Video Games in Context

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Apply the histories and theories studied on the module to provide readings of video games
• Discuss the issues of game immersion and narrative control
• Analyse the role of the gamer in the construction of games
• Situate video games in the context of technological development

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The impact of technology on narrative and aesthetics of video games
• The theoretical specificities of the medium
• The history and traditions of video games
• The dominant theoretical approaches that have been taken to video games

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Construct argument using audio visual media
• Synthesise sources from a range of media
• Independently research a range of sources

This module will approach video games from three primary perspectives: media specificity and technology, narrative, and culture. The importance and interconnectedness of these strands will be addressed through a syllabus that will typically include:

• The history of gaming and consoles
• An introduction to ludomusicology
• Canonical games
• Technological determinants
• Narratology
• Immersion
• Reception
• Gamer identification
• Genre
• Videogame adaptations

Lecture elements will provide you with general knowledge and understanding of key concepts. Your independent research into secondary material will develop this further. Discussion in seminars will help you to develop your own ideas about a topic, to analyse a range of source material and to articulate a critical argument. Rather than screenings for this module, you will be expected to seek out an experience a range of different games from a variety of different periods and platforms. While paying attention to the differences between platforms in the creation and aesthetic development of games, this module will remain platform agnostic in terms of assessment.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• Plenary session
• Seminars
• tutorials

Learning activities include

• group seminar discussions
• Independent study, viewing, gaming, and research

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Jesper Juul (2010). A Casual Revolution : Reinventing Video Games and Their Players. MIT Press.

Karen Collins (2008). From Pac-Man to Pop Music : Interactive Audio in Games and New Media. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Lerner, N., Donnelly, K., & Gibbons, W. (Eds.) (2014). Music in video games: studying play. Routledge.

Mark J.P. Wolf (2012). Before the Crash : Early Video Game History. Wayne State University Press.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External