Monday
August 20
|
Intro to the class
Overview of the syllabus
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Wednesday
August 22
|
Due Today:
Read through the
website and the detailed descriptions of the assignments
Class Discussion:
Introductions and
discussion of favorite games.
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Friday
August 24
|
Class Discussion:
Continued
introductions and discussion of favorite games if needed.
Class Lecture:
Overview of the
readings.
Homework:
Complete the class survey by Saturday, August 25th at 11:00pm. The link to the survey has been emailed to everyone enrolled in the class. If you have not received the link, please email me as soon as possible.
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Gameplay
and Theory
Monday
August 27
|
Due Today:
Create a blog account (if you don’t
already have one), Create your
class blog and send your blog name and URL to my email.
Read Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law”
Play the game adaptation of “Before the
Law”
Be sure to get both
endings.
Post to your blog your playthrough of
the “Before the Law” and how it relates to the original Kafka short story.
Comment on both endings to the game and how they relate to the core message
of the original text.
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Wednesday
August 29
|
Due Today:
Read “A Selection from Existentialism
and Human Emotions” by Jean Paul Sartre
Read “A Selection from Jean Paul
Sartre’s “Nausea”
Post your thoughts on how Existentialism
can aid in a reading of both “Before the Law” the short story and the game.
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Friday
August 31
|
Due Today:
Watch Extra Credits' "Mechanics
as Metaphor" Part 1 and Part 2
Class Discussion:
Bring in* an example of a game where the gameplay becomes
part of the overall message of the game.
*Note: you do not have to write/bring in anything tangible. If I call
on you, however, you should have an example ready, so be prepared to speak.
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The
Player/Developer Dynamic
Monday
September 3
|
Labor Day Holiday
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Wednesday
September 5
|
Class Lecture:
Brief overview of expectations on an academic paper.
Overview of academic
conferences and presentations.
Brief discussion of recording software and resources.
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Friday
September 7
|
Due Today:
Read “Panopticism” from Michel Foucault’s “Discipline
and Punish: The Birth of the Prison”
Play through The Stanley Parable
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable
Post to your blog how Foucault can be
used to can aid in a reading The Stanley Parable
Minimum Post: Link Foucault to The Stanley Parable and
interpret/analyze the game.
Bonus Post: Post on
a link between Foucault, The Stanley Parable and a third work of your choosing (a class reading, a favorite game, a reading from another class, etc.) to
your blog and interpret /analyze the game.
Think about the ways in which Foucault, Sartre, de Saussure and even Kafka play into this mod. What does the mod say about the
nature of games and the relationship between the gamer, the developer(s) and
the game itself?
Classwork Link: http://redkingsdream.com/2010/07/the-game-narrative-triangle/ |
Games As Art
Monday
September 10
|
Due By Class Today:
Read “Video Games Can Never Be
Art” by Roger Ebert
Watch the accompanying
videos to Ebert’s work found at the bottom of the above link.
Read “Who Framed
Roger Ebert?” by Rich Stanton
Post to your blog
your position on the debate. Do you agree with Ebert? Stanton? Can you come up with examples of games you
consider ‘art’? Can you defend the games that Ebert attacks? Can you poke holes in Stanton's reply?
Classwork Link: Why Ebert is Wrong: In Defense of Video Games by Robert Brockway: Word Puncher http://www.cracked.com/blog/why-ebert-is-wrong-in-defense-of-games-as-art |
Wednesday
September 12
|
Due By Class Today:
Play
through these three ‘One Play’ games:
You Only Live Once
This game uses the ‘one play’ style, but
for comedic effect.
One Chance
Can you save the world? You only get one
chance. A drama using the ‘one play’ style.
(Why is) Johnny in an Art Game?: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/555639
A response to ‘One Chance’ and games like
it.
Read “Fun is a
Four Letter Word” by Warren Spector
Post to your blog an analysis of the gameplay of all
three games and how they speak to gaming as a whole. Are the ‘one play’ games
fun?
Minimum Post: Discuss how
effective the ‘one play’ method is for the narratives of these games.
Bonus
Post:
Be honest! Did you try to get around the ‘one play’ mechanic? Why or why not?
Did you look for playthroughs online to see the other routes you could have
taken? Does that destroy the author’s intent?
