So you want to work in the Video Game Industry:

  • This is the animated video Chris Galbraith mentioned. After his (first) two year stint in the Game Industry, he testifies it is accurate.

Conferences

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Games Studies Colloquium Spring 2011 Syllabus
“This class is serious fun!”

DMS 548/448 :: 1:00-2:50 T Th :: Center for the Arts Room 235

TEACHERS
Josephine Anstey, jranstey at buffalo, office hrs TBA, CFA 248A
Cayden Mak, caydenma at buffalo, office hrs Thurs 3:00 - 5:00, CFA 288 ; by appointment elsewhere

DESCRIPTION:

The goal of this advanced theory course is to provide you with analytical tools and a background in readings to address the history, design, cultures, and theory of games and gaming. Taking games as a broad category describing a variety of design, production, and play practices, we will examine analog games, digital and computer games, as well as other, more experimental forms, through lenses varying from art history to economics to philosophy to computer science. This course will provide a strong foundation for students interested in the history of games, game design for artists, play as activism, and contemporary media cultures.

The primary text we will use in this course is Critical Play: Radical Game Design by Mary Flanagan. In addition to the text, we will read supplementary texts by major thinkers, artists, and designers, including Walter Benjamin, Johan Huizinga, Brian Sutton-Smith, McKenzie Wark, Jesper Juul, Espen Aarseth, Celia Pearce, Ian Bogost, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilles Deleuze.

Students will engage in independent research and develop their own ideas around games and gaming. We will provide you with support – both theoretical and technical – to expand your research, writing, and rhetorical skills. The broad base of topics we will address will guarantee that you will find something that piques your interest.

REQUIRED TEXT

STUDY GUIDES

LIBRARY RESOURCES (2 hour reserve)

  • Flanagan Required Text
  • Busch, Akiko, Geography of home : writings on where we live
  • Caillois, Roger, Man, play, and games
  • Dyer-Witheford, Nick and de Peuter, Greig, Games of Empire (requested purchase)
  • Formanek-Brunell, Miriam, Made to play house : dolls and the commercialization of American girlhood, 1830-1930
  • Highmore, Ben, Everyday life and cultural theory : an introduction
  • Huizinga, Johan, Homo Ludens : a study of the play element in culture
  • Sutton-Smith, Brian, The Ambiguity of Play,
  • Raley, Rita, Tactical media (requested from Binghampton)
  • Veblen, Thorstein, The theory of the leisure class
  • Wardrip-Fruin, Noah and Pat Harrigan (Editors) , First Person : New Media as Story, Performance, and Game
  • Wark, Mackenzie, Gamer Theory (recalled)

ONLINE

SCHEDULE

The schedule is available online at http://teaching.thenoiseofthestreet.net/course/view.php?id=2

This schedule is subject to change at the instructors' discretion. Major changes to the schedule will be announced in class. It is your responsibility to check the schedule so that you are completely prepared for that day's class – make sure you have read the readings, played the games, and have your assignments ready to turn in on that day. Failure to do so will result in loss of participation points for that day.

GRADING

  • reading, playing, and participation 15%
  • presentation 20%
  • writing assignments 25%
  • midterm paper 15%
  • final paper 25%

This is a basic grade breakdown and isn't hard and fast. All students are expected to fulfill requirements in each section, and failure to complete a section will result in a failing grade.

REQUIREMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Some topics covered in this course will be familiar to you. Others will be new, and may be challenging. While you are not expected to entirely understand each reading on your own, you are expected to come to class having made an effort – that is, more than just skimmed each reading – to understand.

You should come to class with specific questions about parts of the reading that confuse you. You should keep notes on each reading, about ideas that are exciting, interesting, or that make you angry, as well as questions about readings and ideas. Such notes will help you when picking paper and presentation topics, as well as organizing your thoughts and references for writing papers and presentations.

When there is a writing assignment due, you must come to class with the assignment printed out and ready to turn in. You will not be allowed to leave class to print your writing.

When it is your turn to present, you should arrange with us prior to your presentation day what kinds of technology you might need. This includes game systems, computers, projectors, or other considerations to effectively illustrate your topic. You should come prepared that day to start at 1 PM, with notes, slideshows, videos, and demos available right away.

PRESENTATION ON A CHOSEN TOPIC

On the Topics page there are 7 topic areas. Please choose 3 topics in ranked order of preference and submit your choice by Jan. 25. We will assign topics and presentation dates by Jan. 27. If you do not submit your choice in class on Jan. 25, we will assign a topic for you. Topic areas will not necessarily correspond with the readings for the week, but they may be used as additional references or guides to the discussion of your topic.

