Module details for Game studies and game analysis

Description

This module is designed to provide the student with a sophisticated understanding of the concepts and theories which inform game design, and to evaluate emergent trends in several sectors of the game industry.

Aims

There are two broad goals for this course. The first is to provide an overview of digital games as a cultural form. This involves a historical account of their emergence in the mid-twentieth century, an enquiry into theories of play and their relationship to culture, the origins and evolution of game genres, and the changing nature of game-development and the game industry to the present day. The second is to learn contextual and formal methods for the analysis of digital games and gameplay.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module the student should be able to:

1.  Explain the historical, cultural and industrial contexts in which games are produced, distributed and played.

2.  Select an appropriate analytical framework and use them to produce contextual and formal analyses of digital games.

3.  Effectively speculate on the future of the industry and emerging creative and professional roles in it.

4.  Evaluate major theories in game studies.

Indicative Content

1 Critical theory and analysis:

through a series of lectures and readings, students will learn about and theories of play and methods for the analysis of digital games and apply them.

2 Histories of games:

through lectures, and readings, students will learn about game history from a number of perspectives, from technological and techno-social histories to genre-specific and conceptual histories, and engage in historical research on the production contexts of different games.

3 Culture and politics of games:

in discussion groups and through appropriate readings, students will become familiar with contemporary issues in representation and inclusion in cultures of digital gaming, recent controversies in game culture and the political-economy of the game industry.

4 Environmental impact of the game industry:

in lectures and readings, students will learn about the effects of game technologies and computing on the global climate, the problems of ewaste, and the consequences of the upgrade cycle.

5 Aesthetics of games and interactive media

inreadings, lectures, and through exercises, students will become familiar with theories of aesthetics as pertain to digital games, and apply them to game analysis.

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Teaching and Learning Work Loads