Canons

The premise of this course is that videogames, when viewed as cultural artifacts, occupy the same aesthetically and (sometimes politically) motivated practice of canon-building. Our starting point is the list of 10 games proposed by a team of experts for special attention by the Library of Congress.

The original 10

Spacewar!
Zork
SimCity
Civilization I/II
Warcraft
Star Raiders
Tetris
Super Mario Bros. 3
Doom
Sensible Soccer

In addition, each iteration so far of this course has negotiated and proposed its own list:

Fall 2012

Spring 2012

Fall 2009

Spring 2011

Mario Kart
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Goldeneye 007
Halo (series)
World of Warcraft
Final Fantasy Series
Counter-Strike
Grand Theft Auto III
Dance Dance Revolution
Bioshock

Latest Comments and Tweets

great source i am doing a research project thank for the help i hope i get a A

May 9th, 2013

Comment on Do videogames make children lazy? by JEFFREY COLE
<p>great source i am doing a research project thank for the help i hope i get a A</p>
Hi, I’m A Fan of Kingdom Hearts Games And I Enjoyed Playing As Roxas And Later Sor a And These Are My Favorite Playable Characters in Kingdom Hearts And Kingdom He arts II And Birth By Sleep And So, I Enjoyed Playing Kingdom Hearts And I’m No Fan of Anyone That Performs in Kingdom Hearts Includes Haley Joel Osment And Other Actor s or Actresses And I Just Like To Play The Game And Hoping For New Ones To Relea se And I’m Happy And Excitied For New Games of Kingdom Hearts! Yay, I Love New G ames of Kingdom Hearts And I’m Looking Foward To Play! Yes, Nice! 04/6/2013 Time 6:51pm.

PS Square Enix, I’m Happy And Excitied For New Games To Release And So, I Can Play And Have Fun Playing It! Isn’t That Sound Nice? Good? Thank You!

April 7th, 2013

Comment on Let’s Talk About Kingdom Hearts (pt 2) by Alan Wang
<p>Hi, I’m A Fan of Kingdom Hearts Games And I Enjoyed Playing As Roxas And Later Sor a And These Are My Favorite Playable Characters in Kingdom Hearts And Kingdom He arts II And Birth By Sleep And So, I Enjoyed Playing Kingdom Hearts And I’m No Fan of Anyone That Performs in Kingdom Hearts Includes Haley Joel Osment And Other Actor s or Actresses And I Just Like To Play The Game And Hoping For New Ones To Relea se And I’m Happy And Excitied For New Games of Kingdom Hearts! Yay, I Love New G ames of Kingdom Hearts And I’m Looking Foward To Play! Yes, Nice! 04/6/2013 Time 6:51pm.</p> <p>PS Square Enix, I’m Happy And Excitied For New Games To Release And So, I Can Play And Have Fun Playing It! Isn’t That Sound Nice? Good? Thank You!</p>
Is that a screenshot of the original DOTA? Wow… It looks damn right awful. No wonder they decided to make it a standalone game instead of sticking with that old design.

March 8th, 2013

Comment on DotA, Team Fortress, and more: How Game Mods Have Shaped Videogames by Mike
<p>Is that a screenshot of the original DOTA? Wow… It looks damn right awful. No wonder they decided to make it a standalone game instead of sticking with that old design.</p>
Thanks for the mention, Temory. I’m actually one of the designers who worked on this mod. Andrew and I dreamed it up in college, bringing together his passion for the Oblivion mod with my love of Zork. It was a thrill to bring the project to life in a visual environment, and a bit sad that we never completed it. I think it went about as far as it could have, between graduation, life, and the release of Skyrim, but I sincerely hope that others pick up a similar goal in the future. I’d love to see Zork on new legs.

February 14th, 2013

Comment on A Zork Mod for ES4: Oblivion by Warren
<p>Thanks for the mention, Temory. I’m actually one of the designers who worked on this mod. Andrew and I dreamed it up in college, bringing together his passion for the Oblivion mod with my love of Zork. It was a thrill to bring the project to life in a visual environment, and a bit sad that we never completed it. I think it went about as far as it could have, between graduation, life, and the release of Skyrim, but I sincerely hope that others pick up a similar goal in the future. I’d love to see Zork on new legs.</p>
As I mentioned in class, if you enjoy games that mess with the Fourth Wall, you should check out Eternal Darkness for GameCube.

December 12th, 2012

Comment on The Fourth Wall in Games by zachwhalen
<p>As I mentioned in class, if you enjoy games that mess with the Fourth Wall, you should check out <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_darkness” rel=”nofollow”>Eternal Darkness</a> for GameCube.</p>
kissmeimapirate (Nick Coladonato)

And who says videogames aren't art? http://t.co/59l7pr05 #vgc100 ...

December 6th, 2012

And who says videogames aren’t art? http://t.co/59l7pr05 #vgc100 …
And who says videogames aren’t art? http://t.co/59l7pr05 #vgc100 …
I think that it has more to do with the nature of the individual. If they’re attracted to violent things, it could just as easily be a movie that sets off some kind of trigger. And it may not be the videogame at all, maybe it’s something that is more or less inevitable in the individual. You never know who may end up going postal.