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Friday
September 14
|
Due By Class Today:
Read “Death of the
Author” by Roland Barthes
Post to your blog
an answer to this question: Does a video game have an ‘author’? Discuss
authorship in games and what criteria a game’s staff has to meet for there to
be an ‘author’ or a group of ‘authors’. If you can, discuss a game developer (person
or group) that you would consider an ‘author’.
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Games as Art Continued and Rough Drafting
Presentation
Monday
September 17
|
Due By Class Today:
Bring to class your rough ideas on your class project.
In Class Activity: Peer
reviews
If you have not started researching,
playing, etc, think about the questions you have coming into the project. Ask
yourself: what research do I anticipate doing and why?
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Wednesday
September 19
|
Due By Class
Today:
Watch “Double Fine Adventure! // Ron Gilbert's
Words of Wisdom to Tim Schafer [FULL 35 MINUTES]” located here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=re_LWmRJK-g
Post to your blog a response to this video.
Minimum Post: Pick a topic that Shafer and Gilbert discussed and answer to their assertions. Do you agree with them and why? Bonus Post: Play Host Master and the Conquest of Humor http://www.doublefine.com/games/host_master This is a tribute to the old point-and-click games that, according to the class survey I gave at the beginning of the semester, most of you do not play. Give your analysis of the game. First, discuss how often you play this genre and give examples of games in the point-and-click adventure genre you have played. Then discuss your thoughts as you play through the game, i.e. give a text-based Let's Play of the game describing your navigating the puzzles. Discuss frustrations, triumphs and even if you had to use a walkthrough.Finally, link your experience to the Shafer/Gilbert video. What did the two say that reinforces your playthrough of Host Master and the Conquest of Humor? What did they say that contradicts it? Note: This is a rather involved bonus post and will be worth double more than the normal extra credit; the minimum post will be worth 10 and the bonus will bring the total to 20. |
Friday
September 21
|
Due By Class
Today:
Find and Read James Paul Gee’s “Video Games and
Embodiment” in the journal Games and Culture (volume 3, number 3-4, July
2008).
Once you have read Gee’s
article, look through Games and Culture and pick one more article that seems
interesting to you. Read it thoroughly and be prepared to discuss/describe it
to your classmates.
Post your notes on these articles.
Note: part of this assignment
is testing your ability to use the UCF online library at http://library.ucf.edu. If you live off
campus make sure that you know how to log in to the library to gain access to
the database of journals.
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Monday
September 24
|
Due By Class
Today:
Find and read a chapter from the Video Game Theory
Reader in the UCF online library. Pick a chapter that seems interesting to
you. Read it thoroughly and be prepared to discuss/describe it to your
classmates.
Note: part of this assignment
is testing your ability to use the UCF online library at http://library.ucf.edu.
If you live off campus make sure that you know how to log in to the library
to gain access to the database of online texts.
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Wednesday
September 26
|
Due By Class
Today:
Analyzing Design Documents
Read the ‘PostMortem’ on Oiligarchy located here: http://www.molleindustria.org/oiligarchy-postmortem
Note: there are several endings, but for class you only
need to get one. The ‘better’ endings are very difficult to get. If you are
curious about them there is a description of them in the postmortem.
Post your analysis of the game itself and the postmortem.
Minimum Post: How effective is Oiligarchy in making you ‘play the bad
guy’ in order to articulate the game’s message? How does the difficulty in obtaining
the multiple endings help/hurt the game?
Bonus Post: Play ‘The
McDonald’s Game’ – an earlier game by the same team – located here: http://www.mcvideogame.com/index-eng.html
From what you know about Oiligarchy, how effective is The McDonald's Game? Which is more effective? Why?
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Friday
September 28
|
Due By Class
Today:
Find three articles and one game that can help you
with your final project.
Post to your blog your notes on your research.
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Gender and Sexuality
Monday
October 1
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Due By Class Today:
Read Beauty (Re)Discovers the
Male Body by Susan Bordo located here: http://wendtenglish201f10.wikispaces.com/file/view/Wendt.Beauty+(Re)discovers+the+Male+Body1.pdf
Watch
“No Redeeming Value” by Extra Credits located here: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/no-redeeming-value
*
Post a
response to your blog.
