tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74780435216698693352024-03-05T06:30:20.189-08:00Game New WaveGriffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-29909584961155170312009-02-11T23:46:00.000-08:002009-02-24T19:54:35.143-08:00The Gamer as Artiste<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/weekinreview/04lela.html?_r=1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">is a very interesting New York Times article from 2005 that raises a lot of interesting questions. The author is </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/john_leland/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">John Leland</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rather than summarize the article, I'm going to parse through it and pull out some of the more pertinent quotations:<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Mr. Spielberg, who has since contracted to create three games, challenged the industry to improve the storytelling, character development and emotional content in the same way it has enhanced the images and action. The medium will come of age, he said, 'when somebody confesses that they cried at Level 17.'"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Sielberg has finished </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Blox"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">one</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> of the three games mentioned, and has gone on to begin the second (</span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/lmno.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">previously</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">). In fact, his call to action has been (at least partially) answered. </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/jason-rohrer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jason Rohrer</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, Spielbergs new advisor, makes a meager living designing games that make people </span><a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2008/future-of-video-game-design-1208-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">cry</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Not surprisingly, Steven Spielberg invoked film as a "model for the medium to follow", but as I've </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">argued</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> before, videogames can model more than just one medium.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Henry Jenkins, director of the comparative media studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, suggested that [videogames] are equally close to dance, as a medium of performance, or architecture, as a medium of creating unique spaces."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />The articles author also gives some insightful comments on the videogame </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Industry</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"...the Xbox 360 allows games to look more like movies. Walls have textures; battle scenes show remarkably detailed characters moving independently. Such advanced technology, made possible by increased processing power, also raises the cost of developing games, which now run budgets of up to $25 million, including the expenses of licensing characters and music. This in turn influences the type of games that are produced: Of the 10 top-selling games of last year, all were sequels to successful games, tie-ins to hit movies or both."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I gave my own </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/single-largest-issue-that-plagues-game.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">tirade </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">on the Industry a little while back, but Leland's next question honed in on something a little more nuanced:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"As games gain attention as an art form, it remains to be determined just what sort of art they can or should be."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I have been thinking a lot lately about the effects that videogames have on society, through a cultural lens, rather than an artistic one.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />First of all, I believe videogames are a volatile medium. Interactive Media is invasive on more than a sensory level - it is deeply psychologically stimulating. Without presupposing any of the effects they have on society at large, lets touch on the effects that videogames have on the brain. I've always been interested by one study in particular: After playing a simulation, subjects of a relatively recent experiment reported that their dreams consistently modeled their virtual experiences. While this was largely a test of procedural memory, it conveyed the effect videogames can have on the subconscious.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I believe that videogames will soon become the most influential of all art forms. They are psychologically invasive, culturally prevalent, and perhaps most importantly, economically viable. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As videogames become a larger part of the collective conscious, the values that they convey become increasingly important. I'm not saying every game should be packaged with a moral lesson - I just find it disconcerting that the vast majority of videogames involve death counts that rival most genocides.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Personally, I'm uncomfortable with the propensity for violence in videogames today. The number one best selling genre is the First Person Shooter and for me, this is a sobering thought. I won't excuse the public for consuming violence and dreck, but it's the Industry that feeds it to them.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"...the video game industry [compares] to Hollywood of the 1930's, when studios created standards for their products but also imposed formulas for the movies they churned out, with rising budgets and diminishing creative risk-taking."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />The key word here is "imposed". I believe innovation and individuality are sold short. Americans may always be more attracted to violence than to subtlety or nuance, but innovation does sell. While Gears of War and Halo may top the charts, flOw, Mirror's Edge, Braid, and Little Big Planet all experienced market success. Perhaps the most convincing argument for risk is the Wii, which continues to outsell it's competitors combined. While it will and should always be a presence, the Industry currently stifles individuality and innovation, propagating values that I find myself questioning far too often. It's the responsibility of independent artists to counterbalance the industry's broadcast with their own unique frequencies.