ATS2280 - Video games: Industry and culture - 2017

Video games have become a major media industry, generating large revenues and exerting an ongoing impact on older media forms. From game consoles to social media platforms to mobile devices, they account for an increasing share of media experience and have taken a central place in a number of key debates about the role of media, from issues of gender and violence to addiction and the nature of art.

This unit will introduce the field of Games Studies by discussing a number of key debates, themes and theories concerning the operation of the games industry; the experience of gaming; the cultural impact of games; and games' relationship with other, older media forms.

Upon successful completion of the unit students will have acquired:

1. a familiarity with video games as an object of academic investigation;
2. an ability to draw upon experiences of gaming in order to develop new perspectives on the role of media in society and everyday life;
3. an ability to critically engage with current debates about ethical and other dimensions of game playing;
4. an ability to think critically about game playing and communicate the results of this critical thinking in appropriate scholarly language.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Daniel Black

Communications and media studies

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.