Throughout the term, we will do a variety of exercises in class. Some of these are short writings, thought experiments, games, and discussions. These in-class exercises are essential to our collaborative exploration of game culture. As long as you participate fully in them, you will usually get full credit. In-class work may not be made up (so if you miss class, you miss this work).
Each week, you will be assigned a reading for the course. Aside from the reading responses you will write (see below), several of you will be assigned to lead the class discussion for that week's reading. When a group leads a discussion, they should say a few introductory remarks (no longer than five minutes) to orient the discussion, and should distribute a handout to the class. Each group is responsible for leading two discussions. (See Appendix A for more detailed instructions and guidelines).
Game Culture Watch: 100 points
Each month, you will be assigned a game culture blog from the class
list to monitor. Your job will be to post information and commentary
to the class blog, Game Culture Watch at least once per week; I
encourage you to post more-good blogs are good because they're updated
and visited often. Posts can vary, but you should post some
commentary and conversation. A good target is 100-200 words of your
own, plus some text quoted from another blog.
Game Journal: 100 points
As part of this course, you will select a video game
to complete.
Each week, you should post at least one entry on your personal blog
about your experience playing the game. These journal entries can
explore your joys, frustrations, problems, tricks, or just
observations. Ideally, you will begin drawing connections between the
games and the texts we're reading in class. While your contributions
may vary drastically, you should aim to write 200-300 words per week
about your game. Note: you should be finished with your game
somewhere around the 13 week mark. After that time, you may write
more entries about your game, but they will not affect your "game
journal" grade. If you finish your game early, you may select another
game from the list to play, or you may re-play and/or elaborate on your experiences
playing your assigned game.
Reading Responses: 100 points
For each reading, you will be given a short writing assignment. These
writings are meant to focus your thinking about the reading and help
you begin to draw connections between the text and other work we've
done in the course. Your response should be posted on your personal
blog before the beginning of class.
The game analysis project draws on the skills explored in the first
and second levels of the course, using interpretation and semiotics to
explore the messages hidden in texts. Your game analysis will examine
a game for its socio-cultural contexts, offering detailed explanations
of the game and highlighting its messages. Your project will suggest
how the game functions within its cultural milieu and how the game
might be changed or revised to fit its milieu better. (You will
receive more detailed instructions and a grading guide when this
project is assigned.)
The game proposal asks you to shift from interpretation to invention, applying the knowledge you've discovered in the first three levels of the course to an idea for a new game. While I do expect you to explain what your game will be (basic plot, perspective, etc), this proposal will focus on situating your game within the context of game culture. You will use the texts we've read thus far to explain your game's relationship to major cultural issues and to other games on the market.