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"'What you need now is a garage band aesthetic, or independent film aesthetic for games,'"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">________</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Beyond values, I think there's a lot to be said about our relationship with videogames as a form of Virtual Reality. Personally, I fear true VR. I see it as a degradation of the real world. Games like Second Life depress me. So do The Sims, to be honest. I think even RPG's like Oblivion have some elements of true VR.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I see it as an insult to the medium, and to, well, life. Is the real world so dull, or depressing that it should be played out in a simulation bereft of imagination? Why should a videogame abandon all semblances of artistry in favor of realism? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">When I imagine true VR, I imagine someone examining a photo of someone rather than introducing themselves. Why accept a facsimile when the original is yours for the taking? Videogames must embrace the fantasy of fiction - lest they become an approximation of the real world outside our front door.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"'You're building the world from scratch. Why does it have to look like the world we live in?'"<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sadly, I suspect videogames are on an inescapable path towards an inescapable zenith. Videogames will one day supplant many of the ways in which we interact with and manipulate the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">real</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> world. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Until then, however, I have a few ideas about what games </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">should</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> be like. In my opinion, videogames should always aspire to some level of fantasy, be it a personal aestheticism, dramatic presentation, narrative singularity, or actual elements of the fantastic. Only games set in an historical context should strive for unadulterated realism. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The best videogames will represent a reality as unique as the artist(s) who constructed them.</span><br /></span><p></p><p></p><p></p></div></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-19800207180213448052009-02-11T17:39:00.001-08:002009-02-11T18:02:44.910-08:00Feature Innovation vs Franchise Innovation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI_DgtKdpHUvOVbULDuFxqiIBh1AFli41l7LsfDbsenAdug02dWEAPe5Q67TnG6UH29m46oT0VchLiKsNIxKtgeSoWaneS9SnUnBEs2owyM1KdSoK7uTFWInA3dZxFEdYwuonNQ2wb7Y/s1600-h/Mirror's+Edge.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Josh Korr (<a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/korr-values.html">previously</a>) puts in a quick word about Feature Innovation and how it fails to push the industry forward. Read the article <a href="http://korrvalues.com/hard-korr-gamer-the-archive/april-2006/eas-very-gradual-innovation/">here</a>. This quote encapsulates the problem nicely:</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"...if video game writing remains cliched and bad, more believable faces won’t make a game any better."</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This mentality, (improving features, rather than franchises), has its roots in a very understandable problem: the technology that videogames rely on is </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">constantly</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> changing; but, it still doesn't forgive the industry's inability to recruit real talent in the areas that count.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The only way to accommodate the medium's reliance on technology, is to craft art that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">outlasts the hardware behind it</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></div></span></div><div><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While I support Korr and his complaints about the industry entirely, this particular stab at EA predates their involvement with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror's_Edge"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Mirror's Edge</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, a very flawed and 2-dimensional game that nonetheless carried its weight in </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2008/nov/14/gameculture-playstation1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">innovation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI_DgtKdpHUvOVbULDuFxqiIBh1AFli41l7LsfDbsenAdug02dWEAPe5Q67TnG6UH29m46oT0VchLiKsNIxKtgeSoWaneS9SnUnBEs2owyM1KdSoK7uTFWInA3dZxFEdYwuonNQ2wb7Y/s400/Mirror's+Edge.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301724773241646610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px; " /></span></div></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-5659510355217754862009-02-11T14:38:00.000-08:002009-02-12T01:42:07.967-08:00Breakdown: The Videogame Medium<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'm going to try to consolidate some of my ideas on the whole videogames-as-art idea. I realize a lot of my earlier posts have some contradictions, and I'd like to solidify all of the things I've been talking about, (previously: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/as-of-today-videogames-have-yet-to.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames Vs High Art</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/single-largest-issue-that-plagues-game.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Videogame Industry</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/videogame-auteur.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Videogame Auteur</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/diversity-of-videogames-as-art-form.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Diversity of Videogames as an Art Form</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-discovered-recently-that-it-can-be.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gameplay</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">) </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'll try to break it down as succinctly as possible. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If you happened to actually </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">read </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the earlier posts you'll notice a lot of overlap. My suggestion is to start here first. Ideally, it will be a lot more straightforward.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First off, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames as Art</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames are not considered Art. They are considered entertainment. Film began in much the same way, but eventually proved itself as a medium capable of great artistry. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What differentiates cinema from interactive media?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I believe the most potent issue, is that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames lack significant auteurship</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Every other medium is propelled by the presence of visionary artists who create personal and unique work, (not to mention tasteful, relevant, and intellectual).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I can count the number of true videogame auteurs on one hand.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I insinuated one very important ingredient, but failed to mention it explicitly. The significant presence of true and recognizable Auteurship will garner the attention of true and recognizable critique (as opposed to review).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Which brings me to my next idea...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames that Model </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Other</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Art Forms:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">With auteurship as a standard, or at least an expectation of the medium, we have to decide how videogames are critiqued.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Many games will (and do) resemble other forms of art. Therefore, the criteria for analysis will be similar to that of the medium they aspire to. (There simply aren't any videogame writers who compare to Melville, or videogame directors who compare to Kubrick. In addition gameplay rarely serves the narrative, and instead dilutes it). </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While videogames do model other forms of art, they </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">are</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> unique, and as such their differences must be taken into account. Interactive Media's most notable and defining singularity is the players ability to manipulate the medium.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Which leads to...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Player Input</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gameplay is the area where videogames need to grow </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">most</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. The secondary elements of the medium will always draw upon other forms of art, and as such, these elements are not really limited by the nature of videogames. They are limited by the ineptitude of the industry's writers, directors, voice actors and other artists.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Player input in and of itself has kept interactive media from being 'High Art'.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ebert's </span><a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070721/COMMENTARY/70721001"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">condemnation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> of player control represents only the most notable of countless similar criticisms: </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control"</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the one hand it is my belief that an artist </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">can</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> have authorial control in a videogame. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We can see the clear signs of authorial control in works like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe's_Exoddus"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oddworld: Abes Exodus</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(Oddworld)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stranger's Wrath</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Colossus"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Shadow of the Colossus</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness_(game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Heart of Darkness</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, etc. These 'authors' simply don't compare to the auteurs of other art forms, (however much we might like their stories).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand, I believe that player input will one day rival authorial control. Games like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echochrome"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Echochrome</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Braid</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> show the artistic and intellectual value of gameplay, while something like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlOw"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">flOw</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> attests to the plasticity of 'gameplay'. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_big_planet"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Little Big Planet</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> capitalizes on classic gameplay conventions while perfecting a kind of virtual Lego Land. Jason Rohrer (</span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/jason-rohrer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">previously</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">), on the other hand, uses mechanics to evoke ideas and emotions as powerful as those of any film.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Not one of these examples compares to the level of auteurship present in other mediums, but each and every one attests to the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">potential</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> videogames have to both model and rival today's definition of 'High Art'. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Final Word:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So what does it all mean? How does it come together? What's keeping videogames down? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'll try to sum things up for you as best I can:</span></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The auteur needs to comandeer the videogame medium</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. That's the first step. This will lead to a shift in audience. The current generation of hard core gamers, nerds, geeks, what have you, will be either left behind, or converted. The shift will also attract real critics.