Week 6: Games and interactive stories

Intro/Recap of Last Week

Tuesday 3/2

READ:

“Unmanned: a video game about the unseen horror of drone warfare” and Play a bit of the game discussed in the article

WATCH AND COMPLETE:

Like I mentioned in the video above, since games are something many students have experience with, I like to start with your thoughts and then craft my comments on how DH uses games and interactive fiction to match. Post your responses to 2 of the 3 discussion topics below. NOTE: If any of the links below aren’t working for you, just go to the course D2L site, choose “Discussions” from the top menu, then scroll down to the “games” section and choose the relevant topic)

Topic 1: In your experience, how does a story change when we experience it as a game? How does the experience of a story in a game compare to a book or a movie?

Topic 2: Besides telling stories, what social or cultural functions do games serve? In other words, why do you think people play games? Why do they talk about them with each other, or even make them part of their identity?

Topic 3: Why do you think the author of “Unmanned” decided to use a game to comment on Drone Warfare? What advantages does this form of storytelling give the author? How might it have helped him to make the social commentary he wanted to make?

I will read your responses and think about them as I compose video mini-lectures for Thursday. See you then!

Thursday 3/4

READ:

“The Center for Midnight”

WATCH:

I’ve got two short video lectures today, chock full of stuff for you to respond to in your blog posts! The first responds to your thoughts about games, and explains how DH scholars use games and interactive stories.

The next video discusses interactive stories where authors interact with algorithmic co-authors, like “The Center for Midnight” linked to above.

Remember we’ll meet as a class on Zoom next Tuesday, and don’t forget to complete your blog posts by Friday night! See you next week!

Blog Post Six Due by 11:59pm Friday 3/5