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Welcome page > FAMU > Department of Audiovisual Studies > The Art of Computer Games

The Art of Computer Games

Subject is not scheduled Not scheduled

Code Completion Credits Range Language Instruction Semester
373UPH ZK 2 2/T Czech summer
Subject guarantor:
Name of lecturer(s):
Learning outcomes of the course unit:

The aim of the lectures is to acquaint students with the history and theory of computer games from the perspective of their artistic qualities. Students, upon completion of the course, should better understand the relationship between computer games and other art forms. as well as know the particular of game media art.

Mode of study:

Lectures supplemented by example screenings of plays and images.

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

No requirements.

Recommended optional programme components:

No requirements

Course contents:

Computer and video games have become not only the most widely distributed cultural industry but also a new art media including and transforming elements of film, visual and other types of art. In the course „The Art of Computer Games“ we focus generally on the aesthetic aspects of computer games and the particular gaming experience (ex: the immersion into the game, interaction vs. narration in games), We focus on the relationships of media with other types of art and last but not least, an analysis of games, genres and developers. We will cover mainstream games and creators (Will Wright, Roberta Williams, and others), independent games and experimental ones (by Jason Rohrer, Cactus, Molleindustria, jmbt2, and others.) as well as, diverse interventions of contemporary artists into the games field ( through fashion, installations , etc).

Tentative lecture plan:

1. What are games? What are computer games? What is (games) medium?

2. Definition of art and its relatonship to computer games

3. Games as art from the perspective of their reception and discourse

4. Games as art from the perspective of a historical context.

- relationship of videogames and other arts

- game art as a defined form among games and fine arts

- the aesthetics of the history of games themselves (inventing expresive media, genre, etc.)

5. Artistic elements of games and the particulars of the game experience

6. Examples of creators and pieces.

Recommended or required reading:

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.

CARR, Diane, BUCKINGHAM, David, BURN, Andrew, SCHOTT, Garreth (eds.): Computer Games. Text, narrative and play. Polity press : Chicago, Malden, 2006.

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.

DONOVAN, Tristan: Replay. The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant : Lewes, 2010.

FLANAGAN, Mary: Critical Play. Radical Game Design. The MIT Press : Cambridge, London, 2009.

FINK, Eugen: Hra jako symbol světa. Praha 1993.

GOFFMAN, Erving: Všichni hrajeme divadlo. Nakladatelství Studia Ypsilon : Praha 1999.

HUIZINGA, Johan: Homo ludens: o původu kultuře ve hře. Mladá fronta : Praha 1971.

JAHN-SUDMANN, Andreas; STOCKMANNS, Ralf: Computer Games as a sociocultural phenomenon. Games without Frontiers, Wars without Tears. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

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.

McALLISTER, Ken S.: Game Work. Language, Power, and Computer Game Culture. The University of Alabama Press : Tuscaloosa, 2004.

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

NEWMAN, James: Videogames. Routledge : London, New York, 2004.

PEARCE, Celia: Games as Art: The Aesthetics of Play. In Friedman, Ken; Smith, Owen (eds.): Fluxus and Legacy. Visible Culture, 2006.

PIEPER, Josef: Základní formy sociálních pravidel hry. Praha 1994.

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

SMUTS, Aaron: Are Videogames Art? Contemporary Aesthetics, 2005, http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299.

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

TAVINOR, Grant: The Art of Videogames. Wiley-Blackwell : Malden, Oxford, 2009.

VORDERER, Peter, BRYANT, Jennings: Playing video games: motives, responses and consequences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates : Mahwah, 2006.

WOLF, Mark: The Medium of the Video Game. University of Texas Press, 2002.

WOLF, Mark J. P.; PERRON, Bernard (eds.): The Video Game Theory Reader. Routledge: New York, 2003.

WOLF, Mark J. P.; PERRON, Bernard (eds.): The Video Game Theory Reader 2. Routledge : New York, 2009.

časopisy a webové stránky:

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/

Indie Games - http://indiegames.com/

Game Set Watch - http://www.gamesetwatch.com/

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

lectures

Assessment methods and criteria:

Students who wish to acquire grading for this course are to write two papers:

1) An analysis of at least 2.5 standard pages (an analysis of a game that is interesting from an artistic perspective or a concept from Game Studies, ex: game genres, theory concepts, etc. or an analysis considering in general the artistic level of computer games.)

2) Art of Games project in at least 2 standard pages.

1 standard page = 1800 characters including spaces. Deadline: 31.7.2014

The resulting grad will take into consideration the analysis (40%), project (40%) and attendance (20%).

Course web page:
http://cas.famu.cz/gameart/
Note:

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Further information:
No schedule has been prepared for this course
The subject is a part of the following study plans:
Generated on 2015-06-16