Fun, Play, and Games
Monday, August 22 (Week 1)
- Introductions
- What is fun? What is play? What are games? What are videogames?
Wednesday, August 24
- Roger Caillois, selections from Man, Play, and Games
- Download, install, and begin playing Portal (Available on Steam for $9.99 for Macs and PCs)
Friday, August 26
- Game lab, viewing Portal through the lens of Caillois
- Introduction to Davidson Domains and game logs
Monday, August 29 (Week 2)
- Miguel Sicart, “Mechanics,” from Debugging Game History, pp. 297-304
- Game lab 1 due
Wednesday, August 31
- Espen Aarseth, “Genre Trouble: Narrativism and the Art of Simulation,” from First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game, edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan
- Markku Eskelinen, “The Gaming Situation,” Game Studies 1 (2001)
- Introduction to the game logs
- In class: Tetric Pit (also known as Calabouço Tétrico)
Friday, September 2
- Henry Jenkins, “Game Design as Narrative Architecture”
- Game lab, on the narrative architecture of Portal
History and Form
Monday, September 5 (Week 3)
- Stephen Kline et al., “Origins of an Industry,” from Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing
- Game lab 2 due
Wednesday, September 7
- Stephen Kline et al., “Electronic Frontiers,” from Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing, pp. 109-127
- Watch Rise of the Video Game: Level 1 (from 3:17 to about 20:00)
- Game log entry on Portal due
Friday, September 9
- Watch Rise of the Video Game: Level 2 (from 5:11 to about 18:00)
- Game Lab #3, thinking through Atari and Nintendo
Monday, September 12 (Week 4)
- Mark J.P. Wolf, “Inventing Space: Toward a Taxonomy of On- and Off-screen Space in Video Games.” Film Quarterly 1 (1997): 11-23
- Karen Collins, “Gameplay, Genre, and the Functions of Game Audio” from Game Sound, pp. 123-137
- Game lab 3 due
Wednesday, September 14
- Alexander Galloway, “Gamic Action, Four Moments,” from Gaming, pp. 1-38
Friday, September 16
- Michael Burden and Sean Gouglas, “The Algorithmic Experience: Portal as Art,” Game Studies 12.2 (2012)
- Daniel Johnson, “‘Lingua Franca’ – Portal and the Deconstruction of the Institution,” GameSetWatch 1 June 2009
Monday, September 19 (Week 5)
- Galloway, “Origins of the First-Person Shooter,” from Gaming, pp. 39-69
Wednesday, September 21
- Galloway, “Social Realism,” from Gaming, pp. 70-84
- Jamie Madigan, “The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games“
Friday, September 23
- Jesper Juul, A Casual Revolution, chapter 2
Things to do with Videogames
Monday, September 26 (Week 6)
- Ian Bogost, How to Do Things with Videogames, Introduction and chapters 1-4
Wednesday, September 28
- How to Do Things with Videogames, chapters 5-10
- Introduction to the Missing Chapter assignment
Friday, September 30
- How to Do Things with Videogames, chapters 11-15
- Game Lab 4: Doing Things with Videogames (bring a laptop to class if possible, and make sure Flash is installed in your browser)
Monday, October 3 (Week 7)
- How to Do Things with Videogames, chapter 15-20 and Conclusion
- Game Lab 4 due
Wednesday, October 5
- More things to do with videogames
- Bring to class: your “thing” and a list of 5 or so games that illustrate your “thing”
Friday, October 7
- Workshop on things to do with videogames
Gender and Race in Videogames
Monday, October 10 (Week 8)
- No Class
Wednesday, October 12
- Damsel in Distress (Part 2) from Feminist Frequency
- Damsel in Distress (Part 3) from Feminist Frequency
- Women as Background Decoration (Part 1) from Feminist Frequency
Friday, October 14
- Watch one other video from Season 1 of “Tropes vs Women in Video Games”
- Watch at least one video from Season 2 of “Tropes vs Women in Video Games”
- Missing Chapter Due (by midnight)
Monday, October 17 (Week 9)
- Elizabeth Losh, “#Gamergate 101” from virtualpolitik
- Elizabeth Losh, “Hiding Inside the Magic Circle: Gamergate and the End of Safe Space” from boundary 2
Wednesday, October 19
- Mark Sample, “Simulating Detroit: A City with Cars and Crime but No Races” from Play the Past
- Trevor Owens, “if(!isNative()[return false:]” from Play the Past
- Anna Everett and Craig Watkins, “The Power of Play: The Portrayal and Performance of Race in Video Games” (2007)
Friday, October 21
Monday, October 24 (Week 10)
- Vit Sisler, “Digital Arabs: Representation in Video Games” from The European Journal of Cultural Studies
- Game Lab 5 Due
Wednesday, October 26
- Galloway, “Allegories of Control” from Gaming, pp. 85-106
- Play Civilization
Friday, October 28
- Galloway, “Allegories of Control” (again)
Indie Games
Monday, October 31 (Week 11)
- Nick Dyer-Witheford and Grieg de Peuter, “Cognitive Surplus: Electronic Arts” from Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games
- The Valve Handbook for New Employees
Wednesday, November 2
- Casey O’Donnell, “World 5: Leeroy Jenkins, Autoplay, and Crunch” from The Developer’s Dilemma: The Secret World of Videogame Creators
Friday, November 4
- Catch up on Game logs
Monday, November 7 (Week 12)
- Anna Anthropy, chapters 1 and 2 from Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, pp. 1-42
Wednesday, November 9
- Anthropy, chapters 3 and 4 from Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, pp. 43-92
Friday, November 11
- Game Lab 6
Monday, November 14 (Week 13)
- Chapter 5 from Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, pp. 93-115
- Game Lab 6 due
Wednesday, November 16
- Chapters 6 and 7 from Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, pp. 116-158
- In class: Sleepless by Natalia Theodoridou, Quing’s Quest VII by Squinky, Tower of the Blood Lord by Michael Lutz, The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo by Michae Lutz, With Those We Love Alive by Porpentine, Well This Is Awkward by Emma Kidwell
Friday, November 18
- Galloway, “Countergaming” from Gaming, pp. 107-126
- In class: Jason Nelson’s Game, Game, Game, and Again Game, Nothing You Have Done Deserves Such Praise and I made This. You Play This. We Are Enemies.
Monday, November 21 (Week 14)
- Countergames(?) in the wild: Rom Check Fail and 99 Exercises in Play
Wednesday, November 23
No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
Friday, November 25
- No Class (Thanksgiving Break)
Monday, November 28 (Week 15)
- In-class workshop for Final Project
Wednesday, November 30
- In-class workshop for Final Project
Friday, December 2
- In-class workshop for Final Project
Monday, December 5 (Week 16)
Wednesday, December 7