Aesthetic and psychology of PC games

Tutor:

Synopsis:

This course focuses on introducing the developing field of game studies through the study of computer game play from various points of view. In lecture we focus primarily on computer game aesthetics (interactivity, the narrative specifics, immersion, etc.) and also to date psychological research on gamers (motivation to play, dependence, social stragies in online play, etc.).

Prerequisites:

Study Objectives:

Outline and Syllabus:

Playing computer games has, since the 80s, become a more and more widespread manner of spending free time. In this class, using a brief introduction to the field of so-called „game studies“, we will try to ascertain, why this has occured and what new methods of working with audio-visuals gaming has brought with it. In other words, we will attempt to research computer games (primarily commercial types) from the viewpoint of their general aesthetic characteristics and from the psychological and sociological aspects of gaming. Among the questions this course will try to answer are: What social groups play computer games and how do they differ in their manner of play (men v. women, young v. old players)? What are the types of significances and ideological messages given to the players by the games? What specific methods in working with formal audio-visual media does gaming bring - at the narration level, interactive connection of players to the events, work with video and audio and the like? What is the attraction of gaming from a psychological point of view? What are the motivations for play? What gratification and what knowledge does gaming bring? Are computer games just „for fun“ or are they „art“ as well?

Study materials:

Literatura:

- BOGOST, Ian: Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. The MIT press 2007.

- BOGOST, Ian: Unit Operations. An approach to videogame criticism. The MIT Press 2006.

- CAILLOIS, Roger: Hry a lidé. Maska a závrať. Praha 1998.

- CASSEL, Justine, JENKINS, Henry: From Barbie to Mortal Combat. Gender and Computer Games. The MIT Press : Cambridge, London 2000.

- CASTRONOVA, Edward: Synthetic Works. THe business and culture of online games. The University of Chicago Press : Chicago, London 2006.

- FINK, Eugen: Hra jako symbol světa (Play as a symbol of the world). Praha 1993.

- GOFFMAN, Erving: Všichni hrajeme divadlo (We are all actors). Nakladatelství Studia Ypsilon : Praha 1999.

- HUIZINGA, Johan: Homo ludens: o původu kultuře ve hře (About the Origin of Culture in Play). Mladá fronta : Praha 1971.

- JUUL, Jesper: Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. The MIT press 2005.

- KAFAI, Yasmine B., HEETER, Carrie, SUN, Jennifer Y.: Beyond Barbie and Mortal Combat. New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming. The MIT Press : Cambridge, London 2008.

- McKENZIE, Wark: Gamer Theory. Harvard University Press : Cambridge, London 2007.

- PIEPER, Josef: Základní formy sociálních pravidel hry (Basic Social Rule Forms of Games. Praha 1994-

- RAESSENS, Joost, GOLDSTEIN, Jeffrey: Handbook of Computer Game Studies. THE MIT press 2005.

- TAYLOR, T. L.: Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture. The MIT Press 2006.

+ Magazines and Websites:

- CyberPsychology & Behavior

- Eludamos (Journal for Computer Games Culture) - http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos

- Game Journal - http://www.gamejournal.org/

- Game Studies (The International Journal of Computer Game Research) - http://gamestudies.org/

- Gameology - http://www.gameology.org/

- Games Research Bibliography - http://www.digiplay.info/bibliography

- Loading? - http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading

- Gamasutra - http://www.gamasutra.com/

- How they got game - http://www.stanford.edu/group/htgg/cgi-bin/drupal/

Note:

Further information:

No schedule has been prepared for this course

The subject is a part of the following study plans: