Paratextualizing games : investigations on the paraphernalia and peripheries of play Gaming no longer only takes place as a »closed interactive experience« in front of TV screens but also as broadcast on streaming platforms or as cultural events in exhibition centers and e sport arenas. The popularization of new technologies forms of expression and online services has had a considerable influence on the academic and journalistic discourse about games. This anthology examines which paratexts gaming cultures have produced i.e. in which forms and formats and through which channels we talk (and write) about games as well as the way in which paratexts influence the development of games. How is knowledge about games generated and shaped today and how do boundaries between (popular) criticism journalism and scholarship have started to blur In short: How does the paratext change the text Frontmatter Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgements Paratext . Paraplay HISTORIES “And You Didn’t Even Look at It!” The Cartography of Virtual Empires Unboxing AGE OF EMPIRES Making Mario PERFORMANCES Player Agency in Audience Gaming Material Culture on Twitch Benefits of Including Let’s Play Recordings in Close Readings of Digital Game Texts Fame or Infamy: The Influence of Let’s Plays on Independent Game Developers “Here Comes a New Challenger” PERIPHERIES The Impending Demise of Video Game Packaging: An Eulogy The Ludic Nature of Paratexts [Para]Textually Here: Paratexts and Presence in Games Isekai: Tracing Interactive Control in Non interactive Media The Paratext the Palimpsest and the Pandemic Contributors