Genre in Games and Writing
Awareness of genres and how they relate to the writing we do is an important element of my course and might be for yours as well. I ask students to compose in a wide variety of mediums and for several purposes, so exploring how we understand and change expectations for certain genres is important and helps foster Habits of Mind and Outcomes such as Creativity, Metacognition, and Knowledge of Conventions, especially as they relate to genres.. Given my focus on videogame-infused pedagogy in my course and research, finding a way to discuss genre in writing and games made perfect sense, and I'd like to share the way I discuss writing and gaming genres with students to foster awareness of genre in electronic and print contexts as they relate to the course through gameplay.
- Super Mario Bros.: http://nesbox.com/game/nes/super-mario-bros/rom/147547c8229257f7e2c46e575f375ee6
- The Legend of Zelda: http://nesbox.com/game/nes/legend-of-zelda-the/rom/d043495838af962135d7710f2b6dbf88
- Metroid: http://nesbox.com/game/nes/metroid/rom/85add02ca3c6b867f5efef0206bf65f6
- Contra: http://nesbox.com/game/nes/contra/rom/4337dc8d257b14fa3174d76bcc8aa079
- Super Mario Crossover: http://www.explodingrabbit.com/games/super-mario-bros-crossover
Genre in Games and Writing Activity
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For this activity, I begin by asking students to come up with a list of genres in writing, and then ask them to think about genres in games. Then, I ask them to think about how they know how these things operate in writing in games; what are the conventions of these genres? Since the first project I ask them to do is a narrative project, I ask students to examine former student sample projects and then discuss what we know about the genre of narratives and how they come through in this specific assignment, and how the genres can be played with and unique results can emerge.
This all comes together when students play some sample games, like The Legend of Zelda, or Metroid, and then play Super Mario Crossover, where mechanics from other games are brought into Super Mario Bros. Some characters like Link bring in a bow and arrows along with bombs. The game is fun and interesting nonetheless, but it shows how when a Goomba can be smashed with a boomerang and then hit with a sword, it's not the same as when Mario moves quickly and jumps. SMC does a great job of showing genres colliding in a good way, but also helps students to see how genres in games and writing come together when discussed in the context of a writing classroom. |