Schedule

	Introductions
Tuesday January 8th	Class Discussion: Intro to the class Overview of the syllabus Introductions and discussion of favorite games
Thursday January 10th	Due By Class Today Read through the website and the detailed descriptions of the assignments Class Lecture Overview of the readings Class Discussion Project ideas and discussion of possible groups

	Gameplay and Theory
Tuesday January 15th	Due By Class Today Read Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” http://www.kafka-online.info/before-the-law.html   Play the game adaptation of “Before the Law” http://www.theoddmanout.net/games/beforeTheLaw.html  Be sure to get both endings Watch Extra Credits' "Mechanics as Metaphor" Part 1 and Part 2 http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/mechanics-as-metaphor-part-1 http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/mechanics-as-metaphor-part-2 Read “A Selection from Existentialism and Human Emotions” by Jean Paul Sartre http://dbanach.com/exist.htm Read “A Selection from Jean Paul Sartre’s “Nausea” http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/nausea.htm Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: When we play games we have (at least the illusion of) choice. For Sartre, it is this choice that is key; he calls Existentialism the “doctrine of choice” and that opponents of it are afraid of the weight and responsibility that having that choice places on the individual. However, if the developer is the one controlling the player’s options, can a game ever truly be Existential? Is your choice in “Before the Law” yours or just one of two possibilities created by the developer, Brandon Brizzi, and not your own?
Thursday January 17th	Due By Class Today Bring in a brief, typed example of a game where the gameplay becomes part of the overall message of the game. Note: If you know a game that might become part of your final project for this class, I strongly recommend that you pick that game. Group Discussion Small group discussion of individual examples followed by larger class discussion of common themes and/or gameplay techniques.

	Gameplay and Theory Continued
Tuesday January 22nd	Due By Class Today Read “Panopticism” from Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison” http://cartome.org/foucault.htm Play through The Stanley Parable http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable Try to get all six endings (not including the ‘elevator glitch’ ending**) If you cannot get the game to work, watch a full playthrough here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblvOhnv2k0 Watch the two promotional videos (.mov0001 and .mov0002) and View the various promotional images and Read the “Frequently Asked Questions” for the upcoming Stanley Parable HD “remake/sequel/expansion” http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=95511356 Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: Both the reading and the game explore issues of control, authority, and choice. This is something that Sartre struggled with later in life: if one cannot choose for themselves how they should act then are the “choices” that they make truly an act of free will? This question informs much of Foucault’s work, and we will see this inform much of our later readings in both theory and gaming-specific academic work. Are all games inherently panoptic? Can you have a game where the player has complete control? How do things like fan-made mods, hacks, abused exploits, and remakes/sequels affect this usually authoritative relationship? **Note: the ‘elevator glitch’ ending involves getting into the elevator, hitting a button, and running back out before the doors close. This “breaks” the game by removing your ability to move forward in the story, but many fans of the game consider this an ‘ending’ regardless. Why is that?
Thursday January 24th	Due By Class Today Bring In clean copies of your first two Initial Response papers. Class Lecture Overview of expectations on an academic paper Group Work Edit each other’s work to meet the standards of an academic conference paper