<br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Where videogames model other art, they need to model it successfully</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. I believe this requires the cohesion of narrative and gameplay. In the case of visual art and other non-linear mediums, the guidelines are more plastic. (This step is entirely dependent on the first step).</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Where videogames differ from other art, they need to differ with comparable auteurship</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. In order for videogames to transcend their name, they must move beyond their twitchy, trigger happy roots. Gameplay must evolve. People like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Will Wright</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(2008_video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Spore</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">), </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Rohrer"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jason Rohrer</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (</span><a href="http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Passage</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">), </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenova_Chen"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jenova Chen</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlOw"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">flOw</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">), and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorne_Lanning"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lorne Lanning</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddworld#Gamespeak"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oddworld</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">) have helped to broaden our ideas of what a 'mechanic' can be, but we still have a long way to go.</span><br /></li></ol></div></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-78533403651059058602009-02-10T20:09:00.000-08:002009-02-24T21:36:14.575-08:00Nobi Nobi Boy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrdiBr5A1_DDv3THkx6tVJvDzf5vJYF4Yb__zTiL3n5bvzbAeVRasvZbOUb2GySAqTPmvJAeN-fABqsQw0SQJaVKnVDXH2TPwvqDut-0XEe8P_6uukHJy1ef_T7Ef1NSJXhyhiGV8fq0/s1600-h/Son.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Game director </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keita_Takahashi"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Keita Takahashi</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, creator of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Katamari Damacy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, has a new project in development called Noby Noby Boy (or </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Nobi Nob</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">i</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Boy depending on your romanization). </span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPifQRnDTvE6qYxbizsYyKPE1jJ6E_Khjk7Dnf25RjQEuOT-t3VY-EcPyHKHCGH0v7tmbqQbiPUeNY5JYgHHDTlduLFHftI6EhP9RyBIp6trcd4v7BbRlbPGfqzpoF97i7T-wD1ab_ckg/s400/Nobi+Nobi+Boy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301412189728597426" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px; " /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The game features innovative gameplay and centers around having fun, like its predecessor, Katamari. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Keita Takahashi is a good example of a videogame auteur; one whose work </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">doesn't</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> aspire to the criteria of other art forms. His games are far from High Art, (as he admits openly in this </span><a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060525/sheffield_01.shtml"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">interview</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">), but the innovative mechanics and singular aesthetic of Katamari Damacy have been used again and again as an example of the medium's artistic potential.</span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexXb40eVm0i5nmHqW34CAfbfxn_kNqj9QB7wc0znuuG4nqPbPkkNfRtW1si9kurY1mazWR0JL1XPRGdhoTOPYmL1FbZE2g8ZGqMrL7ivWgFnHo_NRllHwgvQ9bNoVVLDOKWRY9lK1j54/s400/Katamari+Damacy.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301416201392006418" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 324px; " /></span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I've always seen a similarity between Takahashi's work and the work of artist collective </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_With_You"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Friends With You</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, (Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III). For me, games like Katamari and the upcoming Noby Noby Boy show how the sensibilities of visual art can permeate a videogame.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3kG0DCpaN9P-0Tk3XKa_GjyufxVYen7HOhcQI2Fw22DEZXCjJFLUy50Z4kXmA7h52F8Rd_FEi3rF0WLm3RMwsjvviFrL2wdAaVYMR_QvHFrtHANwDDUqantbg094Y2iplRVLFqa0FBzo/s200/Friends+With+You.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301419829405561890" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 200px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrdiBr5A1_DDv3THkx6tVJvDzf5vJYF4Yb__zTiL3n5bvzbAeVRasvZbOUb2GySAqTPmvJAeN-fABqsQw0SQJaVKnVDXH2TPwvqDut-0XEe8P_6uukHJy1ef_T7Ef1NSJXhyhiGV8fq0/s200/Son.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301420094007136034" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 200px; " /></span></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-60813308410054870252009-02-10T16:18:00.000-08:002009-02-11T09:17:55.373-08:00Korr Values<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This </span><a href="http://korrvalues.com/hard-korr-gamer-the-archive/december-2005/video-games-as-art-prelude-why-roger-ebert-is-right/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, by </span><a href="http://www.publish2.com/journalists/josh-korr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Josh Korr,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> investigates much of the videogame issues I've been talking about. He's got about a three year head start, and his ideas are both compelling and succinct. <br /><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The article is largely a response to Roger Ebert's statement about videogames as art (</span><a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070721/COMMENTARY/70721001"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is an extended 'conversation' between Ebert and artist </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_barker"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clive Barker</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">):</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“…I did indeed consider video games inherently inferior to film and literature. There is a structural reason for that: Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I am prepared to believe that video games can be elegant, subtle, sophisticated, challenging and visually wonderful. But I believe the nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship to the stature of art. To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers.”