Vol 4, No 1 (2015)

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VIDEO GAME STUDIES

Judd Ethan Ruggill, Arizona State University

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

“Video Game Studies” is a three-‐credit-‐hour upper-‐division undergraduate elective offered by the Communication Studies program at Arizona State University (ASU), the largest public university in the United States. Communication Studies enrolls approximately 300

undergraduate majors and fifty M.A. students, and is housed in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SSBS). SSBS is one of three schools that make up ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. “Video Game Studies” is open to all students but principally enrolls Communication Studies majors. It has no prerequisites save a minimum grade point average, and has a cap of sixty seats. Finally, the course is taught from a critical/cultural studies perspective and is offered as a hybrid, meaning that it has both weekly in-‐person and online components.

There were three principal design opportunities/challenges that shaped the creation and implementation of “Video Game Studies.” The first flowed from the mission and structure of the university. In addition to being the largest public university in the United States, ASU prizes access, meaning that virtually any interested student may enroll. While this commitment to openness is outstanding for classroom diversity, it also means that the range of student abilities and experiences in a given course can be extreme. As a result, course structure and materials must be designed accordingly. For “Video Game Studies,” this translated into the selection of an introductory-‐level textbook, even though the course is intended for upper-‐division students. The goal was to ensure a smooth and consistent learning curve for even the least experienced students.

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Overlapping with the need for accessible course materials to meet institutional diversity was the need for these materials to function in an idiosyncratic programmatic structure. ASU’s Communication Studies program is expressly multi-‐disciplinary, with minimal core

requirements, few sequential course blocks, and a diverse faculty from across the social sciences and humanities. The advantage of such an environment is that students emerge from it broadly trained; at ASU, they experience organizational, interpersonal, health, risk, mediated, and other communication modalities over the course of the program. The disadvantage is that often students may have not even have a rudimentary acquaintance with a given subject or critical perspective when they enroll in an advanced course. Thus, faculty need to prepare courses that can deliver both fundamental and expert training at the same time. For “Video Game Studies,” this preparation focused on creating an array of assignments—from formal writing to exams to creative projects—and in-‐class and online work, including screenings, guest lectures from industry professionals, and both large and small group discussion formats. The intent was to try and use an efficacious pedagogical practice for each specific learning objective.

As with the positive student comments regarding textbook selection, the course evaluations also showed that the students generally seemed to appreciate the variety of coursework (e.g., “I really enjoyed the projects that were given”; “Dr. Ruggill was very efficient with grading as well as having a wide range of assignments and activities including participation, quizzes, tests, two projects, and video screenings”), though some students would have preferred even more (e.g., “would’ve enjoyed doing a presentation or perhaps a game night to showcase what game everybody is playing”; “Best Class Ever! But could be improved with the movie Grandma’s Boy!”). Again, this indicates that additional pedagogical strategies may be helpful in the course redesign.

The third design opportunity/challenge that influenced “Video Game Studies” was the ASU Communication Studies program’s ongoing initiative to increase the number and size of online and hybrid course offerings. As the program faculty have discovered over the course of this initiative, online and hybrid courses are not only well served by straightforward course design but by enriched course components, which seem to help reduce student confusion, expedite movement through the instructional materials, and narrow the experiential differences between conventional and online classrooms. Therefore, in addition to the organizational decisions described in the previous paragraphs, highly accessible, usable, and content rich online applications were a high priority for “Video Game Studies.” A key course design decision was to require the students to purchase a Netflix subscription as a second textbook. The streaming service’s range of easy and well-‐developed consumer electronics entry points—PC, mobile, game console, and so forth—and library of high quality materials made it a good choice for the hybrid portion of the course. While student reaction to the specific film selections varied from lukewarm to enthusiastic on the official course evaluation form (e.g., “Movies were

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screening component of the course was generally positive (e.g., “The screenings were a good addition to the class”).

Unsurprisingly, there were a number of other design opportunities/challenges underpinning the creation of “Video Game Studies.” However, none were as important as the

aforementioned three. Ultimately, these were the forces that determined the structure of the course and student responses to it. In the end, “Video Game Studies” was a successful

offering—it earned an average student evaluation score of 3.8 out of 4.0 for organization, and an average of 4.9 out of 5.0 for overall instructional performance—but with some clear paths for improvement.

