The Lee Kong Chian School of Business

Academic Year 2011 /12

Term 2


MGMT 302 THE GAMES AND DIGITAL MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Instructor Name : F. Ted Tschang
Title : Associate Professor of Strategic Management
Tel : 6828-0251
Email : tedt@smu.edu.sg
Office : LKCSB #05-17


COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course should be useful to students who want to learn about the forces driving change in emerging creative
industries such as videogames, as well as how such products are developed, and how those industries come about.
Please note that the course has a heavy theoretical basis. This involves building a deeper understanding of how digital
media products like games come about and work. We do this by understanding how creativity, culture, technology,
and processes (e.g. product development and organizational) are integrated into these media. This will help to
appreciate industry and business issues. In particular, the course discusses the central role of creativity in these
selected industries, as well as the factors that influence or constrain this creativity. We draw most of our examples
from the video game industry, and to some extent, digital media such as social media, but we will also make
comparisons with other industries such as IT, design, film, and animation. The course is interdisciplinary, and readings
and theories will be drawn from the business, social science, and media studies traditions.

Note:
This course outline may change, but topical coverage will be roughly the same.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Understand the overall view of how the games and digital media industries work, so that they can make
sense of them, and develop strategies and responses for managing and handling their products and services.
Develop an understanding of the products themselves and their ideation (design) processes (e.g., issues such
as factors influencing game design, design practices and thinking, and product development processes),
Examine how games are derived from culture and are penetrating society, as well as their appeal to
consumers, and the implications of these products for society.

Note that the course is not so much about how to manage as it is about understanding how these industries (and
firms) develop and work.

PRE-REQUISITE/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE COURSE(S)
General knowledge will be helpful, but we will not be discussing the technology in any depth. Since everyone has seen
movies, animated films, or appreciated good design, but not everyone has played videogames, there may be a need for
some students to briefly look at how a couple of video games are played. Ideally, this would be done before the
course starts, but students can pick this up after the first lesson.

Please refer to the Course Catalogue on OASIS for the most updated list of pre-requisites / co-requisites for this
particular course.
Do note that if this course has a co-requisite, it means that the course has to be taken together with another course.
Dropping one course during BOSS bidding would result in both courses being dropped at the same time.

ASSESSMENT METHODS
Will consist of the following:
Individual essay approx 30%
In-class short question tests approx 20%
Group project(s) and presentation approx 30% (the paper game design project will comprise the bulk of this)
Group short presentations approx 10%
Class participation approx 15%
Note:
Students will be graded on a curve after aggregating all these components.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students are responsible for honest completion and representation of their work. All work presented in this class
must be students own work, and not copied without appropriate citation from any source, including the Internet.
Please note that the copying of many sources of information is readily discoverable with detection methods. There
will be no tolerance for infractions, and there will be penalties if plagiarism or other forms of cheating are discovered.
This policy applies to all work submitted, either through oral presentation, or written work, including outlines,
briefings, group projects, self-evaluations, etc.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS
The course is designed to provide knowledge about the given topic, analytical frameworks, and opportunities for the
application and adaptation of theory. It does so through reflection on and comparison across cases of various
industries and firms. A variety of instructional methods will be used including lectures, small group discussions, class
presentations, and independent learning, but the course is primarily lecture-based.

Students are expected to attend all class sessions, to complete the reading assignments before class, and to be
prepared to lead the discussion of case studies, general class discussions, and group exercises. I may ask different
students to lead the discussion of cases and other learning activities each week.

Assessment methods are comprised of class participation, an individual assignment, short quizzes, and group projects,
exercises and presentations.

Group project(s)
There will be a major group project on a paper-based design of a video game (e.g. using counters and
boards to represent what should have been onscreen objects). This does not require a gaming background,
, but does involve the construction of rules, objectives, tokens (representing matters) and other
factors involved in a games design.
We will also engage in other simple game design exercises to help you learn the basics of design and how
creativity works.
The game design exercises sensitize students to some key aspects of design, and may help develop analytical
and creative thinking skills.

Quizzes
There will two to three short quizzes possibly randomly spaced throughout the term. This is to ensure that you are
prepared with your readings. No make-up quiz will be allowed without prior permission.

Class Participation
This is a central part of the learning process for you and your classmates. When you contribute, you help others
learn. Your participation mark also reflects your contribution to your classmates learning. Class participation includes
attendance, preparation prior to class including reading assigned materials, discussion forum participation (if any), and
active participation in class discussions and group activities. Talking in class and using laptops frequently are not
considered to be good class participation.

CONSULTATIONS AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS
By appointment.

RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS
Students will generally be provided with a substantial amount of reading from a variety of sources (approximately 2 to
4 articles per 3 hour class period). These will come from the texts and additional readings (to be assigned)


WEEKLY CLASS OUTLINE

Note: topics may be changed as needed.

Week Topics
1 Introduction to the course.
Introduction to games and history of media.
Key characteristics of games (providing entertainment interactively).
Frameworks used in the class.
First part:
General theories underlying the development of new industries, in particular, creative industries
and their products
2 Creative industries
Discussion of why creative industries are considered an important trend.
Theories of what makes cities or regions creative.
Structure of creative firms and industries: studios and project based work, intermediaries
(e.g. publishers). Economics of creativity and knowledge.
3 Early games: Creativity, innovation and progress
History of early games. How early individuals abilities and backgrounds shaped products.
Reflection on theories of innovation.
The theory of combinative creativity, e.gs of innovation in games
4 Modern games: Managing complexity and production
Design processes Creativity, iteration and prototyping (e.g.s from games and product
design).
How production processes work in various industries including animation, film and the
videogames industry.
5 Culture and games: The role of culture in creative industries
Culture and creativity: how culture shapes products through influence on individual
creativity.
Discussion of the national cultural sources of creativity We will also develop some
insight into how particular societies (e.g. Japan) have developed unique products and
industries based on their particular cultures, technologies, and other advantages.
6 Guest lecture (this week may be interchanged with other weeks)
Second Part:
Design and development processes, especially with regards to video games and interactive
entertainment, and industrial trends
7 Game design theory (I). What is design and design in games?
Introduction to interactive entertainment design.
Mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics framework
8 RECESS
9 Game design theory (II).
Breaking down games into rules, formal systems, worlds etc.
10 Trends in games and variants of games
Social games (social networks, online games, casual games))
Virtual worlds: a more interactive and social Internet
Emergence and user creativity
11 Games in society
How games interact with society, e.g. gamification (spreading of games), serious games
Solving serious problems
12 Group project prototype play sessions (first prototypes)
Misc topics
13 Group project prototype play sessions (second iteration, making business sense and further
combinations)
14 Review week
15
Final week (no final exam for the course)