Emerging Media Thoughts

Tuesday we will continue our discussion of digital games and look at two articles which address the question of how simulation differs from other forms of representation and what it means to “play a character.” Read “Playing the Bad Guy” (eReserve) and “Representation, Enaction, and the Ethics of Simulation” (First Person). Come prepared to discuss violence and the ethics of making and playing video games.

Thursday we will continue with our discussion of Grand Theft Auto. Find an example (either online, or from one of your own personal experience) of players doing something interesting/creative/different with one of the GTA games. Come prepared to talk about this example.

Tuesday we will begin by discussing the Moulthrop piece from First Person (”From Work to Play”). If you have not already read it for last Thursday’s class do so, and come prepared to explain why, according to Moulthrop, there is such a generational conflict/angst about video games.

We will also begin our discussion of Grand Theft Auto, so play GTA (San Andreas) for at least 3 hours before Tuesday.

Note: Tuesday your one page proposal for your final project is also due.

Thursday we will continue our discussion of the relationship between storytelling and digital games by adding two additional perspectives to this question. Read “Narrative, Interactivity, Play and Games” by Eric Zimmerman and “From Work to Play” by Stuart Moulthrop. Both are available in First Person. Also you should begin to think about your final project, as Tuesday your proposal will be due. If you missed class you can download the Final Project Guidelines.

After spring break we will turn to discussing games and narrative. For Tues. March 24th read “Game Design as Narrative Architecture” by Henry Jenkins & “Towards Computer Game Studies” by Markku Eselinen. Both are in First Person. (See you after the break.)

Thursday we will continue our discussion of Inanimate Alice. So, if you half already finished all four sections, no worries just come to class, if not read/veiw all four sections by Thursday’s class.

Tuesday we will finish up with the groups discussing/presenting on the stories from We Tell Stories and begin looking at Inanimate Alice. You need to read/view Episodes 1-4, this will take roughly an hour to do (each episode is progressively longer), so make sure you plan enough time for every episode.

Second, each group should edit the class wiki with the paragraph from your story, and bonus wiki points (added to your wiki grade) if you edit the Wikipedia entry on We Tell Stories and get is to “stick” (i.e. to not be deleted).

We will be talking about We Tell Stories and 217 Babel Street on Thursday. You do not need to read all of the stories, instead you need to read only the one you were assigned in class. Spend time reading, and rereading whichever work you were assigned, as you along with the 2-3 others who were also assigned the story will be responsible for telling the group what is important about your assigned piece. Hint: You might want to check out the “classic” on which the story is based in order to better understand what the author was trying to accomplish. (Note: If you were not in class you need to email me to get a story assigned.)

For Tuesday you should read Implementation. You might want to start by reading the project description and then reading the Installments (linked to from the home page). Also you should look at some of the photos by location as they will give you a sense of how this story unfolds in physical space.

Second, take a look at Bloomsday on Twitter. At the end of this article are links to a series of Twitter feeds for the characters, you should take a look at a few of them to get the sense of what was being done.

Note: As I said in class the “A4″ sections of Implementation are the same as the letters, just formated for A4 paper (i.e. in the first case read “#1 Letter” but skip the A4 as it just repeats the same content for a different printer style).

Thursday we will be talking about collaboratively authored works. First up is A Million Penguins a wiki novel. You should begin by reading the About page to give you a sense of the project, and then read Section 1 (you only need to read Section 1 for class—the entire thing would require to much time). When you have finished reading Section 1 you should check out some of the supplementary material such as the blog. Also make sure to read this short article on the project, and finally read this article from Wired Magazine that talks more generally about crowdsourcing writing.

Second, we will also look at FlightPaths. You should read the Prologue, the About page, and Chapter 1.