SYLLABUS

CLASS

Hybrid Course: Thursdays, 1:30pm-‐2:45pm, Sands 133 + asynchronous online work

DESCRIPTION

This course explores the theory and practice of video game studies. Over the course of the semester we will: 1) survey the history of games and their industry, paying special attention to how developers and the technologies they deploy shape the game medium; 2) unpack game sights, sounds, and stories, with a particular eye toward their formal and ideological qualities; and 3) examine games as sites of cultural exchange, that is, as teaching and learning

instruments, playful companions, and collaborative stimuli.

OBJECTIVES

COM 394 is designed to help you achieve the following learning objectives:

● Familiarity with video game history and theory;

● Facility with critical and field-‐specific terminology;

● Improved analytical, comparative reading, and note-‐taking skills;

● Improved formal writing skills;

● Increased meaningful contributions to class discussion.

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REQUIRED TEXTS

● Egenfeldt-‐Nielsen, Jonas Heide Smith, and Susana Pajares Tosca. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 978-‐0-‐415-‐ 89697-‐9.

● A subscription to Netflix (https://signup.netflix.com/).

POLICIES

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is not mandatory. Keep in mind, however, that 10% of your final grade is based on course participation, and it is difficult to participate if you do not come to class. In the event you do miss class, it is your responsibility to get any notes or assignments from a fellow student. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), in-‐class assignments, quizzes, and other exercises cannot be made up—if you miss class, you miss the assignment and the attendant points.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those of you who show affiliation with that particular religion. Absences pre-‐approved by the Dean of Students (or Dean’s designee) will also be honored, as of course will documented cases of emergency or serious illness.

PARTICIPATION

Simply put, when you come to class, come prepared, ready to engage your fellow classmates. In each class you should be able to ask and answer questions about the reading materials,

assignments, screenings, the day’s topic—in essence, anything pertinent to the course. While listening intently is important (sometimes more important than actually speaking), it is essential that you regularly contribute to the discussion.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The Arizona State University Student Academic Integrity Policy is based on the principle that “Each student must act with honesty and integrity, and must respect the rights of others in carrying out all academic assignments”

(http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/studentlife/judicial/academic_integrity.htm). According to the Policy, a student can be found guilty of academic dishonesty if s/he:

• Engages in any form of academic deceit;

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from previous classes, or commercial research services) not authorized by the instructor for use during the Academic Evaluation or assignment;

• Possesses, reviews, buys, sells, obtains, or uses, without appropriate authorization, any materials intended to be used for an Academic Evaluation or assignment in advance of its administration;

• Acts as a substitute for another person in any Academic Evaluation or assignment; • Uses a substitute in any Academic Evaluation or assignment;

• Depends on the aid of others, including other students or tutors, in connection with any Academic Evaluation or assignment to the extent that the work is not representative of the student’s abilities;

• Provides inappropriate aid to another person in connection with any Academic Evaluation or assignment, including the unauthorized use of camera phones, text messages, photocopies, notes or other means to copy or photograph materials used or intended for Academic Evaluation;

• Engages in plagiarism;

• Uses materials from the Internet or any other source without full and appropriate attribution;

• Permits his or her work to be submitted by another person in connection with any Academic Evaluation or assignment, without authorization;

• Claims credit for or submits work done by another;

• Signs an attendance sheet for another student, allows another student to sign on the student’s behalf, or otherwise participates in gaining credit for attendance for oneself or another without actually attending;

• Falsifying or misrepresenting hours or activities in relationship to an internship, externship, field experience, clinical activity or similar activity; or

• Attempts to influence or change any Academic Evaluation, assignment or academic record for reasons having no relevance to academic achievement. (ibid.)

Violations of the Policy are serious breaches of academic ethics and will be dealt with accordingly.

SPECIAL NEEDS

If you are registered with the Disability Resource Center and want to request special accommodations, you must submit the appropriate documents.

COURSE/INSTRUCTOR EVALUATION

Course/instructor evaluation will be conducted online prior to the last official day of the semester. The process is completely voluntary, and opting to forgo it will not negatively affect your grade. However, evaluation is an important part of helping ensure high teaching

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responses will be anonymous and will not be available for instructor review until after grades have been submitted. So, keep an eye out for an email with “NCIAS Course/Instructor

Evaluation” in the subject heading toward the end of the semester. It will be sent to the email address you have on file with the university.

