USC CTIN 309 Introduction to Interactive Entertainment
International Game Developers Association
Introduction to Interactive Entertainment USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 309
| Games Education |
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| Course |
Contents |
Teachers
Instructors
Course Background Information
Location
University of Southern California
Classification
Primary classification:
Game History
Secondary classification:
Game Criticism
Game theory
Student background needed
Talk about what educational background students need, if any
Course prerequisites
(describe the course's prerequisites in terms of skills that students need to know)
Time periods
Fall semester course:
- One class a week
- Thursdays 10AM – 12:50PM
Course Structure
Course description
Digital games and interactive media are exciting new forms of entertainment that have changed the way that we live, work and play. By their nature, they are experimental forms that deal with questions of engagement, authorship, narrative and the changing relationship between the makers and consumers of media. Understanding the nature of interactive entertainment, its history, properties, practices and potential will make us more literate players, more empowered users and consumers, and more articulate designers of future interactive entertainment products.
It is the goal of this class to give students the historical perspective and critical vocabulary by which they can analyze and understand their own experiences with interactive entertainment, as well as imagine and articulate their own ideas for interactive experiences. The class will consist of a combination of lecture, demonstrations and play of seminal works, in-class exercises, discussions, and critical writing assignments.
Course learning objectives
Students will:
- Be exposed to the history of games and interactive entertainment, game genres, seminal works and significance of various landmarks in the evolution of interactive entertainment.
- Learn and use an aesthetic vocabulary for understanding and analyzing games and interactive entertainment and their formal, dramatic and dynamic elements.
- Engage with cultural perspectives on games and their place in human societies and groups, both historical and current.
- Gain a clear understanding of interactivity and a working vocabulary of interactive principles and techniques.
- Understand the relationship of interactive entertainment to other forms of art and media such as film and television.
- Identify the issues that challenge the designers and users of interactive entertainment in terms of technology, art and industry.
Week by week topics
Week 1: Introduction/Overview
Presentation: Why study games and interactivity? Interactive entertainment as technology, business, art & entertainment. Overview of the course and assignments.
In-Class Game: Werewolf
Assignment: Design journals
Week 2: Origins of Interactive Entertainment
Presentation: MIT TMRC, Space War, Pong, Arcades & early console games. PC games, the Crash & rebirth of video games.
In-Class Games: Spacewar, Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork, Pong (download zip file)
Reading:
Hamlet on the Holodeck, Janet Murray
§ From Additive to Expressive Form
§ Hamlet on the Holodeck?
Week 3: Playing with Machines
Presentation: The mysterious relationship between play, rules, software and fun. Procedural thinking, literacy and digital models for interactivity.
In-Class Exercise: Playing with code; the game loop.
Reading:
Beginning Game Programming in C++
§ Chapter 1
Week 4: Virtual Spaces
Presentation: Intro to computer graphics. Human-computer interfaces, evolution of virtual spaces. The magic circle. Designing complex systems and “infinite” possibility spaces. Virtual reality.
In-Class Games: Super Mario Bros., Asteroids, Battlezone, Doom
Reading:
The Ultimate Display, Ivan Sutherland
Allegories of Space, Espen Aarseth
Week 5: Participation and Engagement
Presentation: The role of the user in interactive entertainment. Structuring participation for player interaction. Suspension of disbelief, agency and authorship in interactive entertainment.
In Class Screening: The Game
Due: Design Journal #1
Reading:
Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga
§ Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon
Man, Play and Games, Roger Callois
§ The Definition of Play
Week 6: Characters and Controls
Presentation: Who am I? The relationships between avatar and player; character and avatar. Empathy, action and control.
In-Class Games: Second Life, World of Warcraft, Halo II, The Sims 2
Assignment: Paper #1
Reading:
Hamlet on the Holodeck, Janet Murray
§ Eliza’s Daughters
Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Richard Bartle
§ Players Who Suit MUDs
Week 7: Conflict
Presentation: Competition, challenge, obstacles and opponents and the composition of conflict. Games as a dramatic medium. Violence vs. conflict. Violent games, first person shooters. Alternate models for conflict and challenge.
In-Class Games: New Games, Theater Games
Reading:
The New Games Book
§ It Began with World War IV
The Well-Played Game, Bernie DeKoven
§ Chapter One: Talking about What We’re Looking For
§ Chapter Two: The Guidelines
Week 8: Uncertainty and Narrative
Presentation: Games telling stories? Stories in games? The paradoxical relationship and ongoing feud between games and narrative.
Due: Paper #1
In-Class Games: Ironclad, Surrealist Games
Reading:
Rules of Play, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
§ Narrative Play
§ Ironclad
A Book of Surrealist Games
§ Exquisite Corpse
§ Instructions for Use
Week 9: Genre in Interactive Entertainment
Presentation: Introduction to genre theory. Genre as a double-edged sword for the industry. Looking at game genres: play mechanics and their relationship to narrative. Analysis of popular genres and the “message” in their mechanics.
In-Class Games: Pole position, Madden, Myst, Warcraft II
Reading:
The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia, Bernard Suits
§ Death of the Grasshopper
§ Disciples
§ Construction of a Definition
Week 10: Designers vs. Directors
Presentation: Overview of the careers of several important designers: Shigeru Miyamoto, Richard Garriott, John Carmack and John Romero, Will Wright. Relationship of game designers to creative thinkers in other fields: writers, directors, architects and engineers.
In-Class Games: Ultima IV, SimCity, Zelda Windwaker, Quake
Reading:
Game Over, David Sheff
§ I, Mario
Dungeons and Dreamers, Brad King and John Borland
§ Together
§ Machines at Play
Week 11: Alternatives: Games without Boundaries
Presentation: Internet games, handheld devices, mobile games, alternate reality games, games that never end.
In-Class Games: Geocaching
Reading:
Ender’s Game
§ Chapters 1-8
Week 12: Alternatives: Serious Games
Presentation: Games with a message: documentary games, advergaming, games for learning & training, political games.
In-Class Games: September 12, Darfur is Dying, A Force More Powerful.
Due: Design Journal #2
Reading:
Ender’s Game
§ Chapters 9-15
Week 13: Alternatives: Location-based Interactivity
Presentation: Theme parks as an emerging venue for interactivity.
Class Field Trip: time/date tbd
Assignment: Paper #2
Reading:
Designing Interactive Theme Park Rides: Lessons from Disney's Battle for the Buccaneer Gold, Jesse Schell and Joe Shochet
Week 14: Thanksgiving Holiday – No Class Meeting
Week 15: Alternatives: Experimental and Independent Games
Presentation: Games outside the mainstreams of distribution and expectation. Gamelab, Indy Game Jam, Game Innovation Lab. Wrap-up discussion and course evaluation
In-Class Games: Game Jam Games, Cloud, Flow. Due: Paper #2
Reading:
Death to the Games Industry: Long Live Games, parts 1 & 2, Greg Costikyan
Course Materials & Facilities Used
Required Texts:
- Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card (available at most bookstores or at Amazon.com)
- A required course reader is available from the Magic Machine in University Village (Gate 1).
Syllabus
Analysis of learning methods
What worked
Please discuss what techniques worked well
What didn't work
Please discuss what techniques didn’t work as well as you had hoped
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