In preparation for Discussion Forum #4, each student will participate in three sessions of local multiplayer gaming with one or more other people. This means that students must play with other people in the same physical location (not through the internet). Students may play the same game during each session or different games. Students may play with the same people each session or different people. Play may be cooperative or competitive. Class members may wish to form groups to play together.

After the three play sessions, each student must post a critical comment of approximately 500 words. Students must select games from the list below (most of which are available for checkout or at Sharky's) or independently find games with a local multiplayer component.

• Boom Blox Bash Party (Nintendo Wii)
• Cooking Mama (Nintendo Wii)
• Madden XX (Xbox 360)
• Forza 2 (Xbox 360)
• Table Tennis (Xbox 360)
• Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii)
• Wii Sports (Nintendo Wii)
• Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo Wii)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo Wii)
• Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360)
• Mario Party 8 (Nintendo Wii)
• Wii Play (Nintendo Wii)
• Rock Band (multiple)
• Guitar Hero (multiple)
• Flight Control (multiple)
• Touchgrind (iOS)

Submit your comment below after critically considering issues surrounding your local multiplayer experiences, such as:

• How Johnson's and/or Juul's readings inform your experiences
• The differences among your various play sessions
• How cooperative play and competitive play affect the social dynamic
• How local multiplayer play differs from individual play or networked play
• The applicable issues of race, class, or gender in the games

The preceding prompts may help you focus your thoughts, but feel free to take your discussion in any productive direction you wish. I look forward to reading your work and discussing it in class.