Players Unleashed!: Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming (Amsterdam University Press - MediaMatters)

It has been ten years since video game giant Electronic Arts first released The Sims, the best-selling game that allows its players to create a household and then manage every aspect of daily life within it. And since its debut, gamers young and old have found ways to “mod” The Sims, a practice in which gamers manipulate the computer code of a game, and thereby alter it to add new content and scenarios.   

            
In Players Unleashed!—the first study of its kind—Tanja Sihvonen provides a fascinating examination of modding, tracing its evolution and detailing its impact on The Sims and the game industry as a whole. Along the way, Sihvonen shares insights into specific modifications and the cultural contexts from which they emerge.