Thoughts on Critical Game Studies

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Thoughts on Critical Game Studies

• David Finkel
• Computer Science Department
• Interactive Media and Game Development

2
Purpose of this series of talks

• To describe the contents of the new courses
• To get feedback on the course content
• So well all know whats in the courses
• So the other courses can be designed knowing
  whats in this course, and vice versa
• To have some general discussions about the IMGD
  curriculum

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What is (are) Critical Game Studies?

• Course description
• a non-technical study of games, the history of
  games, and the game industry. The course will
  develop a vocabulary for discussing games, an
  approach to discussing the relative merits of
  different games, and tools for analyzing why
  certain games are successful.

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Inspiration Courses in Film Studies

• Topics covered in a film studies course
• The Film Industry (production, distribution,
  exhibition)
• Film Form and Principles of Narrative
• Types of Films (Genres)
• Film Style
• Critical Analysis of Film

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Show and Tell

• Film Studies Text (Bordell and Thompson)
• Game Design (Rollings and Adams possible text
  for CGS course)
• High Score (History of Electronic Games)
• Magazines
• Game Developer
• Computer Games

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Outline of the CGS Course - 1

• The Game Industry
• Developers, Publishers, Distributors
• History of Electronic Games (How much?)
• The Elements of Game Design
• Storytelling
• Character Development
• Game Play and Game Balance

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Outline of CGS Course -2

• Genres of Games
• Design issues relevant to the different genres
• Example Role-playing games and character
  development
• Example Vehicle Simulations and User Interface
  Design
• Mathematical Game Theory?
• Throughout Examples, video clips of games.

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Outline of CGS Course - 3

• Assignments, projects
• Analyze an existing game
• Identify genre, storytelling elements, character
  development, etc.
• Analyze a newly designed game
• From an existing game design
• From a student-generated game design

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CGS Topic 1 Why Do People Play Games?

• Because theyre fun

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Whats fun about playing games?

• Overcoming challenges
• Mental (puzzles)
• Physical (speed, coordination (twitch games))
• Escapism fantacizing about being someone /
  somewhere else
• Adventurer
• Participating in dangerous activities
• Participating in anti-social activities

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Whats fun - 2

• Having control over things
• especially for young players
• Social activities
• Playing in a group
• Outscoring other people

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CGS Topic 2 Story telling -1

• The role of stories in life. Why do we tell
  stories?
• A way of organizing our experiences
• To inform other people about our experiences
• To amuse other people
• To create a shared emotional experience

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Story telling - 2

• Why do we have stories in games
• We dont always Space Invaders
• To motivate the game play
• To create a more long-term interest than the
  game-play alone can create
• To provide an emotional experience
• To provide an experience different from our
  everyday lives

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Story telling - 3

• The role of stories in games
• The backstory
• The story of the game
• Who is the storyteller
• What is the role of the player in determining the
  narrative?
• The stories the players tell each other

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Story telling - 4

• How to write an effective story
• The monomyth / the heros journey
• Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
  (1949)
• Christopher Vogler A Practical Guide to the
  Heros Journey see handout

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Multipart-stories Series

• Different narrative formats for multi-part series
  (Terminology from Rollings and Adams)
• Series Story is broken into epsiodes, each of
  which resolves its own story line and also
  advances the overall theme.

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Multi-part stories - Serial

• Serial Episodes, but there are multiple
  overlapping story lines. Each episode advances
  one or more story lines. No overall story, so
  potentially infinitely many episodes.

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Story telling - Episodic

• Epsiodic Overall story line developed
  throughout, with tight integration between
  episodes and significant overlap of plot threads.

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Questions

• Whats the relation of the CGS course and a
  course in game design?
• Where should we cover game design be in the
  curriculum? Early? Late? Both? In several
  courses?

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Thoughts on Critical Game Studies

• David Finkel
• Computer Science Department
• Interactive Media and Game Development