, embodied agents, virtual environments, augmented reality, virtual life and visualization."

  This is a sampling of the game design and development magazines available to you. Check out the recommended databases for more journals.

  This magazine was a highly regarded publication on the "art and business of video games." It stopped publishing in 2013, but the magazine archives are available through the above link, or through this website: http://www.gdcvault.com/gdmag.

  Great source for gaming news, game previews and reviews, videos and more. Get information on gaming hardware as well as gaming news, reviews and more from PCGamer.

  Looking for game release dates? Go no further. Eurogamer provides access to release date, news, reviews, technical analyses of games and gaming hardware and more.

  Information on games and game design.

  Other Magazines

  • 3D World (magazine website) -- Looking for design inspiration or tips on how to create a special effect in your game? This is the online magazine for you! 3D World covers design, illustration, digital art and more. Check out the ​ 3D World Facebook page too!

  "Publishes high quality papers on all aspects of computational intelligence and artificial intelligence related to games."

  Open Access journal; "Publishes research and review articles on the R&D aspects of games technology, from entertainment computing to interactive digital media."

  Multidisciplinary journal on games and gamification for health education, promotion, teaching, and social change

  Core Research and Media Databases

  • Multi-Disciplinary
  • Art & Design
  • Computer & Technical
  • Social Sciences
  • Music & Sound
  • Images
  Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window

  Provides full-text, peer-reviewed journals, as well as indexing and abstracts for monographs, reports, and conference proceedings. Features content going back as far as 1887. Tutorial for the Academic Search Complete database.

  ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window

  Provides access to more than 4,000 titles from general reference databases, including a diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, and magazines covering over 150 academic disciplines.

  JSTOR This link opens in a new window

  JSTOR is a collection of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences digitized in most cases back to the first date of issue. Includes selected books, primary sources and other materials for academic work.

  Project MUSE This link opens in a new window

  Provides digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Offers full-text versions of scholarly journals and books from many of the world's university presses and scholarly societies.

  Web of Science: Core Collection This link opens in a new window

  Contains citations and searchable author abstracts, covering scholarly literature across multiple disciplines (not just science!). View a tutorial on this database here.

  Art and Architecture Source This link opens in a new window

  Covers a broad range of related subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. Provides full text access to journals and books; an image collection, art reproduction records, and includes periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch. Designed for art scholars, artists, designers, students, and general researchers.
  Tutorial for the Art and Architecture Source database.

  ProQuest Arts Databases This link opens in a new window

  Provides access to various art databases, including Alt-Press Watch, ARTbibliographies Modern, and Design and Applied Arts Index.

  Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) This link opens in a new window

  Includes information for design and crafts, from textiles and ceramics to vehicle design, advertising and sustainability. Covers journal articles, exhibition reviews and news items from 1973 to the present.
  Tutorial for the Design and Applied Arts Index database.

  Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library This link opens in a new window

  Citations and full-text articles in the area of computing and information technologies from journals, magazines, and conference proceedings published by the ACM.
  Tutorial for the ACM Digital Library database.

  Computers and Applied Sciences Complete This link opens in a new window

  Includes indexing and abstracts for academic journals, professional publications, and reference sources. Subject areas include Engineering, Computer Theory & Systems, New Technologies, and Social and Professional context. View a tutorial on this database here.

  IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new window

  Provides full-text access to all journals, transactions and conference proceedings published by IEEE and IET. Accesses more than 1,000 books in the IEEE-Wiley eBook Library and IEEE-MIT eBook Library-Computing and Engineering Collection.

  ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window

  Access (searching and browsing) journals and eBooks published by Elsevier and its partners. Covers most disciplines, including science, medicine, economics and the social sciences.
  

  Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window

  Provides indexing, abstracting, and some full text for journals and books related to communication and mass media studies back to 1915.
  View a tutorial on this database here.

  Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window

  Covers all aspects and all levels of education. Use this to find information on learning styles, use of games in education, teaching about game design and more.

  ProQuest Social Sciences Collections This link opens in a new window

  Access the global research literature in the social sciences. Covers political science, sociology, applied social sciences, criminal justice, and more.

  Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window

  Provides full text and abstracts for several hundred international music periodicals. Includes recent ten years of publication. Covers the spectrum of subjects and all aspects of music, including ethnomusicology, musical theater, theory, popular music forms, composition and more.

  Music Index This link opens in a new window

  Citations from hundreds of international music periodicals from 1970 to present, covering every aspect of classical and popular music; includes book and record reviews.

  RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window

  Comprehensive bibliography on writings about music featuring citations, abstracts and indexes. It covers nearly one and a half million publications from around the world on traditional music, popular music, jazz, classical music and related subjects. Coverage begins in the early 19th century and extends to the present.

  Pro Sound Effects Library This link opens in a new window

  Contains over 60,000 professional sound effects for high definition media production. Includes Sonopedia, Hybrid, and Liminal Void collections. Tutorial for the Pro Sound Effects Library database. Liminal Void collection purchased with funds from the John F. and Kathleen M. Kehoe Film and Video Studies Endowment.

  This brief slide show illustrates the types of sound clips in Sonopedia. Download this file to check it out!

  ARTstor This link opens in a new window

  Contains over a million images documenting artistic traditions across many cultures and time periods. Updated frequently, please check back often for updated searches & collections. Note: ARTstor users must create a free account to save and share images. Users must turn off the popup blocker.
  Tutorial for the ARTstor database.

  AP Images This link opens in a new window

  Collects historical and contemporary imagery from Associated Press with a 50 million image print and negative archive including graphics and audio clips.
  Tutorial for the AP Images database.