THE HONG KONG INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES /
FACULTY OF EDUCATION STUDIES /
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES
Course Outline
Programme Title
: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies Programme
(Three-year Full-time)
Bachelor of Education (Honours) Programmes
(Four-year Full-time)
Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Global and Environmental
Studies Programme
(Three-year Full-time)
Course Title
: Understanding Digital Games
數碼遊戲初探
Department
: Department of Mathematics and Information Technology
Credit Points
: 3
Contact Hours
: 39
Pre-requisite(s)
: Nil
Level
: Nil
Synopsis
This module aims to provide a holistic understanding of digital games in our society. It offers
opportunities for students to examine the history, technology and taxonomy of interactive digital
games. The theory and practice of digital game design will be studied. Through hands-on game
playing, students will explore the rules, culture, ethics, personal and social issues associated with
commercial games. Their personal experiences can then initiate the kinds of learning entailed in
playing educational games and to promote playful teaching and learning environments.
Objectives
To enable students to:
a. examine the history, system support, and taxonomy of digital games;
b. study the theory and practice of digital game design;
c. understand the essential elements of gameplay;
d. explore the personal, social, cultural and health issues associated with digital games; and
e. promote playful learning through gameplay.
Content
a. Overview of the history of digital games and the influential digital games in these periods:
i.
Origins of an industry (1960 - 1979).
ii. Nintendo generation (1980 - 1989).
iii. Computer Revolution (1990 - 1994).
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b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
iv. Empires of Sony and Microsoft (1995 - 2002).
v. Interactive and online game industry (the new millennium).
Understanding of different hardware and platforms for digital games
i.
Salient characteristics of game consoles and input devices.
ii. Processing power and connectivity of platforms.
Digital game taxonomy and classification
i.
Examination of different game genres and the difficulty to delineate these genres.
ii. Recognizing various classification schemes (e.g. ESRB) from different countries.
Theory and practice of digital game design
i.
The two polarized views of ludology and narratology by game scholars.
ii. The game design schemas: rules, play and culture.
iii. The essential elements of gameplay: anticipatory versus complex systems, levels, nonlinearity and modeling reality.
iv. Processes of producing a digital game from the preproduction phase, the production
phase to the postproduction phase.
Personal, social, cultural and health issues of digital games affirmed by hands-on examples
i.
Gender, age and culture bias.
ii. Identity, community and play time management.
iii. Violence, masculinity, explicitness, horror and gambling.
iv. Social interaction and practices of gameplay.
v. The virtual world of digital games to the real world, and their issues.
Educational games in school and at home in Hong Kong
i.
Digital games empowered by learning theories.
ii. The roles and concerns of parents and teachers.
iii. Choosing appropriate digital games to promote learning.
Assessment
Each student is required to construct an electronic journal (equivalent to 3000 words) to (1)
critically examine a sizeable game related to the concepts learnt; and (2) identify the social and
educational issues in playing the game or other games in general.
Required Text
Nil
Recommended Reading
Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Juul, J. (2005). Half-real: video games between real rules and fictional world. Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press.
Kline, S., Dyer-witheford, N., & De Peuter, G. (2003). Digital play: the interaction of technology,
culture, and marketing. Montreal; London: McGill-Queen's University Press.
McCarthy, D., Curran, S., & Byron, S. (2005). The art of producing games. Boston, Mass.:
Thomson.
Michael, D., & Chen, S. (2006). Serious games: games that educate, train, and inform. Boston, MA:
Thompson.
Newman, J. (2004). Videogames. London: Routledge.
Presensky, M. (2006). Don't bother me, Mom-- I'm learning! : How computer and video games are
preparing your kids for twenty-first century success, and how you can help! St. Paul, Minn.:
Paragon House.
Rouse, R. (2001). Game design: theory & practice. Plano, Tex.: Wordware Publishing.
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Salen, K., & Zimmerman (2004). Rules of play: game design fundamentals. Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press.
Wolf, M., & Perron, B. (Eds) (2003). The video game theory reader. New York: Routledge.
時事追擊（2003）：《虛擬世界》〔錄像資料〕，香港，亞洲電視
朱耀偉、陳潔詩（2005）：《虛擬後樂園：透視電腦遊戲文化》，香港，天窗出版
電子遊戲（2007）：《維基百科 - 中文》，瀏覽日期：22-5-2007，http://zh.wikipedia.org
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