Some readings:
The new Game Studies issue #5 is out, with pieces by Edward Castronova, Gonzalo Frasca, Shuen-shing Lee, Laurie Taylor, and Jan Van Looy. I haven’t been that active in relation to GS lately, having been engaged in other business, but I am working on getting the reviews up and running again.
A somewhat old link, James Der Derian’s article on the description of war as a game in relation to the Iraq war.
My game definition also discusses this very briefly – I think Der Derian overstates the case a bit, but it’s certainly possible to explain why war is often described as a game: Because it shares 5 of the 6 features of my game definition: 1) Rules, 2) Variable and quantifiable Outcome, 3) Value assigned to outcomes, 4) Player Effort, 5) Player attached to Outcome. But NOT 6) Negotiable/optional consequences.
And a somewhat overlooked book, Marcel Danesi’s The Puzzle Instinct discusses the history of puzzles from ancient Egypt to the present day. I would have wished that it mentioned video games, but it’s a valuable book anyway.