Game Analysis: Controversies About Video Games

Game Analysis Guidelines
In the final assignment for ** Games and Play, you are required to write a 2,000 word essay responding to one of the five questions below.
This essay should have a clear argument and solid theoretical framework, which means that it should demonstrate your in-depth understanding of a key concept from one of the readings through the analysis of a game(s). Your essay should also demonstrate academic research beyond the set readings, and we encourage you to draw on your own experiences and expertise as a player.
While the essay questions each map to a lecture topic, it is expected that your essay draw on content from other weeks as well (but not necessarily every week). You are expected to select a question and bring a draft of your argument to the tutorial in Week 13 for preliminary feedback.
Essay Questions
1. The concept of the "gamer" is one that has been studied by games scholars (e.g. Shaw, 2012) and one with significant historical complexity. Select two readings which address the "gamer" identity - either from this course, or found yourself via the USyd library or Google Scholar - and analyse either a) what the gamer identity means in the modern day, or b) how the gamer identity has shaped contemporary gaming.
2. Identification with the player-character is widely recognised as being crucial to the player experience of games in the role-play / roleplaying / RPG genre. Select a game which is not an RPG and analyse the role identification plays in the player experience of that game, primarily through using two journal papers from the course or found yourself. Make explicitly clear which papers these are.
3. Select one of race, gender, sexuality, class, politics or disability, and select a game which engages with one of these topics in an interesting way. Select two primary readings (from the course, or found yourself) and use them to analyse that aspect in that game. Make explicitly clear what your two core papers are.
4. Witkowski (2012) discusses esports play while Taylor (2016) discusses the watching of games. Compare and contrast the findings of these papers (as well as others) toanalyse the relationship between the production and the consumption of digital gaming video content.
5. Controversies about videogames, or within videogame culture, are commonplace. Select a controversy about games or from games culture and unpack what it tells us us about videogame design, our values toward games, or the attitudes we have about games in society. This could be a media panic around the inclusion of transgressive content in a game, arguments over rules in games or sports, or a high-school banning Fortnite. Focus on what a controversy tells us, rather than trying to argue one way or another. For instance, an essay analysing a lootboxes controversy wouldn’t argue that lootboxes are definitely bad, but what does the lootbox controversy reveal about the way we value things in games? Select two journal articles as the core of your paper, and work them strongly into your argument.
6. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are exciting new technologies for games, with significant promise in other areas including film, education, work and automation. They also bring with them a myriad of issues, from their expansive data collection capabilities and in the potential for top-down control by big-tech organisations. Select one emerging promise or issue in VR / AR, and two core papers that discuss this (either from the course or found yourself), and analyse that promise / issue.
All submissions for Assignment 3 should follow the APA 6th Referencing and Citation Style.
Some questions explicitly request you to engage with two papers - for these questions the two chosen papers should be the core of your work, but we expect more citations than that in order to demonstrate a grasp of the field.
Notes
You must identify the question clearly at the top of the first page of your essay.
Some questions explicitly request you to engage with two papers - for these questions the two chosen papers should be the core of your work, but we expect more citations than that in order to demonstrate a wider grasp of the field.
You may use examples already discussed in the seminars but you should also show evidence of your own research and thinking by using new examples and case studies. Do not choose an essay topic that is too similar to your seminar presentation topic. If you are not sure, check with your Coordinator.
The essay needs to clearly address the essay question in the introduction and throughout the essay. The essay should also show your argument and develop a clear position on the essay question, but it is important that this point of few is clearly argued, illustrated with examples, and backed up by references and quotations.
The essay questions are designed to enable you to demonstrate your understanding of relevant critical ideas and theories that have been introduced in the Unity of Study. You are expected to show your understanding of key theories and the critical context of your topic through paraphrasing, referencing and quoting from key readings and then apply these ideas to specific examples or case studies. You are also expected to show your independent research by finding additional relevant theoretical references to help support your own ideas and arguments. As a general guide, there should be at least five reference sources in your bibliography that go beyond the set readings. Some suggestions for further readings can be found at the end of this unit profile.
The audience for the essay is an ‘intelligent reader’ but one who is not necessarily an expert in the field, i.e. the typical academic essay audience. Hence students will need to explain key terms and theories, etc. and write in an academic but accessible manner.
Lastly, we know ChatGPT exists - and we can detect essays that use it. Academic misconduct is a serious offence that can have you fail this course, or even worse. Just write your own work!
Distinguishing your essay from the group assignment
You are strongly advised not to draw on Bogost's procedural rhetoric or the ideas around game design values in developing your argument.