</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Josh Korr goes on to examine some of the inferiorities that Ebert insinuated in his statement:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"First, he is responding to the fact that right now, the player choices and evolving storylines are more like a Choose Your Own Adventure book than anything else. That is, the “story” consists not of illuminating interactions with others or with the character’s own thoughts or imagination; not of original dialogue that brings out the characters’ personalities and journeys or highlights the greater themes in play; not of landscapes and scene shots or descriptions that underpin the greater theme or symbolism of the work; not of asides from the author that do all of the above or take you out of the work for whatever reason."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But he also touches on the nature of criticism itself, and focuses a lot of his four-part discussion on the singularity of gameplay as artistic criteria.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"It’s pretty clear as Ebert says (admittedly with little knowledge of actual games) that the vast majority of video games thus far are inferior to the dominant forms of narrative art according to the accepted measures of assessing that art."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">People like Jason Rohrer (</span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/jason-rohrer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">previously</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) accentuate some of the ways in which videogames warrant their own criteria. I believe that player input can be just as evocative as 'authorial control'. The problem is that few videogame auteurs are comparable to the auteurs of other art forms: subsequently player control, the medium's defining aspect, is seen as a detriment to it's artistic potential. On a simplified level Jason Rohrer has proved this: his games show how player input can evoke emotions as complex as those evoked by any other medium.</span></span></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); line-height: 16px; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:12px;"><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:16px;"> </span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:16px;"> </span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:16px;"> </span></p></span></div></div></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-36159538381949326022009-02-10T00:08:00.001-08:002009-02-12T01:59:47.685-08:00LMNO<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe44ll6xGDfW3zwaBxWSiM_vPilVsNdHwCTx2Urt_Jnw6IJQcJ_sDDRtG8h3wmq6q76N0v2Q0hdg8BbAAn6DZOv5KmPaNNcmGvH8dkqpq2eBTGBt0a21M9U3Wr5eeC7xuhVQVcDjJxs10/s1600-h/North+by+Northwest.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also mentioned in the Rohrer article is an upcoming game directed by Steven Spielgberg. 'LMNO' is described as E.T meets North By North West. The game has been championed as the first major videogame in which gameplay focuses on a relationship, namely </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"a touching and ever-changing relationship between you and a mysterious female character who holds the key to many futures."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); line-height: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe44ll6xGDfW3zwaBxWSiM_vPilVsNdHwCTx2Urt_Jnw6IJQcJ_sDDRtG8h3wmq6q76N0v2Q0hdg8BbAAn6DZOv5KmPaNNcmGvH8dkqpq2eBTGBt0a21M9U3Wr5eeC7xuhVQVcDjJxs10/s400/North+by+Northwest.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301262414322858818" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">According to EA: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"LMNO is in development at EALA under the creative leadership of Doug Church (Creative Director) and Lou Castle (Executive Producer)," the publisher stated. No concrete timeframe has been provided for the release of LMNO.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I forgot to mention that Rohrer is acting as Spielberg's consultant throughout the game's development. While I'm not fond of Spielberg's films, I have a good deal of faith that this project will be interesting and well executed. I think the fact that he began his foray into the medium with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Blox"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Boom Blox</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, a physics based game likened to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenga"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jenga</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, shows that he's taking steps to understand it at it's most fundamental levels.</span></span></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-87994080975273230112009-02-09T22:42:00.000-08:002009-02-10T17:16:23.208-08:00Jason Rohrer<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here is a very cogent and interesting </span><a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2008/future-of-video-game-design-1208"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> about independent game creator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Rohrer"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jason Rohrer</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. <br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Writer </span><a href="http://www.jasonfagone.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jason Fagone</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> echos many of the complaints and ideas about videogames I've started to explore, and goes on to postulate many many more.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Game companies have spent so many years trying to make skulls explode complexly and water ripple prettily that they haven't invested any time in learning how to make games that are as emotionally dense as the best novels and films."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The article touches on auteurship and the industry, (with a few testaments to the upper echelons of the development hierarchy), but it focuses heavily on the man himself.