GRADING

Assignments Points %

Play Journal 20 20

Quizzes 10 10

Midterm 20 20

Game Advertisement 20 20

Final Exam 20 20

Participation 10 10

Total 100 100

ASSIGNMENTS

SCREENINGS

● These are films or shows you will need to watch for the week and be prepared to discuss in class.

● Nota bene: Some screenings may contain mature content such as profane language, brief nudity, or controversial themes. Please address any concerns with me before the end of the first week of the semester.

● Also, game movies and television shows tend to be pretty bad—consider yourself forewarned.

PLAY JOURNAL

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QUIZZES

● These are weekly in-‐class quizzes based on the readings. Study hard—you might see some of these questions on the midterm or the final exam.

MIDTERM EXAM

● This exam will cover first half of the semester, and consist of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions.

GAME ADVERTISEMENT

● Create a magazine or web advertisement for a game about you, making sure to

emphasize what makes the game (and by extension, you) unique. Along with the ad, turn in a 1-‐ 2 page description of the game and why you decided to design it the way you did.

FINAL EXAM

● This exam will cover the second half of the semester, consisting of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions.

Nota bene: All written assignments should be typed, double-‐spaced, written in a language appropriate to the discipline, and due in class on the specific date. Late assignments will be marked down accordingly.

SCHEDULE

Date Content Reading

Week 1 Introduction

Week 2 Studying Video Games

Screening: Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012)

Game of the Week: September 12th

Egenfeldt-‐Nielsen, pp. 1-‐ 13

Week 3 The Game Industry

Screening: Dead Space: Aftermath (2011)

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Game of the Week: McDonald’s Video Game

Week 4 What is a Game?

Screening: Code Monkeys (2007), Season 1, Episodes 1-‐4

Game of the Week: Samorost

Week 5 History, Part I

Screening: Resident Evil (2002)

Game of the Week: Questionaut

Week 6 No Class—SWPACA Conference

Week 7 History, Part II

Guest Lecture: Ara Shirinian (Senior Designer, THQ Digital Studios Phoenix)

Screening: Video Game High School (2012-‐13), Season 1, Episodes 1-‐4

Week 8 Midterm exam

Week 9 No Class—Spring Break

Week 10 Video Game Aesthetics, Part I

Play Journal due in class

Screening: Indie Game: The Movie (2012)

Game of the Week: Tempest

Egenfeldt-‐Nielsen, pp. 117-‐137

Week 11 Video Game Aesthetics, Part II

Screening: Noobz (2013)

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Game of the Week: Grow

Week 12 Video Games in Culture

Guest Lecture: Ben Ruiz (Lead Designer and Artist, Team Colorblind)

Screening: eXistenZ (1999)

Week 13 Narrative

Game Advertisement due in class

Screening: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989), Episodes 1-‐4

Game of the Week: Insaniquarium

Week 14 Serious Games—When Entertainment is Not Enough

Screening: Double Dragon (1994)

Game of the Week: N

Week 15 Video Games and Risks

Screening: Tomb Raider (2001)

Game of the Week: Unmanned

Week 16 Final exam in class

A NOTE ON EXAMS

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MULTIPLE CHOICE

Televisualism and illusionism are subcategories of this important video game graphical style.

o Caricaturism o Abstractionism o Photorealism o Futurism o Dhalsim

Which one of these is not one of the four types of video game sound? o Vocalization

o Sound effects o Narration o Ambient effects o Music

FILL IN THE BLANK

• As you well know, games can be competitive as well as collaborative. In light of this, what does the acronym PVP stand for? __________

• In online games, the time it takes to transmit data from the player’s machine to the server, or from the server to the player’s machine, is called __________. This term can also be used to refer to the transmission time between a wireless controller and a console, or indeed any piece of hardware and another in a gaming or other computerized system.

SHORT ANSWER

• What does it mean that rules (and by extension, games) are transmedial?

• Sid Meier argues that a “game is a series of interesting choices.” Please explain why his thinking is both correct and incorrect.