General course information

Primary Texts

Games

• BioShock (purchase on Steam or iTunes)
• Bloons Tower Defense 5 (play online)
• Minecraft (purchase online)
• Pac-Man (play online)
• Plants vs Zombies (purchase on Steam or PopCap.com)
• Portal and Portal 2 (purchase on Steam: Portal and Portal 2, or Portal Bundle)
• Robot Unicorn Attack (play online)
• Spore (purchase on Steam or Spore.com)
• Thomas Was Alone (purchase on Steam)
• World of Warcraft (play free to level 20)

Please consult the Guide to Games for information about the games for our course.

Readings

• Aarseth, Espen. “Introduction: Ergodic Literature.” Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Literary Press, 1997. 1-23.
• Ferri, Gabriele. “Narrating machines and interactive matrices: a semiotic common ground for game studies.” Situated Play: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). The University of Tokyo, September, 2007. Ed. Akira Baba. 466-73.
• Frasca, Gonzalo. “Simulation versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology.” The Video Game Theory Reader. Eds. Mark J. P. Wolf and Bernard Perron. New York: Routledge, 2003. 221-35.
• Jenkins, Henry. “Game Design as Narrative Architecture.” First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. Eds. Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004. 118-30.
• Juul, Jesper. “Introduction.” Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. 2005. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011. 1-22.
• Klastrup, Lisbeth. “A Poetics of Virtual Worlds.” Paper delivered at MelbourneDAC, the 5th International Digital Arts and Culture Conference, May 2003. <hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/Klastrup.pdf>.
• Simons, Jan. “Narrative, Games, and Theory.” Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research 7.1 (2007). <gamestudies.org/0701/articles/simons>.

Course Expectations or Outputs

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. critically engage the theoretical, historical, and cultural contexts of a focused topic in digital media and technology.
2. demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the course topic through the analysis of primary texts in both class discussion and written work.
3. analyze cultural responses to digital technologies.
4. construct and sustain analytical arguments in clear, coherent prose and proper essay format.
5. enrich analytical arguments about primary texts through the judicious use of secondary sources.

Course Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate:

1. a detailed knowledge of a focused topic in digital culture.
2. an ability to offer theoretically and historically informed interpretation of texts.
3. an ability to compare the merits of different critical and theoretical approaches.
4. an ability to gather, review, and assess secondary sources appropriate to the topic.
5. an ability to communicate logical, analytical arguments in clear, correct, and persuasive prose.

Preparation and Participation

You are expected to participate in class in an informed manner. At the very least, you are expected to come to class regularly, having read all assigned reading and played all assigned games (!). You are expected to participate in class discussions. Keep in mind that participating in class is usually a highly rewarding experience, greatly enhancing your ability to understand the course material and helping ensure your success in the course. Everyone is expected to be courteous and professional at all times in class.

Lateness

• The term essay is due in class on March 24. You may hand in the essay up to and including March 31 without penalty. After that, there will be a penalty of 2%/day (including weekend days) until April 7. After April 7, the penalty will be 20% and papers will be graded with minimal or no feedback.
• For the short analysis essay or video, students may choose to analyse any one course game. The essay or video is due anytime before the beginning of the first class that treats the work the student has selected to write on; for BioShock and Spore, the assignment is due on March 5. Assignments handed in after the class has begun on the deadline date will not be accepted, except for analyses of BioShock and Spore, which will be accepted with penalties of 5%/day until the first scheduled lecture on that game. Note that term essays must not treat the same game you analyse for the short assignment.
• No assignment will be accepted after the start of the final exam.
• If you are registered with Student Services for special consideration with regards to due dates, please hand in the appropriate form to the instructor and, if needed, remind the instructor about the consideration when handing in the assignments.