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“Grand Theft Auto” is the Best Computer Game – Suggests Study

Edited by Queensland academic Alan McKee, Beautiful Things in Popular Culture is a collection of studies of “the best” popular culture – the best serial killer novel, pop princess, disco record, romance novelist, comic book writer and action console game, among others.

Beautiful Things pioneers a new approach in how we go about evaluating the various forms of popular culture. The authors set out to counteract the popular perception of the “clueless consumer” by focusing attention on the ways in which fans and consumers measure the different cultural icons of today.

According to the study, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is the best action console computer game because of the level of detail in the game-world, the freedom of the player to move through it, and the relationship between structured elements and free form game-play.

“This is the first book that studies popular culture in terms of quality – not just the effects of media violence or ideology’, says Associate Professor McKee. “Every businessperson knows that consumers aren’t mindless dupes who will accept just anything offered to them. You have to provide good quality in order to succeed. And that’s as true of action console games as it is of any other product”.

“It is time we recognized that, just like art, there is good and bad popular culture – and consumers know the difference!” added McKee. “There’s no reason why the best of popular culture should not be taught at university along with the best of high culture”.

The collection includes studies by an international panel of experts in popular culture, including Simon Frith, Henry Jenkins and John Hartley.

The book will be officially launched on 31st October 2006 by Alan McKee and media personality Emma Tom, at The Colombian Hotel on Oxford Street in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
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Finally, someone recognizes it in a positive light.