106111 - HISTORY AND INDUSTRY OF VIDEO GAMES

Subject type: Basic

Coordinator: Adso Fernández Baena

Trimester: First term

Credits: 6

The subject of History and Industry of Video Games (6 ECTS) is a first approach to the multidisciplinary, cultural and historical aspects of video games, within the framework of the subject of Game Design and Creation. It works from the historical perspective of the video game, the players / users, the companies and the social and cultural contexts where they are broadcast. The course consists of theoretical sessions, video viewing and co-production of knowledge from the constant interaction between teacher and students. To achieve the knowledge, the subject evaluates on the one hand the theoretical knowledge and the attitude and participation of individual way and, on the other, the capacity to work in group. 

This subject has methodological and digital resources to make possible its continuity in non-contact mode in the case of being necessary for reasons related to the Covid-19. In this way, the achievement of the same knowledge and skills that are specified in this teaching plan will be ensured.

At the end of the course students must be able to:

• E1.1: Describe the history of interactive products and video games, as well as their typology and aesthetics.
• E1.2: Contextualize a game in the historical and cultural frame of reference.
• E1.3: Differentiate the different genres, as well as the different generations of consoles.
• E1.4: Get to know the main programmers and manufacturers in the history of interactive products from all over the world, Spain and Catalonia.
• E1.5: Analyze the various profiles required by the video game industry.
• E1.6: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a video game in a reasoned and exemplified way.

The course uses the following working methodologies: lectures, presentations, video capsules, case studies, research and critical reading of articles. 

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the subject will be taught in online teaching mode in theory hours, and in face-to-face teaching mode in practice hours.

Topic 1. Introduction. What is a game and what is play?

1.1 Play and games

1.2 The game, society, culture.

Subject 2. Methodologies and historiographical criteria

2.1 Criteria: mechanics, genres, technology, industry, authors.

2.2 Archaeogaming.

2.3 Platform Studies.

Item 3. Preservation

3.1 Strategies and criteria

3.2 Agents. Museums and heritage

3.3 Failures and rarities

Item 4. Ancestors of the video game

4.1 Board games, popular and analog

4.2 Mechanical and electromechanical games

4.3 Visual toys

4.4 Computer experiments

Topic 5. Beginnings of the video game

5.1 Before Pong

5.2 The Golden Age of Arcade

5.3 First systems

5.4 The American crash

Item 6. The 8 and 16 bits

6.1 Japan: Sega, Nintendo and others

6.2 Microcomputers

6.3 The video game on PC. The graphic adventure

6.4 3D primers

Item 7. From 3D to online play

7.1 The arrival of PlayStation

7.2 The online jump

7.3 The indie boom

7.4 The casual revolution

Item 8. History of the video game in Spain

8.1 Home

8.2 Relevant games and figures

8.3 The myth of the Golden Age

8.4 Distribution in Spain

8.5 Co-productions and international presence

Subject 9. History of the culture of the game

9.1 Players and communities

9.2 Magazines and specialized journalism

9.3 History of game studies

Item 10. History of VR

10.1 First concepts and experiments

10.2 The 90s. Ambitions and failures

10.3 Implementation. A new screen?

In order to gather evidence of the achievement of the expected learning outcomes, the following evaluative activities will be carried out:

A1. Group work: Video summary (Evidence of E1.2 and E1.6 learning outcomes) 

Production and presentation by teams of a video about a video game creator / programmer. The video will summarize in a maximum time of 3 minutes the basic contributions about a character related to the world of video games. 

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay (Evidence of learning outcomes E1.2 and E1.6) 

Students will be required to write an essay following the basic rules of academic publications, and on a topic related to the historical contexts of the video game industry. 

A3. Exercises at home: Reading articles and critical summary (Evidence of learning outcomes E1.2, E1.5, and E1.6) 

Reading about two articles / academic works that will be proposed in class and must be read in a schedule outside the classroom. After reading it, the student must submit a personal critique of each of the texts on the Tecnocampus Intranet. 

A4. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student (Evidence of all learning outcomes) 

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented.

A5. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject (Evidence of all learning outcomes) 

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented.

General criteria of the activities:

- The teacher will present a statement for each activity and the evaluation and / or rubric criteria.
- The teacher will inform of the dates and format of the delivery of the activity.

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the activities will be adapted. The adaptation will be as follows:

A1. Group work: Video summary (Evidence of E1.2 and E1.6 learning outcomes) 

Production and presentation by teams of a video about a video game creator / programmer. The video will summarize in a maximum time of 3 minutes the basic contributions about a character related to the world of video games. Group tutorials can be done online whenever necessary and delivery will also be online.

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay (Evidence of learning outcomes E1.2 and E1.6) 

Students will be required to write an essay following the basic rules of academic publications, and on a topic related to the historical contexts of the video game industry. Tutorials can be done online whenever necessary and delivery will also be online.

A3. Exercises at home: Reading articles and critical summary (Evidence of learning outcomes E1.2, E1.5, and E1.6) 

Reading about two articles / academic works that will be proposed in class and must be read in a schedule outside the classroom. After reading it, the student must submit a personal critique of each of the texts on the Tecnocampus Intranet. Tutorials can be done online whenever necessary and delivery will also be online.

A4. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student (Evidence of all learning outcomes) 

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented. The exam will be presented with the assessment tools of the virtual campus.

A5. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject (Evidence of all learning outcomes) 

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented. The exam will be presented with the assessment tools of the virtual campus.

General criteria of the activities:

- The teacher will present a statement for each activity and the evaluation and / or rubric criteria.
- The teacher will inform of the dates and format of the delivery of the activity.

The grade of each student will be calculated following the following percentages:

A1. Group work: Video summary 20%

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay 20%

A3. Exercises at home: Reading articles and critical summary 20%

A4. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student 20%

A5. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject 20%

Final grade = A1 x 0,2 + A2 x 0,2 + A3 x 0,2 + A4 x 0,2 + A5 x 0,2

Considerations:
- It is necessary to obtain a mark superior to 5 in the final exam to pass the asignatura.
- An activity not delivered or delivered late and without justification (court summons or medical matter) counts as a 0.
- It is the responsibility of the student to avoid plagiarism in all its forms. In the case of detecting a plagiarism, regardless of its scope, in some activity it will correspond to have a note of 0. In addition, the professor will communicate to the Head of Studies the situation so that measures applicable in matter of sanctioning regime are taken. .

Recovery:

• It is necessary to obtain a mark superior to 5 in the final exam of recovery to pass the asignatura.
• The mark of the resit exam will be equivalent to the final mark.
• In case of passing the recovery, the maximum final mark of the subject will be 7.

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the evaluation system will be as follows:

A1. Group work: Video summary 20%

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay 20%

A3. Exercises at home: Reading articles and critical summary 20%

A4. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student 20%

A5. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject 20%

Final grade = A1 x 0,2 + A2 x 0,2 + A3 x 0,2 + A4 x 0,2 + A5 x 0,2

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