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Why can't we make a game that fucking </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">means something</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">? A game that </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">matters</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">? You know? We wonder all the time if games are art, if computers can make you cry, and all that. Stop wondering. The answer is yes to both. Here's a game that made me cry. It did. It really did."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">-Clint Hocking (a Ubisoft Designer) speaks at a </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Developer's Conference about Rohrer's games</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"> </div><div><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I've been talking a lot about gameplay, and Rohrer is perhaps the best example of someone who crafts evocative and emotional mechanics.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rohrer is trying to make art in a medium that most people </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">don't even think is capable of art."</span></span></span></i></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXW8o2fvZgBmnRQ3a-V7Yz8_2EWeQI026UMvYEL9B3BASLDwQ3PlMv6PboSbrkjNBeqrifUHKLcd5ecBZ-NQS4q7CfNJJCsW-I-7H6BMHruHz9JqK6GfWUGO7LUrH9ps5cMIz5BRPwQ88/s200/Jason+Rohrer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301069778070715234" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 130px; " /></span><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> The first page of the article focuses on the game </span><a href="http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Passage</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, a simplistic pixelated adventure "about the inevitability of death". Jason Rohrer doesn't realize these philosophical ideas with cinematic bookends or dialogue boxes; his games are far from arresting: he evokes deep emotions through </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">mechanics</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For instance, one of his more recent games hinges on the idea that </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Mistakes you make, early on, haunt you through some game mechanic later." </span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rohrer's games, (which are less than a 10 minutes long) also bring into question the videogame experience itself. A game doesn't need to absorb 10-15 hours of your time. It can be thoughtful and engaging without consuming your life. </span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A game like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Portal</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> provides another example of a more thoughtful and less extensive gameplay experience. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family:Georgia;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoLsxtZYPNYWQ06DdOBOOV-SDNieQlxi2bJgpQLF1BFGqThWhlZIrUy_0yzSA1ir_0Y8B-fIGYer75EMUQJsS7UM1kk3FhI0Wi9YQQQV8pEwz9YTZ_9VHjbPp4znx2k_LNhqrwdM_2Po/s400/Portal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301072542643541794" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jason Rohrer is an interesting and compelling figure that seems to be pushing the medium forward almost effortlessly. His games accentuate the fact that gameplay is more than point-and-shoot; it's simply another way to experience art. I have yet to play his games, but I plan to make a donation...his family subsists off 14k a year. Here's a link to his </span><a href="http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">site</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></p></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-65476195882546421692009-02-09T22:13:00.001-08:002009-02-10T00:06:17.671-08:00More Gameplay<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I Forgot to mention another title that utilizes thought provoking mechanics on a basic level. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Braid</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> is a downloadable game created by independent developer </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Blow"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jonathan Blow</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. Like Echochrome it extrapolates on old videogame conventions. At first glance it differs little from Donkey Kong or Mario, (save the creative design and painterly visuals); but the gameplay really hinges on the ability to 'rewind' your actions. Creator Jonathan Blow carefully crafts an experience that questions both the nature of gaming mechanics and of time itself.</span><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbjWlOVs2DGbkKqmRkWtNISnVqYPQsNVQe2CK2MUsKtoBho5_0f68ZzXgR-2DG6_LxkQ6NtMM3PXnL49IpFwfA6KN-_beXOVHWSQwFYeWJl1mTdhaj5fYhibUeaGKSlFi1VYQorUU_zA/s400/Braid.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301054267029444498" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px; " /></span></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-3996959452822035772009-02-08T22:39:00.001-08:002009-02-11T17:34:04.309-08:00Gameplay<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Read </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">this</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> more recent post first.<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After posting the about the </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/jason-rohrer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rohrer article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> I want to clarify my stance on gameplay mechanics. Storyline and gameplay should meld. There should be little or no distinction between the narrative elements and the elements of 'mechanics'; a game like Gears of War epitomizes the antithesis of this idea. In GoW, the gameplay is 1-dimensional and only motivation, is to kill everything in sight; while the 'story' is told through interstitial cinematics. There is virtually no interplay between narrative and gameplay. Ideally the evocative elements of narrative are told </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">through</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> gameplay, like Rohrer's games.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">________</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the past couple of days I've realized that it can be difficult to visualize the potential gameplay has as an artistic medium. This isn't a difficulty I've experienced myself, but one that other people have expressed to me.