TIM_BK_025 Game Studies

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Bc. Silvester Buček (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Jana Horáková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Bc. Silvester Buček
Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Jitka Leflíková
Supplier department: Department of Musicology – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Ability to read written texts in English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/100, only registered: 0/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The lecture on game studies aims to acquaint students with the main areas of computer game research. Although gaming studies are a young scientific discipline (their origin is usually placed until 2001), there have been several steady streams of research that we will imagine during the course (including game narratology, psychological, feminist and ideological research, game philosophy, game aesthetics, etc.).
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
- characterize the historical development of thinking about computer games and the gradual historical phases of the emergence of this medium;
- define and analyze basic specific elements of computer game media;
- use key concepts developed and applied in the field of gaming studies (eg immersion, flow, procedural rhetoric, etc.);
- analyze computer game media from several general scientific perspectives (game psychology, philosophy, aesthetics, narratology, ideology research)
Syllabus
  • History of computer games:
  • - media development from the 1950s to the present
  • - relationship between computer and classic games
  • - development of game genres
  • - intertextual and intermediate relations and influences
  • - the cultural status and legitimization of the games
  • What is (computer) game + creation of game studios:
  • - definition of games
  • - game philosophy (Huizinga, Caillois, Sutton-Smith, Sicart, etc.)
  • - the emergence of game studios and their areas of interest
  • - ludology vs. narratology
  • Game Aesthetics - Game Elements and Their Effects on Players 1:
  • - game mechanics
  • - flow
  • - immersion
  • - gaming space
  • - the visual aspect of the games
  • - kinesthetics of games
  • Game aesthetics - elements of games and their effects on players 2
  • - narace
  • - procedural rhetoric
  • - self-reflection of games
  • - avatar
  • - Game themes
  • Technology, production, distribution
  • - game economics, games as industry
  • - AAA games vs. independent games
  • - history of gaming technology
  • - institutional history
  • Research (culture and psychology) of players:
  • - psychology, sociology, (auto) ethnography of players
  • - gaming typology
  • - the question of addiction
  • - positive cognitive and therapeutic effects of games
  • - MMO games as a specific phenomenon
  • - game paratext and gaming fan practices (letsplay, cheating, etc.)
  • Games and society
  • - Representation of minorities and gender in games
  • - violence and war games
  • - Games and history representation
  • - political, educational and generally serious games
Literature
    required literature
  • Gee, James Paul. Are videogames good for learning? Konference Curriculum Corporation, Adelaide, 2006.
  • Yee, Nick. Proteus Paradox: How Online Games and Virtual Worlds Change Us – And How They Don’t. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014. – 2. kapitola: Who Plays and Why
  • Kerr, Aphra. „Space Wars: The Politics of Games Production in Europe“. In: Aslinger, Ben – Huntemann, Nina (eds.). Gaming Globally: Production, Place, and Space. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  • Bogost, I. 2006. Comparative Video Game Criticism. In Games And Culture 2006 1:41.
  • Murray, J. 1999. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  • Jesper Juul: Half-real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005. – 5. kapitola: Rules and Fiction
  • Nieborg, D. 2009. Political Economy of Video Games. (disertace)
  • Jenkins, H. 2004. Game Design as Narrative Architecture in Wardrip-Fruin, N. – Pat Harrigan (eds.) First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, Game. Cambridge: MIT Press. http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/games&narrative.html.
    recommended literature
  • Newman, J. 2004. Video Games. London: Routledge.
  • Frasca, G. 2003. Ludologists love stories, too: notes from a debate that never took place.
  • Aarseth, E. 1997. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Chaplin, H. – Ruby, A. 2006. Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution. New York: Algonquin Books.
  • Lakoff, G. - Johnson, M. 2002. Metafory, kterými žijeme. Brno: Host.
  • Friedman, T. 1999. Semiotics of Sim City. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_4/friedman/index.html
  • Caillois, R. 1998. Hry a lidé. Praha: Nakladatelství studia Ypsilon.