December 4th, 2012

Comment on Banning Violent Video Games: Right or Wrong? by jculhane
<p>I think that it has more to do with the nature of the individual. If they’re attracted to violent things, it could just as easily be a movie that sets off some kind of trigger. And it may not be the videogame at all, maybe it’s something that is more or less inevitable in the individual. You never know who may end up going postal.</p>
zachwhalen (zach whalen)

@sanctum10 I don't know -- I couldn't get past it either. I was hoping it was just me. #vgc100

December 4th, 2012

@sanctum10 I don’t know — I couldn’t get past it either. I was hoping it was just me. #vgc100
@sanctum10 I don’t know — I couldn’t get past it either. I was hoping it was just me. #vgc100
sanctum10 (Chris Zimmerman)

Help me out guys--why can't I get past the level with 4 Marios? #vgc100

December 4th, 2012

Help me out guys–why can’t I get past the level with 4 Marios? #vgc100
Help me out guys–why can’t I get past the level with 4 Marios? #vgc100
Boscoe1213 (Andrew Boswell)

The 99 exercises mario levels very odd at the end #vgc100

December 3rd, 2012

The 99 exercises mario levels very odd at the end #vgc100
The 99 exercises mario levels very odd at the end #vgc100
zachwhalen (zach whalen)

My #vgc100 students may be interested to know that the full movie, "The Wizard", is on YouTube: http://t.co/9EWa0FFK

December 3rd, 2012

My #vgc100 students may be interested to know that the full movie, "The Wizard", is on YouTube: http://t.co/9EWa0FFK
My #vgc100 students may be interested to know that the full movie, “The Wizard”, is on YouTube: http://t.co/9EWa0FFK
Hahaha hilarious article! It’s so convenient how right when you get into the game, they want you to buy the full version! I have never paid for an app in my life though, whenever that message pops up I just move on to the next thing!

December 2nd, 2012

Comment on IT’S ALL A LIE!!! by jtd331
<p>Hahaha hilarious article! It’s so convenient how right when you get into the game, they want you to buy the full version! I have never paid for an app in my life though, whenever that message pops up I just move on to the next thing!</p>
Interesting article! I too found an few articles online that explained a how videogames directly correspond to the prevention fo Alzheimer’s Disease, especially puzzle based videogames.Many studies show that games like this improve speech and brain function.

December 2nd, 2012

Comment on Who Needs Medical School? by jtd331
<p>Interesting article! I too found an few articles online that explained a how videogames directly correspond to the prevention fo Alzheimer’s Disease, especially puzzle based videogames.Many studies show that games like this improve speech and brain function.</p>
Lol. Making good games isn’t a profitable decision for 90% of today’s developers. Even the top 10% are becoming less and less. Here’s hoping good game production doesn’t completely die out.

December 1st, 2012

Comment on IT’S ALL A LIE!!! by Sanctum
<p>Lol. Making good games isn’t a profitable decision for 90% of today’s developers. Even the top 10% are becoming less and less. Here’s hoping good game production doesn’t completely die out.</p>
Wow, I watched the video. Very complex story line there!

I haven’t played any of the games, but I do recognize the impact the series has had on gaming culture; how magnificent .

Have you played many of these games and do you agree with the timeline of Nintendo?

Thanks for the Link to the video (pun intended).

November 30th, 2012

Comment on The True Legend of Zelda Timeline by Sanctum
<p>Wow, I watched the video. Very complex story line there!</p> <p>I haven’t played any of the games, but I do recognize the impact the series has had on gaming culture; how magnificent .</p> <p>Have you played many of these games and do you agree with the timeline of Nintendo?</p> <p>Thanks for the Link to the video (pun intended).</p>
Well written Jessica,

My argument is, why do these scholars isolate games over any other escapist medium? For example, a depressed teenager might instead watch TV to cope, do drugs, or engage in malicious activity. Compared to the latter two examples, I’d argue videogame addictions have less of a detrimental effect on society. As for the detrimental effect on the depressed individual, I cannot say with any certainty which medium might heighten their depressed state.

November 30th, 2012

Comment on Video Games and Depression by Sanctum
<p>Well written Jessica,</p> <p>My argument is, why do these scholars isolate games over any other escapist medium? For example, a depressed teenager might instead watch TV to cope, do drugs, or engage in malicious activity. Compared to the latter two examples, I’d argue videogame addictions have less of a detrimental effect on society. As for the detrimental effect on the depressed individual, I cannot say with any certainty which medium might heighten their depressed state.</p>
zachwhalen (zach whalen)

@amandahalprin Hey alright! More videogames in museums. Those are some interesting choices, too. http://t.co/kVd8Do9d #engl202 #vgc100

November 29th, 2012

@amandahalprin Hey alright! More videogames in museums. Those are some interesting choices, too. http://t.co/kVd8Do9d #engl202 #vgc100
@amandahalprin Hey alright! More videogames in museums. Those are some interesting choices, too. http://t.co/kVd8Do9d #engl202 #vgc100
zachwhalen (zach whalen)

@kissmeimapirate Having played, I also approve of this game. #vgc100

November 27th, 2012

@kissmeimapirate Having played, I also approve of this game. #vgc100
@kissmeimapirate Having played, I also approve of this game. #vgc100