Minimum Post: Think about the biases that
Bordo discusses in her work: gender roles, presentation of gender in the
media, race, etc.
Also, question if EC’s take on God of War
III in “No Redeeming Value” is a valid one. Is it fair to be that harsh on
this game for bad storytelling?
Bonus
Post:
Watch
one of the two following videos:
1. “Learning from Other M”, also by Extra
Credits, located here: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/learning-from-other-m
*
2. “Who Is Laura Croft?” located here: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/benzaie/dg/20790-who-is-lara-croft
The videos here demonstrate two key
problems: badly written female characters and an erasure of gaming history by
the new wave of games theorists.
Incorporate one of these videos into your response post. What is
the fascination with Lara Croft? Why has Samus and for that matter so many
other strong female characters not become as popular or given the same
respect?
*Be advised that Extra Credits episodes run
about 10 minutes long each.
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Wednesday
October 3
|
Due By Class
Today:
Watch the first
part of “Tough Guise” located here: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16112782JcF62GeH?h1=Tough+Guise
You are welcome to watch the whole thing,
but be advised that it is an hour and a half long.
Watch the following episodes from Extra
Credits:
“Propaganda Games” http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/propaganda-games
“Call of Juarez: The Cartel” http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/call-of-juarez-the-cartel
Watch “True Female Characters” by Extra
Credits located here: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/true-female-characters
Post
a response to these videos. How do you feel gender is portrayed in gaming?
Can you give examples of games where gender is handled “properly”?
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Friday
October 5
|
Due By Class Today:
Read the chapter from Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino located here: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3291397/Yoshino_the%20new%20civil%20rights.pdf
Watch “Sexual Diversity” by Extra Credits
located here: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/sexual-diversity
It should take you about an hour. Thanks to
Kathryn Dunlap for the suggestion.
Post a
response.
The relevant videos have dried up a bit,
haven’t they? Yes, despite sites like http://gaygamer.net doing their best, LGBT issues in games are
rarely addressed in a forum that reaches past their own borders.
Let’s start here: how many gay video game
characters can you list? Now, how many of those characters do you know are
gay simply because romancing them is an option (i.e. Leliana from Dragon Age:
Origins). How about transsexual characters? Transsexual characters that do
not exist solely for comedic effect?
How about in media other than video games?
What does this say for LGBT issues as a whole?
IMPORTANT: Sign up for a Convergence Culture chapter for next week’s classes. |
Convergence Culture
Monday
October 8
|
Due By Class
Today:
IMPORTANT: Turn
in your abstract for your papers in response to the email ‘Call for
Papers’. You will not have a scheduled
presentation time without completing this assignment. This abstract is due by
midnight. No late work will be accepted.
Read Mr. Jenkins Goes to
Washington located here:
Watch
Videos on YouTube of the Hearings themselves.
Post the
video(s) you find and your reaction to the hearings.
It’s obvious that congress had a low
opinion of gamer culture, but what do we think? How much has changed in the
past few year in how the mainstream media treats gaming and gamers?
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Wednesday
October 10
|
Due By Class Today:
Look at
the Jennifer Hepler controversy starting with the summary at Blistered Thumbs
located here: http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2012/02/editorial-entitlement-to-ignorance-in-defense-of-jennifer-hepler
Read Jim
Sterling’s response located here: http://www.destructoid.com/bioware-writer-s-vagina-versus-the-internet-222206.phtml
To be fair, let’s look at both sides of
this controversy.
Look at
this community-made summary on people’s objections to Helper: http://postimage.org/image/y7u6srwbb
Watch
this video about the reaction to Hepler’s comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QLz0CqtMVc&feature=plcp
Post an
analysis to the reputation that the gamer community has in relation to the
Hepler controversy.
Obviously it is difficult to pin down
exactly why this situation has blown up as much as it has, but what qualities
of the gaming community have cause this and other instances like this?
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Friday
October 12
|
Due By Class Today:
Read the chapter
of Jenkin’s “Convergence Culture” that you signed up for.
Post your
summaries/analysis to your blogs.
We will illustrate and discuss the chapters using the class whiteboards.
Create and bring in a simple illustration that you can contribute to your whiteboard and a brief
summary of the chapter’s argument and usefulness.
