Please prepare
for lectures and guests by completing the reading assignments indicated.
Articles listed as being "available in Coursework" are in PDF
format and found on our Coursework page under "Course Materials."
If you do not have a reader for this format, Download the free acrobat
reader here:
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If you are enrolled
in one of the optional discussion sections, prepare to talk about the
readings, as well. Consult THIS WEEK IN SECTION
for specific assignments. Readings labeled SECTION are optional for students
not enrolled in discussion section.
Two books are available
for purchase in the bookstore: 1. Barry Atkins, More Than a Game:
The Computer Game as Fictional Form. (Manchester and New York: Manchester
Univ. Press, 2003). 2. Brad King & John Borland, Dungeons and
Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic (New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2003). These two titles are used throughout
the course and are cited as More Than a Game and Dungeons
& Dreamers.
Week I. Introduction
January
6. Introduction to the Class
Henry Jenkins, "Art
Form for the Digital Age," Technology Review (Sept.-Oct. 2000).
Available here: http://www.geocities.com/lgartclass/handouts/ArtfortheDigitalAge/ArtFormfortheDigitalAge.html.
Janet Murray, "Lord
Burleigh's Kiss," Hamlet on the Holodeck. (Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1997) -- pp. 13-26. Available in Coursework.
January
8. Game Research: What, Why, Where, How?
Geoffrey R. Loftus
and Elizabeth F. Loftus, "Why Video Games Are Fun," pp. 10-42
in Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games (New York: Basic
Books, 1983). Available in Coursework.
Brian Sutton-Smith,
"The Toy as Machine: Video Games," pp. 57-75 in his Toys
as Culture (New York: Gardner Press, 1986). Available in Coursework.
OPTIONAL READING:
Henry Lowood, "Shall We Play
a Game: Thoughts on the Computer Game Archive of the Future."
(Conference Paper, Fall 2002.)
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION:
* NO MEETINGS THIS WEEK*
Week 2. Games
as a Medium.
January
13. Games as a Medium I: Entertainment and Communication
Jay David Bolter
and Richard Grusin, "Computer Games," in: Remediation: Understanding
New Media (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999) -- pp. 89-103. Available in
Coursework.
More Than a Game
-- pp. 1-26; 55-85.
January
15. Games as a Medium II: Games and Storytelling
Rene will present
his ideas on gameplay as a narrative framework.
Janet Murray, "From
Additive to Expressive Form," Hamlet on the Holodeck. (Cambridge:
MIT Press, 1997) -- pp. 65-94. Available in Coursework.
Chris Crawford, "Flawed
Methods for Interactive Storytelling," Interactive Entertainment
Design 7 (1993-1994). Available here: http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/JCGD_Volume_7/Flawed_Methods.html
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION:
Before section, visit the exhibit, ""Fictional Worlds,
Virtual Experiences: Storytelling and Computer Games" at the Cantor
Center. Class discussion will focus on your reactions to the exhibit.
Week 3. Writing
about Games
January
20. Writing about Games and Game Journalism
GUESTS: Michael
Antonucci, San Jose Mercury News; Rob Smith, Editor-in-Chief, PC
Gamer; and Trudy Muller, senior manager of corporate communications
at Electronic Arts.
January
22. Rules of Game Design?
GUEST: Noah
Falstein, The Inspiracy. Noah will talk about the 400
Project, "an ambitious attempt to collect 'The 400 Rules of Game
Design.'" Please look at the 400
Project website before class.
Bernd Kreimeier, "The
Case for Game Design Patterns." Gamasutra.com (13 March 2002). Available
here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020313/kreimeier_03.htm
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Read and be prepared to discuss
the short collection of texts titled "Savage Review Collection,"
available in Coursework. Post a short comment BEFORE SECTION on the class
discussion forum in Coursework--briefly give your thoughts on the ethics
and content of game reviews, based if you like on these readings. These
will be discussed in class.
Week 4. The
First Generation
January
27. From Spacewar! to Pong and Atari
GUEST: Al Alcorn.
Al was the circuit designer for Pong and VP for R&D at Atari, in addition
to working at Apple and Ampex.. For some information about his career,
see http://216.239.53.104/search?sourceid=navclient-menuext&q=cache:http%3A//bb.vg-network.com/interviews/aainterview.html.
Try out a Java simulation of the original Pong here: http://www.xnet.se/javaTest/jPong/jPong.html.