	Gaming Methods, Analysis, and Pitfalls
Tuesday January 29th	Due By Class Today Read Chapter 1 of Ian Bogost’s Unit Operations located on Canvas under the Files tab in the sidebar. Read “Simulation versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology” by Gonzalo Frasca located here: http://www.ludology.org/articles/VGT_final.pdf Read “Game analysis: Developing a methodological toolkit for the qualitative study of games” by Mia Consalvo and  Nathan Dutton located here: http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/consalvo_dutton Read “The Game Narrative Triangle” by Fraser Allison located here: http://redkingsdream.com/2010/07/the-game-narrative-triangle Read “MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research” by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek located here: http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: The various methods listed here have their strengths and weaknesses. Which one draws you and why? Can you use these to analyze a game? What would be the limits of, say, using a purely ludological approach to analyzing a cut-scene-heavy game like Metal Gear Solid or the various Final Fantasy games? Can you use one or two of these methods to analyze one of your favorite games?
Thursday January 31st	Due By Class Today Note: do the following assignment in the order that it is presented below. Play La MollenIndustria’s Oiligarchy located here: http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy  Note: there are several endings, but for class you only need to get one. The ‘better’ endings can be difficult to get. If you are curious about them there is a description of them in the postmortem. Write your initial reaction to the game (not an official Initial response Paper, just an informal set of notes). Read the ‘PostMortem’ on Oiligarchy located here: http://www.molleindustria.org/oiligarchy-postmortem  Revise your notes to include how your reaction changed while reading the PostMortem. Note any quotes, passages, research that you found interesting in La MollenIndustria’s documentation. Play ‘The McDonald’s Game’ – an earlier game by the same team – located here: http://www.mcvideogame.com/index-eng.html  Add to your notes how this game fits into a similar aesthetic to Oiligarchy. Compare/contrast the two, comment on MollenIndustria’s growth as developers, etc. Bring In your notes to class and turn them in online on Canvas.

	Authorship in Games and a Survey of an Author
Tuesday February 5th	Due By Class Today Read “Death of the Author” by Roland Barthes http://www.tbook.constantvzw.org/wp-content/death_authorbarthes.pdf 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 Play Host Master and the Conquest of Humor http://www.doublefine.com/games/host_master Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: Does a video game have an ‘author’ in the traditional sense? What is authorship in games and what criteria does a game’s staff has to meet for there to be an ‘author’ or a group of ‘authors’? What game developer (person or group) would you consider an ‘author’? Can an author exist in a AAA company where the staff consists of hundreds? Also consider the link between the Shafer/Gilbert video and your experience with their game(s). What did the two say that reinforces your playthrough of  Host Master and the Conquest of Humor? What did they say that contradicts it?
Thursday February 7th	Due By Class Today Play Edmund McMillen’s The Binding of Isaac DEMO located here: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581168 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. Play Edmund McMillen’s “Time Fcuk” located here; http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/511754 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. Listen to Edmund McMillen’s interview on Time Fcuk located on Canvas. Bring In your notes to class and turn them in online on Canvas. Things to consider: What is the connection (as you see it) between The Binding of Isaac and Time Fcuk? Do you think it is fair/acceptable/reasonable/etc for McMillen to not want to explicitly state the link? Why do you think he refuses to state this link?

	Gender Studies and Games
Tuesday February 12th	Due By Class Today Note: In the interest of fairness, for our gender studies readings we have a queer reading, a masculine reading and a feminist reading. So that the readings are not overwhelming, we will space them out over the week. This means that you have two Initial Responses due this week. Read the chapter from Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino on Canvas. Play “A Closed World” located here:  http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/summer2011/aclosedworld_play.php Read Auntie Pixelante's blog response and Play her game response, "A Closed Mind" located here: http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=1276 Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: 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? TV? Film? How are these characters treated? What does this say for LGBT issues as a whole?
Thursday February 14th	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 the first part of “Tough Guise” located under the Files tab on canvas. You are welcome to watch the whole thing, but be advised that it is an hour and a half long. Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: Think about the biases that Bordo discusses in her work: gender roles, presentation of gender in the media, race, etc. What is the definition of ‘masculinity’ for modern Western cultures? Is it biological and/or cultural? How has the definition changed over time? Do the readings reflect masculinity in games? Can you, as Bordo does, note cultural differences in masculinity as expressed through games?

	Gender Studies and Games cont. and Research Begins
Tuesday February 19th	Read Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” on Canvas. Watch “Who Is Laura Croft?” located here: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/benzaie/dg/20790-who-is-lara-croft and look over the top comments below the video. Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: The video here demonstrates two key problems: badly written female characters and an erasure of gaming history by the new wave of games theorists. 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?
Thursday February 21st	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 two more article that seems interesting to you. Read it thoroughly and be prepared to discuss/describe it to your classmates. Read a chapter from the Video Game Theory Reader 2 in Canvas. Pick a chapter that seems interesting to you, read it thoroughly and be prepared to discuss/describe it to your classmates. Post to Canvas a brief two page write-up on how the articles/chapter you picked link to a game of your choice. Post a works cited page with this write-up that includes MLA citation for the game you are analyzing.