To contribute to the topic discussion you can do one of the following:

  • find a scholarly review of one of the games discussed in course texts and present it, as well as your own thoughts;
  • find a scholarly paper on a topic discussed in course texts, as well as your own thoughts;
  • find a serious or art game for presentation to the class, including some footage or play-through of the game, and critical ideas or notes on the game;
  • make a comparison between two games, based on Josephine's game analysis tools;
  • or read, make notes and present one of the readings, including your own thoughts.
  • NB - points will be lost if you do not submit your research findings to teachers for approval.

Regardless of the format or style of your presentation, you are expected to show the class something new (that is, not covered in the course texts or lectures) and contribute your own (well-argued and textually based) opinions.

Topics:

  • Games as Art – Art Games
  • Serious Gaming
  • Identity and Gaming
  • Locative and Pervasive Gaming
  • Critical Game Studies/Philosophy of Games
  • Technology of Games

MIDTERM PAPER

You will write a midterm paper on a topic of your choice. The paper must meet a minimum of 2500 words, and should be printed in 12-point Times New Roman or similar font, double-spaced, and may be printed double-sided.

You will turn in an outline/notes prior to turning in a finished paper and will receive feedback on your ideas and research. This paper must be submitted electronically and must be timestamped by 11:59 PM on March 1, 2011.

If you are a graduate student, you will be presenting your midterm paper research during the week of March 8/10 to the class.

Possible topics may include:

  • an art historical comparison evaluating two or more works (or designers or artists) featured in course texts;
  • an ethnographic study of a video game/community;
  • a scholarly review of a video game;
  • a philosophical or critical work engaging and/or building upon a topic covered in class.

FINAL PAPER

You will write a final paper on a topic of your choice. If you are an undergraduate student, the paper should meet a minimum of 3500 words. If you are a graduate student, the paper should meet a minimum of 5000 words.

You may use your midterm paper as a first draft to grow a larger paper, or you may write on a new topic. Since you will be receiving detailed feedback on your midterm paper, it is recommended that you expand on your midterm topic. After receiving your midterm grade and deciding on a topic for your final paper, you will meet one-on-one with Cayden during office hours to discuss strategies and directions to take your final paper.

First drafts of the final paper will be workshopped together in class on April 14. Bring three printed copies to class, along with bibliography and additional notes, to share.

Final drafts must be submitted electronically by 11:59 PM on May 9, 2011.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Expectations for graduate students are, of course, higher. In addition to a longer final paper and a midterm presentation of your research, you are expected to do additional reading and engage with the texts on a deep level. Depending on your interests with regard to games and gaming, we have a variety of additional resources to start you off.

The goal of your writing in this course is to encourage and enrich your scholarly work on games, gaming, play, and digital cultures. It is our hope that you will encounter new ideas and use this opportunity to work on your writing skills as well as a specific piece of academic writing that you might consider expanding beyond the requirements of the course.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance for every class is mandatory barring serious emergency or cultural/religious event. Each student is allowed two unexcused absences for whatever reason (e.g., illness, weather). If extenuating circumstances arise (e.g., serious medical problems, child care), please contact the instructor as soon as possible to address the situation. Barring emergency circumstances, each absence after two will drop lower the final grade by a full grade for each additional absence (i.e.,3 absences = B→C). Punctuality is also expected. For the purposes of grading, three tardies will equal one unexcused absence.

Please notify the instructors by Jan. 25 if you will need an excused absence for a religious or cultural purpose.

UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Criteria for Incomplete Grade:

It is the policy of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Media Study to grant incompletes for a semester only under extraordinary circumstances. Under any circumstances, incompletes will be granted only to students currently in good standing (i.e., regular attendance and passing completion of assignments). Requests for a grade of incomplete need to be submitted in writing, and should include a rationale, documentation for the reason, and a proposed schedule for completion.

Disabilities:

If you have a disability (physical, learning or psychological) which may make it difficult for you to carry out the course work as outlined, and/or requires accommodations such as recruiting note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, 645 2608, and also your instructor during the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and will review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is literary theft and a betrayal of trust. The term is derived from the Latin word for kidnapper and refers to the act of signing one's own name to words, phrases, or ideas which are the literary property of another. Plagiarism comes in many forms, all to be avoided: outright copying, or paraphrase, or a mosaic or disguised use of words and phrases from an unacknowledged source. To avoid plagiarism, make it your habit to put quotation marks around words or phrases, or to isolate and indent longer passages, that you are using from someone else's writing. And be sure to cite the source, in a footnote or endnote, or within parentheses in the text. The penalties for plagiarism can be severe: from an F for the particular assignment, to an F for the course, to referral of the case to the Dean of Undergraduate Education for administrative judgment. If you are unsure about how to use and document sources, please consult your instructor.

Weapons as props:

If you are planning a student production which involves using any prop which could be interpreted to be a weapon [toy gun, BB gun, knife, etc.] and you are planning to shoot on the UB campus or any other public place, you must obtain written permission from Campus Police or the equivalent authority before you shoot. If you do not you will face serious problems including possible expulsion from the university.