Schedule

Course Outline

 Week 1 – Introductions and Definitions

    • ▪  Introductions and Syllabus Review
    • ▪  Discuss: My goals and your expectations. Create diagram(s) as a class.
    • ▪  Read: the complete list of Wikipedia articles in resources for defining Art Game
    • ▪  Sign-up: for an account on Courser and make sure you can access the videos

Discuss: disambiguation, refine our definitions. What is an Art Game? Create diagram(s) as a class. Begin discussion “Can video games be art?”
Use: Scratch with an in-class demo
Create: a list of your favorite video games and be ready to discuss why you think they are or are not art – why?

Watch: Are Video Games Art? (TED) Kelee Santiago Read: Video Games Can Never Be Art. Roger Ebert Read: Apology for Roger Ebert, Brian Moriarty
– Can Games Be Art? And Core Concepts

  • ▪  Discuss: readings, and your lists, and unpack “Can video games be art?” question. Create diagram(s) as a class.
  • ▪  Use: Unity with an in-class demo
  • ▪  Watch: Understanding Video Games, Lessons 1 through 4

 Week 2

Discuss: concepts from UVG course videos. Use: Twine with an in-class demo
Play: Samorost
Play: Cosmic Osmo

Watch: Understanding Video Games, Lesson 5, Story and Games
Read: Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock. Clint Hocking.
Create: your own list of media (books, movies, games) that have great narrative, or use narrative in an interesting way. Be ready to outline narrative arc of each story. Due on TBA. Create: a graphic that illustrates the narrative structure (arc) of a particular creative work from your list. Due on TBA.
– Interactive Narrative, Ludology and Narratology

  • ▪  Discuss: Your lists of media with great narrative, UVG lesson 5, and ludo-narrative dissonance.
  • ▪  Present: your graphic of narrative structure to the class.

 Week 3

  •  Create: using Twine, begin work on an original work of hypertext fiction. Due on TBA.
  • ▪  Create first-draft concept of your game – including a description and sketches – and beprepared to discuss with class. Due on TB

 Week 4

Continue: work on your draft hyper-text fiction
Research: a specific artwork/activity of your choice, and be ready to introduce it to us (including the artist, title, media, or other information) and be able to describe ludic / emergent and narrative / progressive elements as well as the strategy of the artist. Due on TBA.
– Historical Precedents

Use: Unity with an in-class demo.

Play and critique: your draft works of hyper-text fiction Use: Unity with an in-class demo.
Continue: work on game concept
Create: begin work on hyper-text fiction final. Due on TBA. Watch: Understanding Video Games, Lesson 6

 Week 5

  • ▪  Discuss: Interpreting Games and your game concepts
  • ▪  Use: Unity with an in-class demo.
  • ▪  Create: draft game v1. Due on TBA
  • ▪  Discuss: your game concepts (cont.)▪  Deliver: concept / proposal for your game – upload to Carmen
  • ▪  Use: Unity with an in-class demo.
  • ▪  Watch: Understanding Video Games, Lessons 9 and 10
  • ▪  Watch: Damsel in Distress (Part 1) Tropes vs Women
  • ▪  Read: #GamerGate: Here’s why everybody in the video game world is fighting, by ToddVanDerWerffhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141002202901/http://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting

 Week

6 – Critical Discourse in Video Games

▪ Discuss: race in games, #GamerGate, Anita Sarkeesian, and sex in games.

▪ Play and critique: your final works of hyper-text fiction
▪ Deliver: your game work of hyper-text fiction – upload to Carmen
▪ Watch: Understanding Video Games, Lesson 8 and 11
▪ Play: the following games, read the statements from the creators, and be ready to discuss in

class.

  •   The McDonalds Game
  •   Sweatshop
  •   Phone Story
  •   Harpooned (watching gameplay is fine)
  •   Super Columbine Massacre RPG (watching gameplay is fine)
  •   Week 7 – Critical Discourse in Video Games (continued)
  • ▪  Discuss: violence in games and serious games
      • ▪  Discover & Play: a art/serious/non-mainstream game that you will present to the class. Be ready to analyze the game in class. So be sure to research the statement from the            creator(s), and be ready to discuss the creator’s intent as well as how others have critiqued the work.
      • Discuss: games played, the various strategies employed by the creators, the relative effectiveness, and create diagram(s) as a class.
      • ▪  Research: a specific artwork/activity of your choice, and be ready to introduce it to us (including the artist, title, media, or other information) and be able to describe ludic / emergent and narrative / progressive elements as well as the strategy of the artist. Due on 3/5.TBA
  •   Week 8

▪ Work on final projects

Discuss: artworks, strategies, and ludo-narrative elements in art using your research, and create diagram(s) as a class.
Work on final projects
Write: a critical review of a video game of your choice (500 words min). Due on TBA (after SB). Upload to Carmen before that date.

