Game guide: analysing videogames in English and Media classrooms
An introduction to this resource, and why it was developed
English teachers are lucky to have a wealth of text analysis to draw upon when tackling novels in their classrooms, whilst Media and English teachers alike have a healthy (albeit slightly shorter) history of film analysis practice to draw upon when studying cinema in their respective classrooms.
Videogames are a more challenging medium. Despite being around in popular culture since the 1970s, they’re yet to be entrenched in either the English or Media classrooms here in Australia, though it should be noted videogames are recognised as a medium in the VCE Media Study Design.
The absence of videogames in the classroom is both surprising and unsurprising. Young people enjoy videogames, and videogames are more and more being recognised for their storytelling and artistic merit. Yet as we all know; videogames cop a bad rap. Controversy has followed the medium since 1976 when Death Race, despite being graphically primitive, drew moral outrage; with the interactive act of running a white, low-pixel car over ‘gremlins’ somehow more disconcerting than the realistic violence seen on film and TV.
This perception of videogames as mindlessly violent has been hard to shake, not least because there are plenty of mindlessly violent videogames out there, the worth of which, like any other medium, should be questioned.
But to classify all videogames as violent and immoral because of Death Race, Grand Theft Auto or Doom is to ignore the wealth of videogame styles and experiences that are on offer. It would be like assuming all films ignore the laws of physics due to the existence of The Fast and the Furious franchise.
Of course, more practical barriers lie in the way of videogames being embraced in classrooms. These include (but aren’t limited to):
- the amount of time needed to complete these often much longer stories in the classroom
- the lack of access to the right equipment and game licences to even play the game in school.
But if you are reading this, you might be one of the converted (or on your way), so let’s assume you are looking for advice about how to analyse a videogame in your English or Media classroom. Because not having the experience with videogames, or the language to discuss videogames with students, is also a barrier, and a large one at that.
Below is a suggested order of shorter modules with explanations and examples.
Good luck in your game analysis journey.
