US 12A — Computer Games — Paper #1
Computer Games and Culture

Overview

Timelines and typologies run the danger of cutting games off from their technical and historical conditions of possibility. — Prof. Peter Krapp
It is unhelpful to disconnect computer games and their history from other media, or to oppose them to other discourses. — Prof. Peter Krapp

Computer games are not stand-alone artifacts, but were and are created by people in response to the technologies, culture, concerns, and perceived possibilities of their times.

Assignment

In a 750-1000 word essay, investigate the connections between some aspect of the history of computer games and contemporary culture. Your job is to construct and explain a strong claim (thesis) about the connections between the "technical and historical conditions of possibility" and a game (or a small group of closely related games, or a game mod) on which you focus.

You should limit your research and your paper on a particular relatively narrow aspect of the history of culture and computer games. You may want to focus on

• another aspect of popular culture besides computer games (for example, in the category of sports, novels, movies, or music);
• a political, military, economic, or historical event;
• an advance in science or technology;
• the history of the game's creator or the game's intended audience.

The goal of this paper is to identify and explain a connection between games and non-game culture. A thesis that states "Game Z was influenced by games X and Y" does not meet this goal.

Use the APA documentation format (Little Penguin, pp. 101-119). Use Times New Roman 12 point font, or the nearest equivalent on your computer, and double spacing. Put your name and the paper's title at the top of the first page, and add a footer to the paper which includes your name. All multi-page printed work should be stapled in the upper left hand corner. Do not put your paper in a binder or envelope of any sort.

Advice

• College-level writing is the product of much thought, study, revision, and hard work. Plan for this.
• A strong thesis will make the paper easier to write.
• You can select your topic from this list:
  • Alternative Input and Output (e.g., smell, pain, breath, brainwaves)
  • Physical / Gestural / Tangible Interfaces
  • Mixed / Virtual Reality
  • Artificial Characters and Narrative
  • Hacktivism / Security
  • Location / Context Aware Media
  • Identity (national, racial, sexual)
  • Games as Politics or Political Activism
  • Environment / animal welfare / multi-national corporations
  • Misuse of Technology
  • Non-digital approaches to virtuality
  • Adapting digital to reinterpret analog
• Your paper should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. In the first paragraph, introduce your topic and state your thesis. In the middle, marshall your evidence and build support for your thesis. Make sure each paragraph makes sense as a logical unit. In the final paragraph, summarize your argument and restate your thesis.
• You are welcome to include images in your paper. Make sure you reference their sources.
• You are writing a college level academic essay. Avoid slang, overblown rhetoric, fanboyisms, and humor.
• Don't assume your reader knows the game or the historical/cultural context you are writing about. Describe each succinctly.
• As a writer and peer-reviewer, read and follow the excellent advice in A Student Guide to Writing at UC Irvine, Fourteenth Ed., pp 45-55.

The Paper's Progress

For this paper you will bring to discussion several preliminary versions of your paper; however, it is likely that to produce a truly fine piece of writing and research you will need to do much more writing and rewriting that is not brought to class.

The versions of this paper are:

1. Topic Proposal. Write a few sentences describing one or two possible aspects of culture and computer games which interest you and seem like good candidates for this paper. Ideally you should make a claim about this culture and game nexus. If your initial version of the Topic Proposal is not approved by your TA, you will revise it.
2. List of Sources, written in APA bibliography entry style. You must have at least four sources, at least one found in hard copy form at the UCI library. For each source, after the bibliography entry write:
   1. a two or three sentence summary,
   2. an evaluation of the source in terms of the following criteria:
      • Authority — What is the author's credentials and expertise?
      • Reliability — How does the publication venue qualify the article as trustworthy?
      • Credibility — How does the quality, tone, and presentation of evidence in the article make the information believable?
      • Usefulness — How can this source be used in your paper?
3. Draft Version, two copies brought to discussion on Wednesday, Nov. 5. One copy will be edited in discussion by a classmate, and the other will be edited by a TA. The word "draft" does not imply sloppy or hastily written. Your draft should be good enough for an A- in high school. In particular, it should be the full length, should include all images you want in your final paper, should have a full references section, and should have no mechanical errors.
4. Final Version, turned in electronically, and a paper copy brought to discussion on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Follow the APA style. Do not include an Abstract. Note that the References section should not include the summaries and evaluations you wrote in your List of Sources (however, you may certain work these sentences into the body of your paper, if appropriate). The items in the References section will probably not be exactly the same ones as in your earlier List of Sources.

How To Turn In Your Work

Topic Proposal

Bring one printed copy (double spaced,) to discussion (at library) on Oct. 8. Bring a (possibly revised) version to discussion on Oct. 15, for peer review and discussion. Keep this copy.

List of Sources

Bring one printed copy to discussion on Oct. 15. A peer editor will review and sign it. Keep this copy.

The draft

Bring two printed copies to discussion on Nov. 5. A peer editor will edit and sign one copy, and a TA will edit the other copy and return it to you in discussion on Nov. 12. Keep both copies

Final Version

Staple together your final version (on top), the draft edited by a TA (below it), the peer-edited draft (below that), your List of Sources (below that) and your Topic Proposal (at the bottom). Do not put this bundle in any sort of cover or binder. Make sure your name is on every page. Hand this bundle to the TA at the start of discussion.

You will also turn in two electronic copies of your final version.

1. On the web, go to eee.uci.edu
2. Log in with your UCInetID.
3. Click on MyEEE.
4. Under UNI STU 12A COMPUTER GAMES 1 Lec A (87650), click on Dropbox.
5. Upload your paper into the US 12A Paper #1 drop box.
6. Log out.
   
7. Now, go to TurnItIn.com
8. Click on "New Users" at the top right of the page.
9. Select "student" as your user type. Follow instructions to set up a user profile. The class ID is 2507562 and the password is seriousgames. Use your UCInetID with @uci.edu for your email address.
10. Upload your paper for the class US12 Games.
11. Log out.

The due date and time for the electronic version is Wednesday, Nov. 19, 8:55 a.m., this is the same for all sections. Your paper will be considered late if both electronic versions are not submitted by that time. Turn in the paper version at the start of your discussion section.

Grading

The paper will be graded with this rubric.