	Virtual Reality as Immersion(?) and Abstract Drafting
Tuesday February 26th	Due By Class Today Read “Fun is a Four Letter Word” by Warren Spector http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_65/381-Fun-is-a-Four-Letter-Word Read Salen and Zimmerman’s Summary of  Immersive Fallacy located here: http://www.nyls.edu/user_files/1/2/23/144/216/217/218/zimmerman.pdf Read Walter Jon Williams’ “Daddy’s World” located here: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3291397/Williams%20-%20Daddy%27s%20World.pdf Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: Jamie’s ‘education’ raises some troubling questions for game development, especially for educational games. What are some of the aspects of Jamie’s ‘life’ that you can connect to the readings for today? How about other readings we have done? Can you analyze “Daddy’s World” from a game studies perspective?
Thursday February 28th	Due By Class Today Bring to class a printout or file on your computer/mobile device a copy of Swales CARS Model located here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tiYv89LoRQVkbMIR6Dk5FpeVUgljrVe80HBAQOu9i8M/edit Post to Canvas your rough ideas on your class project.  Ideally you should have an outline of your abstract that includes the parts of the CARS model.

Spring Break: March 4^th – 9^th

	Technology and the Future of Our Medium
Tuesday March 12th	Due By Class Today IMPORTANT: Turn in your abstract for your papers on Canvas by midnight tonight.  You will not have a scheduled presentation time without completing this assignment. No late work will be accepted. Watch Extra Credit's "My Name is Ozymandias..." located here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPaij2G3wTQ Read the coverage by Rock, Paper, Shotgun on the release of System Shock 2 located here: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/13/many-questions-system-shock-2-comes-to-gog Read “Who Framed Roger Ebert?” by Rich Stanton located here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-16-who-framed-roger-ebert Watch Jesse Schell’s ‘Design Outside the Box’ located here: http://www.g4tv.com/videos/44277/dice-2010-design-outside-the-box-presentation Write and Bring In your Initial Response. Things to consider: How do you feel about the state of games theory in light of the difficulties outlined here? The preservation of old works? Issues of legitimacy? Quality of analysis? Also note: I am having you watch Schell 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 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. Do you believe Schell’s predictions? Are you optimistic/pessimistic? What are some of the reading(s) from the semester that can inform your analysis.
Thursday March 14th	Due By Class Today Read  chapter 3 of Jenkin’s Convergence Culture, "Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling", located here: http://mafaldastasi.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/jenkins-2006-unicorn.pdf Read up on the origins of Slenderman - Victor Surge's post on the Something Awful forums - and the spread of the legend here: http://theslenderman.wikia.com/wiki/Slender_Man Watch (at least) the first 10 episodes of the Marble Hornets series, i.e. the Introduction and Entry #1-19, located here: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarbleHornets/videos?view=0 Note: You are not required to watch the responses by YouTube user totheark but you may if you like as totheark becomes a reoccurring character in the series. Watch the fan-made video that inspired $20 Mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0wPdfArGy4 Play Slender version 0.9.4 located here:  https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3291397/Slender%20v0.9.4%20All.rar The copy provided comes with a mod tool that will unlock three modes; please use it to play all modes, including regular, daytime, and $20 mode. Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: Describe your reactions while playing Slender and how the mythos does or does not affect the gameplay in relation to the chapter in Jenkin's Convergence Culture. How does the mythos surrounding Slenderman alter/affect/otherwise influence your feelings while being chased by him/it? How does the difficulty of the game also affect the tension? Would you genuinely consider this game scary? Tense?

