This course will examine contemporary trends in theorizing digital media with particular attention given to software and the video game as new media texts. The semester will be divided into two units. The first unit will address theories of code and software. We will discuss the concept of “software studies” in relation to traditional media studies, and investigate how code and software can be examined as aesthetic and political texts. Through an examination of code and semiotics, software and ideology, and critiques of particular software programs, we will lay a theoretical foundation for the investigation of our second unit: video games. Following the rise of the “serious game movement” we will investigate the emergence of political games, persuasive games, simulation games, newsgames, art games, etc., in relation to the theoretical Concepts we developed while analyzing Software and code.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Ultimate ARG

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/garden/12puzzle.html?_r=1&ref=style&oref=slogin

This is a NYTimes article about a 5th avenue apartment that gets converted into a sort of "game" without the client's knowledge, where clues, riddle, and puzzles are imbedded into the house almost like a computer mystery game or an online ARG. Check out the slideshow (my favorite is the door knockers that combine into a crank which opens a hidden apartment) for some examples, but when I see this I just can't help feel that this is reality imitating old games like "Myst".

Posted by Jason The Lee at 4:38 PM

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