Email: decaste@sfu.ca
Required Texts:
1. King, L. (Ed.) (2002). Game On: The History and Culure of Video Games. New
York: Universe Publishing.
2 . Newman, J. (2004). Videogames. New York: Routledge.
Supplemental
3. Scholder, A. & Zimmerman, E. (2003). Re:
Play: Game Design + Game Culture. New York: EyeBeam, Peter Lang.
September 8, 2004
Instructor absent (conference). Syllabus URL given out. Buy books if you havent
already done so.
Task: Watch TV special on Videogames at 9 pm (info will be provided in class) and make discussion notes for next class.
September
15, 2004
Introductions
Production Groups
Let’s play – designing your own game
Readings:
1. Demaria,
R. & Wilson, J. L. (2002). Shiny
Entertainment. High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (pp.
276-303). New York: McGraw-Hill.
September
22, 2004
What’s
in a Game?: Computer Game History and Genres
Readings:
1. Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play:
Game Design Fundamentals (pp. ix-9). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
2 . King, L. (2002). Introduction. In L.
King (Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames (pp. 8-19). New York:
Universe Publishing.
3 . Scholder, A. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Re: Play: Game Design + Game Culture
(pp. 8-74 -- skim). New York: Eyebeam, Peter Lang.
Task:
1. Identify genres of video games and find a new game
for each genre, including the game’s website, and a review of the game.
2. Choose a game to play for the week -- online, at home, etc. but "play"
for a few hours and report back.
3. Choose your week for group presentations
Activity:
Getting started – brain storming your game ideas and relevant tasks.
Making webpages for beginners -- a quick overview, with 'expert' support.
September
29, 2004
Computer Gaming Culture: Let’s
hear it for the Boys/Violence
Readings
1 . Masuyama. (2002). Pokemon
as Japanese Culture? . In L. King (Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture
of Videogames (pp. 34-43). New York: Universe Publishing.
1 . Newman, J. (2004). "Social Gaming and the Culture of Videogames",
in Videogames (pp. 145-162). New York: Routledge.
3 . Thompson, C. (2002). Violence
and the Political Life of Video Games. In L. King (Ed.), Game On: The History
and Culture of Videogames (pp. 22-31). New York: Universe Publishing.
4 . Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2004).
"Games as Cultural Rhetoric". Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
(pp. 515-533). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
5. Scholder, A. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). "Games
as Simulacra". Re: Play: Game Design + Game Culture (pp. 78-152 -- skim).
New York: Eyebeam, Peter Lang.
Supplemental
1. Video games article in the Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0829/p01s04-ussc.html
2. Girl Gaming sites: http://www.gamegirladvance.com/
and http://girlstech.douglass.rutgers.edu/index.html
Group 1
Presentation of readings/topics (no more than 2 hours in length)
Task:
Select any general "flash" puzzle
game or other kind of game. Play it for at least 30 minutes, until you reach
some level of proficiency. What did the game teach you? What did you learn?
Any connection you can think of to school-based knowledge?
Activity:
Culling those ideas, choosing a topic and assigning tasks. For questions to
consider, click here: http://www.yorku.ca/jjenson/gradcourse/designhelp.html
October
6, 2004
Play and Videogames
Readings
1 . Pesce, M. (2002). Head
Games: The Future of Play. In L. King (Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture
of Videogames (pp. 130-37). New York: Universe Publishing.
2 . Newman, J. (2004). Chapters 1, 2 and 4. Videogames. New York: Routledge.
3. Scholder,
A. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). "Games as Exchange" in Re: Play:
Game Design + Game Culture (pp. 212-255 -- skim). New York: Eyebeam, Peter Lang.
Group 2
Presentation of Readings
Task:
Find a Flash game that you can play for 20 minutes. Is it fun to play? What
makes it “fun”? Will you play it again?
Activity:
Web page development for those who haven't tried it yet!
Getting back together: taking ‘stock’, re-assigning
roles, further development and ‘the pitch’ to the group.
October
13, 2004
Online Gaming: Networked Worlds
Readings
1. Demaria, R. & Wilson, J. L. (2002). A very brief
history of online gaming. High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic
Games (pp. 304-320). New York: McGraw-Hill.
2. Gee, J. P. (2003). The Social Mind: How do you get your corpse back after
you died?. What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (pp.
169-98). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Herz, J. C. (2002). Gaming the System: Multiplayer Worlds Online. In L. King
(Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames (pp. 86-97). New York:
Universe Publishing.
4. Rollings, A. & Adams, E. Online Games. On Game Design (pp. 499-532).
Indianapolis, Indiana: New Riders Publishing.
