Spring 2006: LIT 4930 :: Gaming Cultures:: Introduction to Game Studies and Game Types
Game Studies
- Contention: ludology/narratology
- Reality: different approaches needed that account for visual, physical, textual artifact in relation to production, consumption, and culture
New field, new approaches; lots being done in specific areas: multiplayer, education, design, art, analysis, war/enginneering, law, philosophy, gender studies, cultural studies http://website.education.wisc.edu/steinkuehler/
Terminology
- Games, play, ludic, computer games, video games
- game vs activity and gendering of this
- gender--all on the same page?
- race--basics in west (US/Europe) and Asia?
issues of representation in game design/scholarship/journalism
scholarship--focus on computer games (race/gender/made in US generally) console games--diff perspective on issues
Game Types
Medium, n. pl.
1. Something, such as an intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes.
2. An intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
3. An agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or transferred: The train was the usual medium of transportation in those days.
4. pl. media Usage Problem. 1. A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television. 2. media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the communications industry and profession.
5. pl. media Computer Science. An object or device, such as a disk, on which data is stored.
6. pl. mediums A person thought to have the power to communicate with the spirits of the dead or with agents of another world or dimension. Also called psychic.
7. pl. media 1. A surrounding environment in which something functions and thrives. 2. The substance in which a specific organism lives and thrives. 3. A culture medium.
8. 1. A specific kind of artistic technique or means of expression as determined by the materials used or the creative methods involved: the medium of lithography. 2. The materials used in a specific artistic technique: oils as a medium.
Genre, n.
1: a kind of literary or artistic work
2: a style of expressing yourself in writing [syn: writing style, literary genre]
3: an expressive style of music [syn: music genre, musical genre, musical style]
4: a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic form or technique
Game Genres: narrative, format, engine, control structures: Alice? System Shock 2? Civilization? new genres (platformer)? Side scrolling?
Genre vs Media
yourself fitness
MISC
Picking a Book
Writing Etiquette Book
Reading the book online--weird interface