	Superflat
Tuesday March 19th	Due By Class Today Read “The Animalization of Otaku Culture” located here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9VahGwIokRiam1tVHg0Nzd3dTQ 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: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C84FLwm3DA Write and Bring In your Initial Response Things to consider: How does this inform your understanding of Japanese video games? Can you see this becoming a trend in Western cultures? Can you come up with examples of the Superflat in the West?
Thursday March 21st	ICFA Conference: No Physical Class Today Due By Midnight Today Play up to and including the Neo New York Sewers area in  “Tales of Game’s Studios Presents Chef Boyardee’s Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa” located here: http://www.talesofgames.com/related_game/barkley-shut-up-jam-gaiden   Post to the canvas message boards your initial reactions to the game using at least two readings from the semester.

	Analyzing a Longer Work
Tuesday March 26th	Due By Class Today Play Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden to completion. Post to the canvas message boards your reaction upon completing the game using at least two readings from the semester.
Thursday March 28th	PCA Conference: No Physical Class Today Due By Midnight Today Post to canvas your outline or rough draft for the Mock Conference. Work with peers in groups to review/edit/complete each other’s work.

	Peer Review: Conference Papers
Tuesday April 2nd	Due By Class Today Post to canvas a polished rough draft of your presentation for the Mock Conference. Groups will focus on making sure that the presentations: a. meet the requirements of the assignment b. are of academic quality c. promote an interesting and relevant thesis
Thursday April 4th	Due By Class Today Post to canvas a polished rough draft of your presentation for the Mock Conference. Groups will focus on making sure that the presentations: a. meet the requirements of the assignment b. are of academic quality c. promote an interesting and relevant thesis

   

	Mock Conference
Tuesday April 9th	Student Conference: Revisiting Older Games ·      Chris C: Zombies Ate My Neighbors; The Regurgitation of Media and What it Represents ·      Kristin D: Getting Deep with Ecco: How the Z-Axis Creates Physical Space and Intuitive Depth in Video Games ·      Yvette H: A Deeper look into the game The 7th Guest Imagination Factor of Interactive Storytelling ·      Jacques T: Kyogre's Pretty Deep ·      Kristen G. R: Tomb Raider: There’s More to the Tits Than Meets the Eye! Presentations: 10 minutes each Q&A Session 25 minutes
Thursday April 11th	Student Conferences Games and Culture ·    Matt B: Paper Abstract: Gaming Communities and Panoptic Structures ·    Sterling L: Violence and Manipulation ·    Robert M: Grand Theft Auto IV:  Nostalgia, Strippers, and the American Dream ·    Alyssa S: Authoritative Control through Modding: The Sims 3 Presentations: 10 minutes each Q&A Session 25 minutes

	Mock Conference
Tuesday April 16th	Student Conferences Being the Hero (?) ·    Yvonne C: Converting into the Dark Knight ·    KaDee F: Chinese Chuck Norris: Debunking Cultural Myths of Western and Eastern Gaming Using the Dynasty Warriors Fandom ·    William K: The Avatar is a Psychopath; Player Hybridity and Narrative Symmetry in Ocarina of Time and Nier ·    Breanne K: “Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted.” Presentations: 10 minutes each Q&A Session 25 minutes
Thursday April 18th	Student Conferences Agency, Storytelling and the Future of Game Studies ·    Patrick W: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Adventure: Understanding the Emotional Experience of an Interactive Hollywood Blockbuster ·    Tara N: Minecraft: How it Singlehandedly Changed the World of Video Games ·    Jackson S: The Destination: Emotion, Immersion, and Interaction in Journey ·    Nicholas R: The Ludonarrative Disconnect and Its Stifling of Innovation Presentations: 10 minutes each Q&A Session 25 minutes

Due Monday, April 22nd:

Final Paper, either as an 8-10 page paper or a 20-minute prerecorded presentation.

Note: Make sure that any pre-recorded material can play on my laptop. This is especially important for Mac owners since I own an Asus Eee PC running Windows XP Home Edition.