Genre vs. Game Type - Week 4

Week four in Great Literature Great Games is more of a synthesis week than anything.  While our notes centered around the different types of video games (FPS, Action, Platformer, etc.) and genre, our discussion moved towards the conventions that specify literature and games into specific genres. 

We focused on Post-Apocalyptic and Western genre this week.  Playing the games Fallout 3, Metro 2033 and Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, students were able to identify the conventions that qualify these games in the post-apocalyptic genre.  With mentions of desolation, destruction, isolation, survival and despair, the students were able to see and interact with this world. 

Playing the games Red Dead Redemption, Call of Juarez, and Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, students were able to identify the conventions that qualify these games in the western genre.  With discussion of stock characters and long, sweeping landscapes, students were able to interact with the world of the western genre. 

Classroom Practice: Read the short stories "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and give students time to identify what conventions make these stories uniquely post-apocalyptic and uniquely western.  After a short discussion and analysis of the stories, allow the students time to play the games mentioned above.  Are the same conventions present in the games that were present in the stories?  How are they used differently/similarly? 

Stay tuned for my Week 4 reflection!  And feel free to comment below.