books/articles on video games as art/philosophy/experience?

I'm looking to explore the idea of video games as art/philosophy/experience. I'm basically just looking to expand on what video games are... I personally think the potential for video games is profound and that the possibilities of video games as art, or as some kind of profound narrative experience with the ability to communicate meaning, are not talked about.... or maybe it is!

That's what I'd like to throw out to you...

Please refer me to any books, articles, or whatever, that you think expand on these ideas.

Much appreciated!

The first book that comes to mind is Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How they Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal. I haven't read it though so I can't comment on it's quality.

The next thought was a blog about the psychology of gaming. I think this is it: http://gamingpsych.wordpress.com/ If it is the one that I'm thinking of then this guy wrote some articles for GamePro when John Davison was running it a few years back.

@mosespippy: Reality Is Broken is mostly about gamification (though McGonigal prefers the term gameful design). The book has an interesting premise, but a lot of it is a mess of misunderstood psychological theories and self help nonesense. The whole gamification movement which is about applying game like systems to non game applications, is flawed at best and damaging to games as a whole at its worst.Basically the problem is, games are first and foremost about interesting challenges, not about points and levels. That doesn't mesh well with the drudge of everyday life.

@Arjuna:

First of all look, up interviews with people like Jonathan Blow who really focus on the potential of video games. Those will probably give you some ideas for where to go next. Also check out the blog Critical Distance. They aggregate the kinds of articles you are looking for every week.

A couple of book suggestions:

The Art Of Video Games - This one is well written and interesting. (And it has Fallout 3 art on the cover. Can't go wrong with that)

Extra Lives - Haven't read it but it's suppose to be very good.

You could also try books on game design like Rules of Play, but that might not be exactly what you're looking for.(It's also 600 pages of pretty dense but well written material)

@mosespippy

@MeatBoy

Thanks, guys! I've heard of some these books/articles, some of them I haven't. I'm gonna follow them up and look into them or RSS them. I wanna evolve my ideas of what video games are. Lookin' up Jonathan Blow is a good idea! I remember hearing GB interview him once, and he had some pretty awesome ideas; also, Braid is awesome!