I thought the reading was interesting. At first I thought I was not going to understand a word because my knowledge of e-sports is nil. I did find it interesting how similar e-sports is to what people call real sports, like football and basketball. The athleticism, the practice, the scrutiny, the ego, etc. I really…
Course business
Response
by Skye •
The Orientalism and Abstraction in Eurogames irritated me, Cybertext left me complex, Games of Empire freaked me out, and How to do Things with Videogames was actually wonderful. The readings for this week, as you can tell, created a cluster of emotions. I had a watch A Clockwork Orange and Rosemary’s Baby to become centered…
Response
by Skye •
Response
by Skye •
I surprisingly enjoyed Millennial Monsters. My first thought of the book was I would not understand the appeal of toys and games like Pokémon and Digimon. As the author, in a chastising writing tone, writes how idiotic that someone cannot understand the joy that is Pokémon or Sailor Moon. Even though I was the right…
Week 6 To-Do
by Maggie Greene •
By Wednesday evening (2/18: also the eve of Spring Festival (春節), or the lunar new year! Happy lunar new year – 春節快樂!), please post a reading response for the essays. In addition (as with previous weeks), please select an image from the Art of Contest essays to discuss. I’ve posted a reading guide for the readings…
Week 4 To-Do
by Maggie Greene •
By Wednesday night (2/4), post a short reading response. In addition to responding to the written texts, please select at least one image to discuss briefly (we’ll talk about them more in class): pick an image you find interesting, illustrative of some historical trend, problematic, etc. The selections from The Games We Played & The Art of Contest are all image…
Week 3 To-Do/Notes on Reading Responses
by Maggie Greene •
By Wednesday night (1/28), post a short reading response for the Caillois. As I mentioned today, I was generally really pleased with everyone’s first efforts! But there’s always room for improvement, so I wanted to reiterate a few points to keep in mind for your weekly responses: One of the tricks or traps here (and something…
Week 2 To-Do
by Maggie Greene •
On writing
by Maggie Greene •
… Young people often ask, “How does one become a writer?” My answer is always simply: “By writing.” Writing is like experience: if you don’t experience things, then you won’t understand life; and if you don’t write, then you won’t know what you’re capable of creating. Yu Hua, China in Ten Words One of the primary…
Welcome
by Maggie Greene •
Welcome to the digital home of HSTR 491, Games, Play & History. I’m still working out some kinks in the website, so please forgive any hiccups along the way. My hope is this will be a more useful platform than D2L for facilitating your writing & continuing our discussion outside of class. This course is…