Introduction to Videogame Studies

A photo of several people playing a version of Spacewar that was made by the MIT-Singapore GAMBIT Lab in honor of Spacewar's 50th anniversary.

GAMBIT Game Lab recreated Spacewar. Released in 1962, it is one of the earliest known digital computer games. (Photo courtesy of rikaru on Flickr.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

CMS.300 / CMS.841

As Taught In

Fall 2011

Level

Undergraduate / Graduate

Cite This Course

Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of videogames as texts through an examination of their cultural, educational, and social functions in contemporary settings. Students play and analyze videogames while reading current research and theory from a variety of sources in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and industry. Assignments focus on game analysis in the context of the theories discussed in class. Class meetings involve regular reading, writing, and presentation exercises. No prior programming experience required. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

Related Content

Clara Fernandez-Vara. CMS.300 Introduction to Videogame Studies. Fall 2011. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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