Required Reading: Video Games

The Chronicle of Higher Education picked up the story of Michigan State offering a master's program in serious games. The quick post, here, is on the Chronicle's Wired Campus blog. More and more colleges and universities are offering courses (beyond programming courses) on video games - design, narrative, business, cultural history. While news like this does move me closer to my dream job of a Video Game subject specialist librarian :), it does show progress for video games as an industry and as an artistic expression.

On the same note, today I listened to this week's 1up.com's "1up Yours" podcast, the 1/26 broadcast. It's one of the many gaming podcast I listen to on a weekly basis. The 1up network includes the long standing video game magazine "Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)." The podcast is a great way to stay updated on gaming news and trends. This week the group discusses "gaming literacy." They discuss significant and revolutionary games that someone studying games should know. They take they same approach of a game or film studies college course. While there are academic courses out there that do this same thing, it's interesting to hear it from the perspective of people in the industry.

It is a good discussion for anyone interested in games or wanting a historic perspective. The games as required reading discussion starts about 37:30 minutes into the podcast, right after the first break. As a note, the podcast could be rated PG-13 for crude humor and language.

Give a listen and let me know about your gaming required reading.