Why We Play!

As I watched my daughter carve her first pumpkin over the weekend, I couldn't help but notice her intense focus and determination to make perfect cuts around the eyes and nose.  While her pumpkin ended up looking a little cross-eyed and lopsided, she was certainly happy with the outcome; she clapped and grinned sheepishly as we lit tea candles and turned out the lights.  However, as I watched her carve, I realized that she was simply playing.  She had never carved a pumpkin before; this was all trial and error for her.  But when she started playing, with no real consequences in mind, she created a product that she was proud of.

Similar situations NEED to be presented in our classrooms!  In his article "Why We Play: How Our Desire for Games Shapes our World", Ben Reeves discusses why people of all ages are attracted to playing video games and how that attraction affects the real world.  He goes on to mention three "invisible needs" that people have that explains their desire for play: the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. 

While I do provide my students with opportunities to play video games in my classroom, all teachers can find a way to "gamify" their classrooms to reach the needs of their students. And, moreover, these are the needs that drive much of the real world. 

In the end, Reeves says, "When used correctly, video games hold the potential to show us the world through a different set of lenses - to craft experiences that engage both cognitively and socially and ultimately make us feel like an active participant in shaping our destiny".  This sounds exactly like what I want my students to do everyday...to feel like they are a participant in shaping their destiny. 

To read Reeves' full article "Why We Play: How Our Desire for Games Shapes our World" go to www.gameinformer.com. 

Teaching with Games: The New Literature

"To be Mario or not to be Mario.  That is the question!"

Reflecting on the Great Literature Great Games summer course I taught this year, I have come to some very interesting conclusions about my own teaching and education in general. 

• Video Games are the new literature! - While the majority of my students took my summer class because they liked to play video games, I found that they enjoyed spending time reading games as text.  In most cases, the students were more critical of character and story development in the games we played in class than they were of the literature we read in the class. 
• Flipped Classrooms Work! - Meeting with my students face-to-face only twice a week, with all other work being done online in forums, I felt that the discussions and analysis we had in class was much richer.  Students came to class to apply what they had learned from the previous day's online assignments. 
• Video Games are a Part of the Culture of this Generation! - Whether we like it or not, this generation reaches out to video games more than any generation before them.  With social gaming, online gaming, and console gaming all competing for the attention of kids, it's no wonder that they would rather talk about games than literature.  And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing! 

In the end, this was an amazing course and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to teach it.  My students this summer were wonderful and the overall objectives of the class were met beyond my expectations. 

Stay tuned for more about teaching with games. 

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.

The Hero's Journey - Week 3

The Hero's Journey

Week 3 in Great Literature Great Games is focused on an intense study of Narrative Paradigm and Archetypes.  While planning for this class, a college professor friend and I had many discussions about games and their ability to tell stories.  Through our conversations, we found ourselves referencing Walter Fisher's work with narrative paradigm; we ultimately decided that games, just like literature, are mediums through which people tell their stories.  The problem, from a teacher's perspective at least, is does the game story have as much "merit" as traditional literature and, furthermore, who determines its merit? 

By examining Joseph Cambell's Hero Journey archetype, students were able to put a framework on the games that they were playing in class.  While it was easy to assume that game designers, because of their excellent creativity, develop stories out of thin air, it was even easier for my students to see how game designers start with archetypes such as the Hero's Journey and populate their games with archetypal characters.  Going even deeper, my students discussed how games, because of their interactivity, have the ability to go beyond the archetype's structure and add layers that traditional literature just cannot. 

Classroom Practice: Consider the PSN downloadable game Journey or the PS3 game Resistance 3 as prime examples of games that follow the archetypal situation of the long journey home.  With this game in mind, students could examine how closely the game follows that structure and how the characters reflect the story.  (Resistance 3 is an "M" rated game.)

Stay tuned for more literature and game discussion! 

Great Literature Great Games - Week 2 Reflection

After our second week, students are really beginning to think about how video games incorporate some of the same literary "stuff" that they are used to studying.  While in studying traditional literature we talk about character development differently, video games offer a whole new way of observing character development.

