1. To introduce students to the study of games from a variety of academic perspectives. 2. To introduce students to the specificity of video games as a particular media text, media audience, and media industry. 3. To encourage students to widen their knowledge of media forms and industries through video game culture and the contexts in which we make sense of them. 4. To introduce students to key concepts, theories, and debates related to the study of video games.

(LO1) Students will be able to describe key concepts and theories related to the study of video games.

(LO2) Students will be able to explain the different aesthetic, social, political and industrial contexts of video games.

(LO3) Students will be able to report on key aspects and institutions of the video game industry.

(LO4) Students will be able to identify features of a game's design that are particularly relevant to or revealing of its context as media object.

(S1) Organisational skills

(S2) Communication skills

(S3) IT skills

(S4) International awareness

In order to explore the phenomenon of video game culture the module is organised around three interrelated blocks of study each with a particular emphasis and approach to studying, analysing, and theorising games as a form of interactive digital media. Block 1: The Video Game Text In the first block we will approach the video game through textual analysis and consider how the 'game world' is constructed textually and formally as a particular digital aesthetic, one also related to ideology and representation. Indicative areas that we might explore in this section include: the nature of the game as virtual, digital, and simulated image; the video game's specific organisation of temporal and spatial relations, for example soft boundaries and open worlds; key video game genres such as role playing games, first-person shooters, mobile puzzle games; issues in representation such as gender, sexuality and race. Block 2: The Video Game Player In the second block we will approa ch the video game player as a particular type of media audience. Indicative areas that we might explore in this section include: immersiveness, agency, embodiment, and interactivity; modding, participation, and fan cultures; video games and media effects; console gaming versus mobile gaming; casual gaming; technology and identity; dark play; gaming communities. Block 3: The Video Game Industry In the third block we will approach the video game industry as one of the fastest growing in global media; one that, unlike other global media industries, has a strong Japanese presence. Indicative areas that we might explore in this section include: video game history; the Japanese global games industry; the difference between publishers and developers; convergence and synergy; the console wars; company case studies; gamification; games in relation to media globalisation; the military-entertainment complex.

Teaching Method 1 - : 1hr lecture
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2 -1hr seminar
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 3 - Online or office-based one-to-ones available at student request during specific timetabled slots each week.
Attendance Recorded: No