Steward Brand, "SPACEWAR:
Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums," Rolling
Stone (7 Dec. 1972). Available here: http://www.wheels.org/spacewar/stone/rolling_stone.html
J. M. Graetz, "The
Origin of Spacewar!," Creative Computing (1981). Available
here: http://www.enteract.com/~enf/lore/spacewar/spacewar.html.
Jan.
29. Origins: Adventure and Interactive Fiction
Dungeons & Dreamers
-- pp. 1-8.
Graham Nelson, "46.
A Short History of Interactive Fiction," "47. Realities and
Origins," "48. A Triangle of Identities," and "49.
Structure," from
The Inform Designer's Manual, 4th ed. (2001. 1st ed., 1994) Available
here: http://www.inform-fiction.org/manual/html/contents.html.
P. David Lebling,
Mark S. Blank, and Timothy A. Anderson, "Zork: A Computerized Fantasy
Simulation Game," IEEE Computer 12 (April 1979): 51-59. Available
here: http://mud.co.uk/richard/zork.html
or here: http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/ieee.html.
Ernest Adams, "It's
Time to Bring Back Adventure Games" (1999). Available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/designers_notebook/19991109.htm.
(Your first visit to Gamasutra will require registration; the site is
free and an important resource for research on game design.)
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Sit
down at a computer with full Internet access. Without getting up, find
versions of Pong and the original (Crowther/Woods) Adventure. Be prepared
to discuss in class: How many different versions did you find? What is
your impression of the "authenticity" of the version(s) you
tried? Did you find any information or guidance on the provenance or legality
of these versions? Did all the versions require emulators? Be prepared
to comment on differences between Pong and Adventure with regard to these
questions.
Week 5. The
Game Business.
February
3. The Business: Historical Overview
Stephen Kline, Nick
Dyer-Witheford, and Grieg de Peuter, "Electronic Frontiers: Branding
the 'Nintendo Generation', 1985-1990," Chap. 5, pp. 109-27 in Digital
Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing (Montreal:
McGill-Queen's Univ. Press, 2003). Available in Coursework.
David Sheff and Andy
Eddy, "Sonic Boom," Chap. 15, pp. 349-89 in Game Over: Press
Start to Continue. (Wilton, Ct.: GamePress, 1999.) Available in Coursework.
February
5. The Business: Game Production
GUEST:
Bill Swartz, Founder and managing director of Mastiff.
Bill's previous experience includes his roles as marketing manager for
Koei America, as part of Koei's development group, and then over a period
of 12 years as managing director of Activision Japan.
Simon
Carless, "Lost In Translation--Japanese and American Gaming's Culture
Clash" (2004). Available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20040121/carless_pfv.htm.
Greg
Wilcox, "Did You Know? [Interview with Bill Swartz]," Digital
Press: The Video Game Database (Dec. 2003). Available here: http://www.digitpress.com/columns/didyouknow.htm.
(Link is to Google cache.)
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION:
Consider the two readings on Nintendo assigned for February 3. Think about
what each author has to say about Nintendo and the videogame console wars
ca. 1990. Now make two short lists, one for each reading, in which you
write down three factors in Nintendo's competitive position in the early
1990s emphasized by the authors. Bring the lists to class for comparison
and discussion.
Week 6. Diversity
in Game Cultures
February
10. The International Scene (esp. Germany and Korea)
Ernest W. Adams,
"Eurostylin’: An American Game Designer in Europe," from Game
Developers' Conference 2000. Available here: http://www.designersnotebook.com/Lectures/Eurostylin_/eurostylin_.htm
Michelle Levander,
"Where Does Fantasy End? Why All of South Korea is Obsessed with
an Online Game Where Ordinary Folks Can Be Arms Dealers, Murderers ...
and Elves," Time Magazine 157, no. 22 (June 4, 2001). Available
here: http://www.time.com/time/interactive/entertainment/gangs_np.html
Justin
Hall, "Event Wrap-Up: Tokyo Game Show 2003." Special Report
for GamaNetwork. Available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20031015/hall_pfv.htm.
***
Assignments Due Feb. 10: "Games and Narrative" and Paper Proposal
***
February
12. Gender, Play, Contested Spaces
Dungeons
& Dreamers -- pp. 141-147
Henry Jenkins, "'Complete
Freedom of Movement': Video Games as Gendered Play Spaces." Available
here: http://web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/pub/complete.html.