Group 3
Presentation of Readings
October
20, 2004
Readings
1.
Squires, K. (2002). Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games. Game Studies,
2, 1. On-line at: http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire/
Task: (Oct 20th, production and play week, no class)
2 hours playing an online game on your own – choose one game – not
‘tetris’. Write about your experience/s “playing” and contextualize
using the above readings, in particular, think through Gee’s account of
Online gaming.
Submit document “online” to de Castell no later than October 20, 2003.
October
27, 2004
How might "play" be considered educational?
Readings
1. Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy
(1-50). New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
2. Myers, D. (2003). Summary
and Implications. The Nature of Computer Games: Play as Semiosis (pp. 151-164).
New York: Peter Lang.
3. Rieber, L. P. (1996). Seriously Considering Play: Designing Interactive Learning
Environments Based on the Blending of Microworlds, Simulations, and Games. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 44, 2, pp. 43-58. On line at: http://it.coe.uga.edu/~lrieber/play.html
Supplemental:
1. Gordon, A. C. (1970). Origin
and History of Serious Games. Games for Growth: Educational Games in the
Classroom. Palo Alto, California: Science Research Associates, Incorporated.
2. Myers, D. (2003). The phenomena of computer game play. The Nature of Computer
Games: Play as Semiosis (pp. 97-111). New York: Peter Lang.
3. http://www.gamezone.com/news/07_03_03_06_17PM.htm
4. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1
Task:
Find an "educational" game online and play it. Then, think about the
game you are designing and compare it to what you have been playing recently.
How is your game "playful"? What is fun about it? Why would someone
want to play it? How is your game 'educational"? What would someone learn
from it? Why would someone want to learn that from your game?
Activity:
Thinking through your design... and a few sentences
November
3, 2004
Thinking through Design
Readings
1. Crawford, C. Common Mistakes. On Game Design
(pp. 107-124). Indianapolis, Indiana: New Riders Publishing.
2 . Gee, J. P. (2003). Telling and Doing. What Video Games Have to Teach Us
about Learning and Literacy (p.113-138). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
3 . Jenkins, H. & Squire, K. (2002). The Art
of Contested Spaces. In L. King (Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture
of Videogames (pp. 64-75). New York: Universe Publishing.
4. Rollings, A. & Adams, E. Game Concepts. On Game Design (pp. 30-53). Indianapolis,
Indiana: New Riders Publishing.
Group 4
Presentation of Readings
Task:
Go back to the educational game you played last week and see how the game (following
Gee) does or does not solve the problem of “guidance on one hand”
and "immersion in practice on the other". Then reflect on your own
game that you are designing -- how does it/doesn't it compare?
Activity:
Given your readings on design for this week, reassess what you are doing with
your game and how – what have you left out? What might you need to still
consider?
November
10, 2004
“Design Elements”: Narrative, Character and Interactivity
Readings
1. Scholder,
A. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Re: Play: Game Design + Game Culture (pp.156-209
-- skim). New York: Eyebeam, Peter Lang.
2. Gee, J. P. (2003). Learning
and Identity: What Does it Mean to be a Half-Elf? What Video Games Have
to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (p.51-72). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Jenkins, H. http://web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/games&narrative.html
4. Poole, S. (2002).
Character Forming. In L. King (Ed.), Game On: The History and Culture of
Videogames (pp. 76-85). New York: Universe Publishing.
Activity:
What narrative elements have you selected? How have you designed your “characters”?
Make your game more “interactive” – think through how you will
do this and what you will change?
November 17, 2004
“Design Elements”: What makes a game
“educational”?
Readings
1. Gee, J. P. (2003). Situated Meaning and Learning: What
should you do after you have destroyed the global conspiracy? What Video Games
Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (p.73-112). New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
2. de Castell and Jenson, 2003, Serious Play. Online at: http://www.yorku.ca/jjenson/papers/aera2002.htm
3. Upitis, R. (1998). From Hackers to Luddites, Game Players to Game Creators:
Profiles of Adolescents Using Technologies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 30,
3, 293-318. Online at: http://www.yorku.ca/jjenson/gradcourse/upitis.pdf
Activity:
TBA
November 24, 2004
The Finishing Touches
A whole five hours of “working together”.
December
1 , 2004
Final Presentation
This will include a “design document” and “walk through”,
the narrative elements of the game, the “educational” considerations
(i.e. how and what gamers will ‘learn’), theoretical framework/s (i.e.
is it ‘fun’? how? Playability? Interface?), main concerns, problems
and issues, what you learned and what it would look like if you had access to
all the technical skills you needed to realize your ‘vision’.