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Superflat
Monday
October 15
|
Due By Class Today:
Read “Earth at my Window” from Takashi Murikami’s “Little Boy” located
here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9VahGwIokRiSFZ5UjBjWUxRZHFkYkRDNWtNcVYzQQ
The file size is
big to accommodate the high resolution images. Be sure to download the file
to view it as it will display weird in a browser if it displays at all. Also,
it may seem long (at 51 pages) but much of it is images and half of it is the
original Japanese text.
Watch Murikami’s “Superflat
Monogram”, a video he did for Louis Vuitton, located here:
Post a response to Murikami’s
assertions. How does this inform your understanding of Japanese video games?
Can you see this becoming a trend in Western cultures?
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Wednesday
October 17
|
Superflat Special
Guest Lecture by Kathryn Dunlap
Due By Class Today:
Read “The Animalization of Otaku
Culture” located here: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mechademia/v002/2.lamarre.html
Note: you have to be on campus to read
items in the Project Muse database so download the file while on campus and
email yourself a copy.
UPDATE: Because we have been having issues with the library this semester, here is an alternate link to the chapter: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9VahGwIokRiam1tVHg0Nzd3dTQ
The game is very long and so you do not
have to play through the entire thing for today. Play enough that you are
introduced to all of the characters and have a feel for the gameplay and
narrative style.
It should take you about an hour. Thanks to
Kathryn Dunlap for the suggestion.
Note: If you only play Western games this
is probably very different then what you are used to. Be advised: this is a
‘dating sim’ with some adult themes.
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Friday
October 19
|
Due By Class Today:
If you are feeling frustrated a video
walkthrough is located here: http://www.keybol.org/2009/09/time-fcuk-walkthrough.html
Keep in mind: the walkthrough does not let
you experience the act of getting stuck which in vital to the atmosphere of
this game. You will not experience the various dialogues (monologues?) in the
communications display while watching the walkthrough.
Read the
article on Time Fcuk over at TVTropes.com located here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TimeFcuk
Also, pick one of the tropes listed for
Time Fcuk and read its article. How many other items in the media have that
trope? How do they use it? How does it compare to that trope’s use in Time
Fcuk.
So, given all that we have read this
semester is Time Fcuk Superflat or does it have a deeper meaning? How much
meaning does something have to have for it to be ‘deep’?
Keep in mind the TVTropes defense of
tropes: Tropes are Tools http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools
Post an
answer to these question: Is Time Fcuk Superflat? Is Superflat a concept that
has spread to the West?
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Trans- and Post-Humanism
Monday
October 22
|
Due By Class Today:
Read the excerpt from Francis Fukiyama’s
Our Post Human Future located here:
Read Walter Jon Williams’
“Daddy’s World” located here:
Bonus Post: Give your reaction(s) to the readings in context
of game design and the readings/issues we have raised in class so far. Use at
least one other reading from the semester in your response.
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Wednesday
October 24
|
Due By Class Today:
To
give you a scope for how much technology might infiltrate our lives, let’s
take a look at Jesse Schell’s ‘Design Outside the Box’.
Watch his original
presentation here:
I
am having you watch this for two reasons:
1)
Schell is, to be polite about it, a less-than-professional public speaker. He
serves as an example of what not to do when public speaking (stuttering,
overuse of ‘um’, etc).
2)
After our readings for Monday and throughout the semester (especially the
plight of Jamie in “Daddy’s World” and the theoretical frameworks of Foucault),
Schell’s conclusion at the very end of how the infiltration of technology
into the real world might make us better people is problematic at best and at
worse quite horrifying.
Read some of the
reactions collected here:
Bonus Post: Describe
which reaction(s) you chose to read and what your own reactions are. Do you
believe Schell’s predictions? Are you optimistic/pessimistic? Incorporate
some of our other readings from throughout the semester in your analysis.
NOTE:
I will be presenting at the Texts and Technologies Monthly Graduate Colloquium
tonight from 6:00pm to 7:15pm in the Graduate Student Center Presentation
Room on the first floor of Colburn Hall. If you wish to see another example
of an academic conference, feel free to attend. Just be sure to dress and act
professionally.