Orig. published as pp. 262-297 in From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender
and Computer Games, eds. Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins (Cambridge,
MIT Press, 1998).
Rebecca L. Eisenberg,
"Girl Games: Adventures in Lip Gloss." Orig. published in Ms.
Magazine (Jan. 1998). Available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19980213/girl_games.htm
Stevie Case, "Women
in Gaming," (2004). Available here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/games/learnmore/womeningames.asp#top
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Inform yourself about the "Adventures
of Josie True" project by looking at the articles "about Josie"
on the project site here: http://www.josietrue.com/.
Skim the site to learn about the project, then try out the free web-based
chapter of the game (it will require that you have the free Flash Player
version 6 installed on your computer). For section, consider the main
points in the Jenkins and Eisenberg readings for this week and be prepared
to discuss how the articles help you understand what the designers of
the "Adventures of Josie True" are trying to accomplish with
their game. Speculate: What would Stevie Case think of Josie True (the
game)?
Week 7. High
Performance Play
February
17. Competitive and Professional Play
GUESTS: Jess Cliffe,
co-creator of the Half-Life Counter Strike mod; Team3D:
David
'Moto' Geffon, team leader, and Craig
'Torbull' Levine, Team Manager; Frederic Descamps, Ultimate
Arena.
Dungeons
& Dreamers -- pp. 87-141; 199-210; 229-237.
February
19. Play as Performance: The Early History of Machinima and Related Forms
of Subversion.
Dungeons
& Dreamers -- pp. 210-219.
More
Than a Game
-- pp. 27-54.
Anne-Marie
Schleiner, "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender Analysis of
the "3rd Person Shooter/Adventure Game with Female Heroine"
and Gender Role Subversion in the Game Patch." Updated version. Available
here: http://www.opensorcery.net/lara2.html
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Competitive multiplayer gaming
demo session. Game TBA.
Week 8. Conflicts
February
24. The Violence Issue
Dungeons
& Dreamers -- pp. 173-198.
Paul
Keegan, "Culture Quake," Mother Jones (Nov.-Dec. 1999).
Available here: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1999/11/quake.html
Gerard
Jones, "Violent Media is Good for Kids," Mother Jones
(28 June 2000). Available here: http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2000/06/violent_media.html
February
26. Military Gaming and Simulation
Tim Lenoir and Henry
Lowood, "Theaters
of War: The Military-Entertainment Complex."
More Than a Game
-- pp. 86-110.
Mark Pesce, "The
Trigger Principle," FEED Special Report (Feb. 3, 2000). Available
here: http://www.feedmag.com/essay/es288_master.html.
***
Assignment due Feb. 24: "Cultures in Game Design" ***
OPTIONAL: James F.
Dunnigan, "Genealogy of Computer Wargames Technology" and "Designing
Computer Wargames" from The Complete Wargames Handbook (1993,
rev. 1997) Available here:
http://www.hyw.com/Books/WargamesHandbook/6-3-gene.htm and http://www.hyw.com/Books/WargamesHandbook/7-design.htm.
Provides historical background.
OPTIONAL: U.S. Army
and the MOVES Institute. America's Army PC Game: Vision and Realization.
Monterey, Calif.: MOVES Institute, 2004). Available here: http://www.movesinstitute.org/AAbooklet.pdf
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: "What can a game teach me
about terrorism, counter-terrorism and the Middle East?" Look at
these three game-related sources: (1) The America's
Army website, esp. the "Special Forces HQ."; (2) The
Special
Force website; (3) The Sept.
12 game (play it online). Who made each game and why? What do
the authors have to say about the relationship between games, reality,
and simulation? Be prepared to talk in class about the opening question
in this assignment.
Week 9. Role
Playing
March
2. Game Engine: The Director's Perspective.
GUEST: Jake Hughes,
Crystal Dynamics (Eidos Interactive).
He was director and co-creator (with Tom Hall and the Anachronox team)
of “Anachronox: The Movie” (USA, 2001), which received the
“Best Film” and “Best Use of Technology” awards
at the first Machinima Film Festival (2002) and was also associate producer
and cinematographer for Anachronox, the game, while at Ion Storm.
Jake will be joined by Joey Liaw, who is presently a student in the Stanford
C.S. Department; Joey programmed the cine scriptor and particle editor
for Anachronox and is a specialist in game engine technology.
