"We divide this book into three major sections that address major issues of social exclusion, power and liberatory fantasies in virtual play. The first section, social-psychological implications of virtual gameplay, highlights recent research that examines how the virtual realms of MMORPGs and other games shape emotion and influence social interactions between players within the game. Section two features studies that entertain questions on the marketing of race and gender stereotypes in video games and how (and if) traditional forms of social inequality are reproduced or contested in virtual realms. Finally, section three offers insight on game fans and virtual play. Specifically, the contributions in this section explore the relationship between software developers and game fans"--