  •   Week 9
      • ▪  Play / present & critique: draft games v1
      • ▪  Work on final projects
      • ▪  Play / present & critique: draft games v1
      • ▪  Create: draft game v2 with refinements based on feedback. Due on TBA.
  •   Week 10 – ◦ TBA

 Week 11 ◦

▪ Work on final projects ◦

▪ Work on final projects 

Week 12
▪ Play & critique: draft games v2
▪ Play & critique: draft games v2

 Week 13 ◦

▪ Play & critique: draft game ◦

▪ Work on / play-test final projects

 Week 14
▪ Work on / play-test final projects
▪ Work on / play-test final projects

 Week 15 ◦

▪ Play & critique: final games ◦

▪ Play & critique: final games ◦

▪ Submit your final work, including installation, to the Art and Tech show  Week 16

    • ▪  Show setup
    • ▪  Opening reception at 5-8pm
    • ▪  Deliver: your final, published video game project – upload to Carmen

▪ Show strike and cleanup

Artists / groups / activities

  •   Marcel Duchamp◦ Fountain
  •   Yoko Ono

◦ Play It By Trust  Fluxus (group)

◦ The Fluxkit

  •   Allan Kaprow◦ Happenings
  •   The Yes Men

◦ Dow Does the Right Thing  Wafaa Bilal

◦ Shoot an Iraqui

  •   Molleindustria (group)
    • Phone Story
    • McDonalds game
  •   Cyan (group)

◦ Cosmic Osmo

◦ Myst

  •   Golan Levin (+ group)
    • Double-Taker (Snout)
    • Universal Construction Kit
  •   Cody Wilson

◦ Liberator Pistol (as unintentional art object)  Danny Ledonne

◦ Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

  •   Conor O’Kane◦ Harpooned
  •   Jakub Dvorsky◦ Samorost
    ◦ Machinarium

Resources
 Wikipedia definitions for defining Art Game

“Art Game”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_game

  • “Serious Game” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_game
  • “Video game art” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_art
  • “Game artist” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_artist
  • “Video games as an art form” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_as_an_art_form
  • “Artist” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist
  • “Art” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art
  •   Course: Understanding Video Games by Leah Hackman and Sean Gouglas https://class.coursera.org/uvg-001
  •   Can games be art?
    • Are Video Games Art? TED talk by Kellee Santiago – Ebert’s entire article is a critique of (isdependent on) this talkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GjKCnPQlSw
    • Video Games Can Never Be Art, Roger Ebert http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/video-games-can-never-be-art
    • Apology for Roger Ebert by Brian Moriarty http://www.ludix.com/moriarty/apology.html
    • Game Rules as Art by Rod Humble http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_41/247-Game-Rules-as- Art
  •   Ludonarrative dissonance

◦ Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock. Clint Hocking.

http://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html

  •   Hypertext Fiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_fiction
    • Twine – an open source hypertext fiction toolhttp://twinery.org/
    • The Interactive Fiction Database (hypertext fiction) http://ifdb.tads.org/
    • Adventure – the original from 1976 http://www.amctv.com/shows/halt-and-catch-fire/colossal-cave-adventure
  •   #GamerGate
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy
    • #GamerGate: Here’s why everybody in the video game world is fighting, by Todd VanDerWerffhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141002202901/http://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting
  •   Anita Sarkeesian
    • Damsel in Distress (Part 1) Tropes vs Womenhttp://www.feministfrequency.com/2013/03/damsel-in-distress-part-1/
    • Anita Sarkeesian at XOXO Festival (2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah8mhDW6Shs
    • Forbes article: On Anita Sarkeesian, Sexism In Video Games, And Why We Need To Have The Conversationhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/07/13/on-anita-sarkeesian-sexism-in-video-games-and-why-we-need-to-have-the-conversation-even-if-it-feeds-the-trolls/
  •   Games

◦ Samorost

http://amanita-design.net/samorost-1/

◦ Cosmic Osmo

(access to be provided in class)

  • The McDonalds Gamehttp://www.mcvideogame.com/
  • Sweatshop http://www.playsweatshop.com/
  • Phone Story http://www.phonestory.org/
  • Harpooned http://harpooned.org/
  • Super Columbine Massacre RPG (at least watch gameplay) http://www.columbinegame.com/