Jo
Bryce & Jason Rutter, "Spectacle of the Deathmatch: Character
and Narrative in First Person Shooters," pp. 66-80 in G. King &
T. Krzywinska, eds, ScreenPlay: Cinema/videogames/interfaces,
(London & New York: Wallflower Press, 2002) Available here: http://les1.man.ac.uk/cric/Jason_Rutter/papers/Spectacle.pdf
March
4. Role-Playing Genres
Dungeons
& Dreamers -- pp. 11-81; 220-228.
Warren Spector, "Remodeling
RPGs for the New Millennium," Game Developer (Feb. 1999).
Available here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/game_design/19990115/remodeling_01.htm
. (Site requires free registration.)
OPTIONAL FOR ALL:
Brenda Laurel, "Toward the Design of an Interactive Fantasy System:
Description and Functional Requirements," Pp. 56-87 (Adobe Acrobat
page numbering) in: Atari Research Memos on the Subject of Interactive
Fantasy and Related Topics." Atari Sunnyvale Research Laboratory,
March 1982-November 1983. Available in Coursework.
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Discussion of your case history
papers. Bring a one-page abstract of your paper (whether you have completed
it yet or not) to section. Each student will read their abstract and get
suggestions and questions from the rest of the participants about ways
to improve the paper. (NB. Students in lecture who are not enrolled in
section are welcome to join this meeting and read their abstracts to gather
comments.]
Week 10. Virtual
Worlds
March
9. Games of Life: Sims, God Games, A-Life
John Horton Conway,
"The Fantastic Combinations of John Conway's New Solitaire Game 'Life',"
Scientific American (1970): 120-23. Available here: http://ddi.cs.uni-potsdam.de/HyFISCH/Produzieren/lis_projekt/proj_gamelife/ConwayScientificAmerican.htm
Ted
Friedman, "The Semiotics of Sim City," First Monday 4, no. 4
(April 5, 1999). Available here: http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_4/friedman/
More
Than a Game -- pp. 111-137.
OPTIONAL FOR ALL:
Geoffrey Keighley, "Simply Divine: The Story of Maxis Software,"
Gamespot. Available here: http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/;
and Daniel Sieberg, "The World according to Will," Salon.com.
Available here: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/02/17/wright/index.html.
March
11. Wrapup/A Word on Massively Multiplayer Games
Richard A. Bartle,
"A Voice from the Dungeon," Practical Computing (December
1983): 126-130. Available here: http://mud.co.uk/richard/avftd.htm.
If you have time, take a look at other early papers on networked MUDs
in Bartle's web archive, especially "MUD Advanced Project Report"
(1983), here: http://mud.co.uk/richard/mapr.htm,
and the background on this report here: http://mud.co.uk/richard/maprbg.htm.
Julian Dibbell, "A
Rape in Cyberspace, or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit,
Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society,"
Imaginary Realities 2, no. 4 (April 1999). Available here: http://imaginaryrealities.imaginary.com/volume2/issue4/rape_cyberspace.html.
(Originally written in 1993, this essay is also available as a chapter
in Dibbell's book, My Tiny Life.)
Dungeons &
Dreamers
-- pp. 148-170, 237-243.
Nicholas Yee, "The
Norrathian Scrolls: A Study of Everquest." Available here: http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/report.html.
Read the short introductory sections and follow your interests in looking
over the wealth of survey data and responses.
OPTIONAL FOR ALL:
Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer, "The Lessons of Lucasfilm's
Habitat," in: Cyberspace: First Steps, ed. Michael Benedikt. MIT
Press, 1991. -- pp. 273-301. Available in Coursework.
THIS
WEEK IN SECTION: Find a player community website.
Not a game developer site, but a site maintained by and for players, with
content developed by the player community. Some suggestions: sites devoted
to Everquest or the Sims Online stories or game groups; Warcraft III replay
sites; Neverwinter Nights community sites such as Neverwinterconnections.com;
or sites maintained by multiplayer clans (Quake, Counterstrike, Starcraft,
etc.). What does this site tell you about the "player community"
and the social aspect of the game? Come to section prepared to talk about
how the community's activities might be thought of as a "meta-game,"
a game outside the game.
***
Case Study due March 16 ***
- Henry Lowood, 13
Jan. 2004 |