Most of the notes for this week's class come from Character Development and Storytelling For Games by Lee Sheldon.  In this text book, Sheldon highlights some of the major ways game developers handle character and story development in games.  While the book is pretty straightforward, I used video clips of new games in the power point presentations to show the students how the notes relate to some more recent games.

I allowed a bit more time this week to focus on game play because I wanted the students to have enough time to really dive into the game and connect with the characters.  We focused our attention on Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, L.A. Noir, and Uncharted 3.  Students kept game play logs with focus questions in order to focus their game play on analysis of the characters.

The reflection essays were both varied and thoughtful.  Here are a few excerpts from this week's reflection essays:

"...we can learn a lot about a character from more than just what he says and how he says it...Drawing clues from how a character looks and what they choose to surround themselves with is an important part of gameplay.  In this age of high-tech and extremely realistic graphics and movement, the smallest details can be important."

"...one can build believable characters not only by using techniques from literature and other forms of fiction, but by taking advantage of the potential of video games to tell a narrative in ways that other media cannot.  A video game by its very nature requires the play to be sympathetic to the player character's difficulties, usually physical, but also emotional."

"The two most important things for a [video game] character are its sociological and physical attributes because it really brings out the character more because it resembles a real person more."

At the end of the week, I believe my students have a better understanding of characterization and how character development is just as important in interactive fiction and storytelling as it is in traditional literature. As we look forward, we will focus on storytelling and narrative theory and discuss how characterization and character development plays a part in the development of story in video games.

Stay tuned!  

Defining "Character" in Video Games

Game Informer - 30 Characters Who Defined a Generation

Week 2 in our Great Literature Great Games class is centered around Character.  As in literature, video games develop characters with many different dimensions in order for the player to feel connected and immersed in the fictional world.  While some characters are cliche and fall flat, other characters are well rounded and are presented with unique physical and psychological characteristics, back story, and deep connections to the world around them.

Our focus question for this week is: How do video games develop characters?  (What are the similarities and differences to traditional literature?)

This week, students will be researching a variety of reviews on video games they have selected and posting discussions about how those reviewers analyze and comment on character in the game.  Additionally, students are creating their own video game characters with unique physical, sociological, and psychological characteristics.

During our game play sessions, students are analyzing character development through the games Heavy Rain, Uncharted 3, Alan Wake, and L.A. Noir.  Students, while playing, will track and analyze the physical, sociological, and psychological dimensions of the characters and determine how much "interactivity" plays in the development of the game characters.  Students will also determine if game play affects how much a player connects with the character. 

At the end of the week, students will write their unit reflection that synthesizes their knowledge of character development in games and literature.

Classroom Practice: Allow students to create their own video game characters that have specific physical, sociological, and psychological characteristics.  Students can present these characters to the class for discussion. 

Stay tuned for updates! 

Picture Link: www.gameinformer.com/p/decade.aspx

Great Literature Great Games - Week One Reflection

Unit 1 of the Great Literature Great Games summer class focused on stereotypes, myths, and the culture of video games.  Our work revolved round the following essential questions:

        Are video games art?

       Are video games literature?

       Are video games educational?

While the conversation in class was varied and rich, students conducted interviews with community members, friends, and relatives to help them answer these questions.  Additionally, after playing Journey, Flower, Child of Eden, and Lost in Shadow, students were able to apply their opinions to these interesting games.  Below are some excerpts from their weekly reflection papers:

“If a [game] designer is able to combine all elements of a game (narrative, aesthetic and sound design, game play elements, etc.) into a cohesive product that is, in turn, more than the sum of its parts, that is what truly make a game an art form.”

“…video games excellently illustrate how significant a protagonist’s choices are.”

“Video games can teach you about many different things…in Angry Birds [for example] you never flick [the bird] the same way twice; you adapt and learn to either go a little higher or a little lower.”

Classroom Practice: Determine, as a class, a working definition for art, literature and education.  Play several video games and allow students some time to analyze and discuss if those games fit the definitions you developed as a group. 

The second week of Great Literature Great Games will focus on character development in games and the similarities and differences to traditional literature.

Stay tuned!