This course is an introduction to analyzing video games with a critical message. We’ll examine how video games craft particular arguments and create meaning in exchange with the player. Since video games are a multi-layered medium, we won’t limit ourselves to their narrative or visual level, but will also include game mechanics as processes. They for the so-called procedural rhetoric, i.e., video games’ particular mode of representation.
The focus will be especially on those games that convey a critical message. This doesn’t mean that we’re only dealing with particular forms of video games that are supposed to convey a particular message or teach values (like serious games or propaganda games). Rather, we focus on games as a form of art that tries to convey an argument (be it merely implicitly or explicitly).
The particular topic these games address are videogames and their surrounding issues. They are self-critical. This self-criticism can refer to the aesthetic (e.g., conventions and culture) as well as to the social dimension, (e.g., production and community) or its technology (e.g., hardware and software). This will be discussed on the basis of relevant examples from the medium of video games.
After a short introduction to game studies and critical games, we’ll mostly focus on the games themselves and their (self-critical) rhetoric.
The following games we’ll discuss (however, there might be some additions in the final course)
• Manual Samuel
• Superhot
• The Magic Circle
• Death Stranding
Anmelderegeln
Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "ELW/ALW/NELK: Aufbaumodul BA/LA: Cultural Studies".
Folgende Regeln gelten für die Anmeldung:
Diese Regel gilt von 01.03.2021 08:00 bis 05.04.2021 20:00. Die Anmeldung zu maximal 1 Veranstaltungen des Anmeldesets ist erlaubt.
Die Anmeldung ist möglich von 01.03.2021, 08:00 bis 05.04.2021, 20:00.
Es wird eine festgelegte Anzahl von Plätzen in den Veranstaltungen verteilt.
Die Plätze in den betreffenden Veranstaltungen wurden am 07.04.2021 um 08:00 verteilt. Weitere Plätze werden evtl. über Wartelisten zur Verfügung gestellt.