Completion Requirements

To be successful in the course, students should follow these guidelines:

· Attend all classes, listen to lectures and take notes as needed.

· Read all suggested materials thoroughly.

· Lab work will be required to successfully satisfy course requirements.

· Students may need to carry out independent research after class hours in order to complete their assignments properly.

· Students are encouraged to consult with the course instructors if they are having difficulty and/or are falling behind the rest of the class.

· In general, students should take it upon themselves to utilize resources such as internet sites, relevant magazines or books to expand their knowledge base

Evaluation and Feedback

Grading will be carried out in accordance with standard SIAT/SFU policies: students are encouraged to review these documents as well as current policies regarding academic honesty. The Simon Fraser University policy on plagiarism applies to both written work and game design projects in this course.

Attendance and promptness for all class meetings is expected. Lateness and absences are not acceptable and will most definitely affect your grades.

Assignments will be critiqued and graded on criteria supplied by the instructor. Every assignment must be completed to the best of the student's ability and presented for evaluation on the scheduled date. Failure to do so will result in a “0” grade for that assignment.

Grading will be broken down as follows:

· Game Analysis and Pitch: 10%

· Working game mechanic 15%

· Game Design Document 25%

· Paper prototypes 10%

· Game “betas” 25%

· Final games 15%

Simply submitting god work is necessary but not sufficient. These grades will be modified by the individual student’s attendance, participation and overall professionalism.

Resources

Reference Material:

· Readings will be made available to students on a weekly basis via paper handouts or the course blog.

· Students will also benefit from various periodicals, magazines, book, etc. available through the SFU/SIAT library.

· Instructor’s handouts.

General Observation

· Students should use this time to become aware of how game design considerations impact the increasing variety of platforms, techniques and technologies.

· Based on past experience, students are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of mentoring sessions with the course instructors during designated lab periods.

For those interested in examining another type of online strategy, look no further.

Final Presentations - Thurs, Feb 17th

Each group will have 15 minutes to present their complete transmedia strategy. There will be five minutes for Q and A.

This presentation should be based on the five assignments carried out this term. Given the short length of time - and knowing that I have already read your content - it is important that you focus on the unity of the transmedia franchise. How does your work this term best exemplify those principles set forth in the first class? Be very clear on this point... don't give me a laundry list of all the component pieces.

You may use whatever audio-visual aids you feel will enhance your presentation - but be wary of showing media! Film clips suck away an alarming amount of time.

Each group should rehearse their presentation beforehand and carry out a tech run at some point on the 17th. Nothing is worse than wrestling with technical problems (ie. the computer not having PowerPoint) while the clock is ticking.

Finally, each group should submit polished versions of all five assignments as a single package... this would be the "leave behind" if you were actually pitching this to an IP holder. This part of the final presentation simply requires incorporating the notes I have made on each assignment. Include a one page executive summary at the front to tie it together.

I would suggest, naturally, that you divide the labour between the presenter(s) and those polishing the assignments.

Any questions, of course, just send an e-mail.

Assignment#5 for Transmedia Storytelling class

This assignment is due well before next week's final class. In order to give you proper feedback, this assignment will need to be submitted no later than 23h59 on Sunday the 13th. These assignments will get feedback that can be incorporated into your final presentations. I will, however, accept assignments for grading (no feedback guaranteed) until 18h29 onTuesday. In all cases, these should be placed in the usual dropbox - send an e-mail to Justin so that he can forward me a copy.

Each team is to develop an online content strategy that rounds out their transmedia franchise. At a minimum, this proposal should:

1) Identify your audience.
2) Select methods of propagation.
3) Lay out a time table.
4) Develop a content strategy that employs several of the techniques discussed in class.
5) Be clear on how this online material fits into your overall transmedia franchise.

As always, be conscious of how your choices showcase the world of your franchise and expose the depth of the characters.

Assignment#4 for Transmedia Storytelling class
For next week (to be submitted no later than 18h29, as always), each team is to develop a comprehensive "pitch" for a video game related to their transmedia franchise. As always, consider how this extension heightens the audience experience. Your pitch should include the following three documents:

The Vision Statement
The Project Charter
Competitive Analysis

Please refer to the handout. Keep it at about 5 pages total. Any questions, just drop me a line.

Assignment#3 for Transmedia Storytelling class

For next week (to be submitted no later than 18h29, as always), each team is to develop a licensed product strategy that ties into their transmedia property. This strategy can encompass either an analog game, collectibles or other related products. As always, discuss the specific techniques and featured content that will bring the world and its characters to life.

Given your specific IP, the submitted work should take the form of 3 one page pitches for different analog products. Each must cover the following points:


1. Game title
2. Type of game (e.g. casual party game, CCG, RPG, etc.)
3. Brief description of game play (NOT A LISTING OF RULES)
4. Description of target demographic and the intended user experience
5. How will you do the IP justice / how will you stay true to the IP?
6. How will the license will contribute to game play? And vice versa?
7. Why this product (conclusion)?
8. What entity (individual, corp., etc.) controls the licensing of your IP?

Assignment#2 for Transmedia Storytelling class

For next week (to be submitted no later than 18h29, as always), each team is to develop a DVD co-creation strategy that ties into their transmedia property. This strategy should discuss the specific interactive techniques and featured content that will bring the world and its characters to life.

While it is not strictly necessary to discuss the business rationale for doing so, some understanding of this would benefit your submission. Please make sure to include a discussion of the following points:

1) How will your strategy deepen the audience experience?
2) Which of their sensibilities are you trying to engage?
3) In what ways can this content be mined, distributed, re-purposed?

To truly understand Transmedia theory, here are two articles to kick you off, both by Henry Jenkins. The first lays out his concept of how transmedia franchises work; the second is a terse-but-interesting rebuttal to critics of the Matrix franchise.