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Friday
October 26
|
Due By Class Today:
Play The
Binding of Isaac DEMO located here:
Note:
scenes in The Binding of Isaac might be disturbing. You do not have to play
through to the end, but do play long enough to get a handle on the gameplay
mechanic.
Bonus Post: Give your
analysis of the game in the context of our semester-long look at game
design/theory. Is it Superflat? Transhuman? Panoptic? Existential? Use at least
two readings from the semester in your analysis.
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Narratology
Monday
October
29
|
Class Lecture:
Overview of presentation expectations and turn-in
options.
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Wednesday
October
31
|
Due By Class Today:
Read
Chapter 1 of Ian Bogost’s Unit Operations located here:
Read “Simulation
versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology” by Gonzalo Frasca located here:
Bonus
Post: Do you think that games can be analyzed by
dividing them into their parts like this? Why or why not?
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Friday
November
2
|
Due By Class Today:
Play Slender version 0.9.4 located here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3291397/Slender%20v0.9.4%20All.rar
The copy provided has three modes unlocked;
please play all modes, including regular, daytime, and $20 mode.
Read up
on the origins of Slenderman, Victor Surge's post on the Something Awful forums, and the spread of the legend here:
Watch
some of the Marble Hornets series. Start at the beginning and watch as much
as you can:
And
finally, watch the fan-made video that inspired $20 Mode:
Bonus
Post: Much of what we have read this semester can
help to explain this game and the phenomenon it is part of. Using at least
two readings from the semester, describe your reactions while playing Slender and how the mythos does or
does not affect the gameplay.
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Mock Conference
Monday
November
5
|
Due By Class Today:
In-Class Peer Review
Bring your rough materials for
in-class peer review.
Meet up
with your presentation groups to go over your presentations.
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Wednesday
November
7
|
Due By Class Today:
In-Class Peer Review
Bring your rough materials for
in-class peer review.
Meet up
with your presentation groups to go over your presentations.
|
Friday
November
9
|
Presentations
Begin.
Come prepared to each
day with the conference worksheet located here:
Today’s
Presentations:
Old Methods, New
Media
"Silent Hill Confidential: Silent Hill 2 as Noir"
Zachary L.
"Fallout III Pastiche"
Jenn M.
"History Redux in the Civilization Series"
Charmayne K.
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Monday
November
12
|
Veteran's Day: No School
|
Wednesday
November
14
|
Today’s Presentations:
Sports and RPGs
“’The Role Playing Athlete’: The Effects of the
RPG on Sporting Games”
Danny V.
“Level Six
Human Running Back: Madden as a Role Playing Game”
Ryan S.
Narrative and Player Choice
“Metal Gear Solid’s Anti-War Message”
Zia H.
|
Friday
November
16
|
Today’s Presentations:
Environmental Horrors
“The Environments of Silent Hill”
Lacie H.
“Stalker and Atmosphere”
Travis D.
"Metal Gear Solid's Anti-Technology Message" Walter O. |
Monday
November
19
|
Today’s
Presentations:
Environmental
Stories and Character
“Building Your
World a Block at a Time in Minecraft”
Cliff E.
“The Worlds of
Psychonauts”
Kevin H.
"Link's Hero's Journey" Andrew A. |
Wednesday
November
21
|
Thanksgiving Holiday:
Virtual Class
Activity TBA
|
Friday
November
23
|
Thanksgiving Holiday: No School
|
Monday
November
26
|
Today’s Presentations:
Stats and (Social) Consequences
“Pokemon and Children”
Joslyn R.
“Cooperative Gameplay”
Michael H.
“’This is it, isn’t it?’: Commander Shepard’s Leap into Ambiguity, Hallucination, and Community Uproar”
Nick S.
|
Wednesday
November
28
|
Today’s Presentations:
Old Genres Revisited
“XCOM:
From UFO Defense to Enemy Unknown”
Justin B.
“Revisiting the Tactical RPG”
Aaron J.
“Reimaging Kingdom
Under Fire”
Thomas H.
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Friday
November
30
|
Today’s Presentations:
ESports
“What Makes an ESport?”
Lee A.
“League of
Legends in the Media”
Michael C.
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Monday
December 3
|
Final Paper is
Due in class today.
Schedule a
day/time to pick up your graded portfolio and have final conferences
(optional).
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