  • Gee, J. P. 2005. Why video games are good for your soul: pleasure and learning. Altona: Common Ground Publishing.
  • Poole, S. 2004. Trigger Happy. London: Fourth Estate.
  • Bogost, I. 2008. Persuasive Games. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  • Rossignol, J. 2008. This Gaming Life. Digital Culture Books.
  • Murray, Janet. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998. – kapitola 2: From Additive to Expressive Form
  • Bogost, I. 2006. Unit Operations. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  • Kennedy, H. 2002. Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo. On the Limits of Textual Analysis, in Game Studies 02/2002. http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/kennedy/ (k dispozici je i český překlad)
  • Ebert, R. Game vs. Art. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070721/COMMENTARY/70721001
  • Williams, D. 2006. A Brief Social History Of Gameplay. In in Vorderer, P. – Bryant, J. (eds.) Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. dmitriwilliams.com/WilliamsSocHist.doc
  • Bogost, I. 2006. Unit Operations. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  • Klevjer, R. 2008. Avatar. (disertace). http://folk.uib.no/smkrk/docs/RuneKlevjer_What%20is%20the%20Avatar_finalprint.pdf
  • Fernandéz-Vara, C. 2008. Shaping Players Experience in Adventure Games. (nepublikováno)
  • Článek o Everquest: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1899420.stm
  • Eskelinen, M. 2001. The Gaming Situation, in Game Studies 01/2001. www.gamestudies.org/0101/eskelinen.
  • Bogost, Ian. „The Rhetoric of Video Games“. In: Salen, Katie (ed.). Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008.
  • Lee, K. M. – Peng, W. 2006. What Do We Know About Social and Psychological Effects of Computer Games? A Comprehensive Review of the Current Literature in Vorderer, P. – Jennings, B. (eds.) 2006) Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses and Consequences. N
  • Úryvky z knihy Grand Theft Childhood: http://www.grandtheftchildhood.com/GTC/Excerpts/Excerpts.html
  • Galloway, A. R. 2006. Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press.
  • Huizinga, J. 2000. Homo ludens: o původu kultury ve hře. Praha: Dauphin.
  • Hawisher, G. - Selfe, C. (eds.) Gaming Lives In the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections,
  • Lowood, H. 2006. A Brief Biography Of Computer Games. In in Vorderer, P. – Bryant, J. (eds.) Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Tolkien, J.R.R. On fairy stories.
  • Juul, J. 2007. A Certain Level of Abstraction. In Situated Play: DiGRA 2007 Conference Proceedings, Baba, A., ed. DiGRA Japan.
  • Csíkszentmihályi, M. 1991. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper.
  • Hunicke, M. et al. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research.
  • Lamoureux, M. 8-Bit Primitive: A Hommage to Atari 2600 in Compton, S. (ed.) 2004. Gamers. New York: Soft Skull Press.
  • Levy, S. 1984. Hackers. New York: Double Day.
  • Lowood, H. 2005. High Performance Play: The Making Of Machinima in Clarke, A. – Mitchell, G. (eds.). Videogames and Art. Bristol: Intellect.
  • Juul, J. 2005. Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Teaching methods
Lecture combined with discussions on the topics covered and compulsory reading. During the course, students are required to continuously read the required literature and prepare for class discussions.
Assessment methods
Students are evaluated on the basis of text from 8 to 10 standard pages - it can be either a more general consideration of some of the topics discussed during the semester (eg feminist analysis of games, history of RPG genre, game specifics of space work, etc.) specific game chosen by the student. The text will be evaluated from formal aspects (work with resources, style), argumentation (its logic and persuasiveness) and originality of its own observations. The text should demonstrate the ability of the student to critically apply the theoretical knowledge presented during the lecture.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Note related to how often the course is taught: 8 hodin výuka, 8 hodin konzultace.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 80 hodin výuky/semestr.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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