Critical Game Studies

The Philosophy, Art, and Social Influence of games
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saturnfan
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by saturnfan »

I have always been interested in this type of study but just assumed it didn't really exist. Thanks for the links, so far I am really liking the first website you posted.
Mr.James
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by Mr.James »

saturnfan wrote:I have always been interested in this type of study but just assumed it didn't really exist. Thanks for the links, so far I am really liking the first website you posted.
Videogame studies are popular in the Bay Area-California...
dsheinem
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by dsheinem »

I got to lecture on the subject of Game Studies to my class tonight, which was a fun experience. I had them play a variety of different games, talk about the possibility of games as argument, discussed how to study game related controversies, discussed some methods for critically analyzing games, etc. Good times. I record my lectures, so if you are at all interested I can shoot you a copy. Let me know.

Hell, if there's sufficient interest I might edit it into a podcast :lol:

Highlights:

-20 students simultaneously playing flash port of Doom, many poorly (only 2 had played it before).
-Various interpretations of "The Same Dream Every Day"
-Students laughing a Glenn Beck's presentation of GTA4 (
-A brief discussion of how and when games might become a "legitimate" form of political/cultural commentary or social change in line with film, music, etc.
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jfrost
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by jfrost »

You know, it's odd to watch a neocon such as Glenn Beck complain about videogames training kids to be killers. You'd think he would love that feature!
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J T
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by J T »

dsheinem wrote: -Various interpretations of "The Same Dream Every Day"
Normally, I'm not a stickler for these sort of things, but technically the game is called "Every Day The Same Dream." I only mention the correction because it's an important experimental game that is still obscure enough that some people might not know about it.

If someone reading this hasn't played it yet, I recommend you play it right now:

http://www.molleindustria.org/everydayt ... dream.html

and then comment in this thread:

http://racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... &sk=t&sd=a
My contributions to the Racketboy site:
Browser Games ... Free PC Games ... Mixtapes ... Doujin Games ... SotC Poetry
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Anapan
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by Anapan »

I'd be interested in a podcast of it.
Here's something I found the other day. Cartoon Overanalyzations has a videogame section (the rest of the site's pretty interesting too):
http://cartoonoveranalyzations.com/?cat=1970
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dsheinem
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by dsheinem »

Anapan wrote:I'd be interested in a podcast of it.
Here's something I found the other day. Cartoon Overanalyzations has a videogame section (the rest of the site's pretty interesting too):
http://cartoonoveranalyzations.com/?cat=1970
I gave it a listen this morning and I'm not really sure it is podcast material - too "lecturey" - definitions and explanations of terminology, ideas from earlier in the course, etc. I think it would be interesting to those who want to learn the basics of a critical approach to games (specifically as filtered through the interests of rhetorical theory and criticism), but probably not for a broader public audience (even if parts would be interesting). Perhaps I can share it privately with folks who are interested...if that's you, just PM me!
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alienjesus
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by alienjesus »

Thanks for the links to those sites ds, they're very helpful to me right now.

I'm a final year media degree student, and I'm struggling to come up with something for my dissertation topic (my previous idea fell through, there just wasn't enough to draw on for it). It needs to involve the way something is represented by the media (or the way the media itself is represented), which means I can basically write about anything. I figure write about what you know, so I'm trying to figure an interesting topic related to video games in some way. I need to come up with it quick though, I really should be researching it by this point :(

EDIT: also interested in that lecture.
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Erik_Twice
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by Erik_Twice »

Anapan wrote:Here's something I found the other day. Cartoon Overanalyzations has a videogame section (the rest of the site's pretty interesting too):
http://cartoonoveranalyzations.com/?cat=1970
They lost me when they claiemd that Bugs Bunny was a Jewish Stereotype.
Looking for a cool game? Find it in my blog!
Latest post: Often, games must be difficult
http://eriktwice.com/
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o.pwuaioc
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Re: Critical Game Studies

Post by o.pwuaioc »

Mr.James wrote:
saturnfan wrote:I have always been interested in this type of study but just assumed it didn't really exist. Thanks for the links, so far I am really liking the first website you posted.
Videogame studies are popular in the Bay Area-California...
Where here?
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