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Today more than ever, people are willing to admit that videogames can be art. Games like Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Katamari Damacy, and even Killer7 have cemented the fact that videogames can at least be artistic.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCOFKZpkgHPS6dKCDI9M3E0x1iG-Gq1PZGISFUcXjZK_7TYyLC9HZNsQDYYCKc_CNUlXPwUSpsWSHs7C0Ac2u_WhyfN1K0jKfx96NbGUP3HkdfbaciHo57WYa-63Ovj5vLxXvmCssMRrI/s400/Colossal+Katamari.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300688948175298146" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 369px; " /></span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">All of these games are visually arresting, and most of them are well-conceived. As far as player input goes, however, not one of them breaks the mold (except perhaps Katamari). evocative mechanics are virtually nonexistent. Not surprisingly enough, people often have a hard time conceptualizing how </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">gameplay</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">mechanics </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">can achieve a level of artistry. </span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfR6J7tD-uNyJ3LduiUISTCBnsDch9wBPxPeJtfyjGSNnAxUrNWvR3sPCQKy0MvKD_eiWdfNc9hWxqHdt_JF5k5rNZKsgshdyD_dfX6xhqF0ffiUNNUekWKA16viTj7gPlrF6bpirZO38/s200/Echochrome+.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300698712977294178" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 200px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the simplest level, I'd use the game </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echochrome"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Echochrome</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> as an example. This is a game clearly rooted in the conventions of the puzzle genre; however, the gameplay really centers around perspective and optical illusion. Only by moving the camera angle can you complete each puzzle. Imagine being able to manipulate one of Escher's drawings and you're as close to playing Echochrome as you can get. This is a game that subtly brings into question the nature of perception, without the aid of a singe dialogue box or quicktime event. The gameplay </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">itself</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> is thoughtful and provocative. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Echochrome provides an apt example of artistic gameplay mechanics, but it barely scratches the surface of what player input can truly mean.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I have another example that exemplifies some of the potentials for player input. Imagine one of the Ethicist's Moral Dilemas. You stand on bridge above a railroad track. A train is coming at a steady pace, and a family with their children stands almost directly beneath the bridge in the center of the track. In front of you is a lever that will divert the track, sending the train off a cliff, a large man stands a few feet away, looking straight ahead down the long train track. If you pull the lever, all of the passengers will surely die from the fall. If you do nothing the family will be instantly crushed by the train. yelling down to them would do no good, as the wind is howling and the distance from the bridge to the ground is so great. The third option is to push the man off the edge of the bridge in the hopes that his body will either slow the train or alert the family. Chances are both the family and the passengers would be unharmed, but the man would surely die.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This kind of dilemma doesn't make for an engaging game, and certainly not a very long one, but it does typify the powerful and thought provoking potential of gameplay mechanics. Player input allows for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">choice.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKy1zEbcv6ICblDsMPaL9uBldHSPPPpYM4sgJXfgaC8sLfAJeOZPQfFab2Z5z1Fcy0o5DdvgGc8P_3Tj3wXjX4RqU3Pf6NflZ8rHMbQHsWZHPYLNKSC_4nzSyIYMx4-VaZ-uWw0BMSxeM/s200/Abe.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300723316468095730" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 200px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Games like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bioshock</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> & the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddworld:_Abe%27s_Oddysee"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oddworld</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> series, provide a cursory example of the kind of decisions a videogame can offer. Both games allow for a single variable (essentially, are you capable of murder - or not?), and then provide alternate endings as a 'consequence' of your actions. It's a satisfying and intelligent gimmick, but it's far from revolutionizing the way that a player interacts with the art form. </span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand we have titles like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV:_Oblivion"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oblivion</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Fable</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, and other contemporary Role Playing Games, in which the variables are countless, but the consequences are essentially meaningless. These games tout massive engines and groundbreaking AI, but fail to provide any kind of contextual weight. They ultimately lack the story and artistic direction that lends meaning and gravity to choice.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">_________</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Videogames are essentially a rudimentary form of virtual reality, and the gameplay mechanics of today are really actions that the player simulates using a controller. As of now they remain repetitive and largely violent actions, but they are actions nonetheless. Ultimately gameplay can be any action at all. A conversation can be a 'gameplay mechanic', just as point-and-shoot is a gameplay mechanic. </span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Today games are built around these mechanics and then marketed as linear narratives. Gameplay is patterned and multiplied, ever so slightly varied, and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">voila</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. Slap on a storyline, some two-bit voice acting, and you've got yourself a blockbuster product. Games like Gears of War and Halo, are quintessential examples of the Interactive Entertainment Industry's attitude towards gameplay.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbb1ZP2i51eeFpiWARkTgsA_XjPh8I0GOt7Qd8SZQvRnTmIEjqRY1AHGUKYbrva1ZpQHID2rZuWXLWZY6S6tZXhIxVgJgHCXVZhr5hX__sUXGUP1hq-ofM-njJPwMFd1t60SATPboeX4/s400/Gears+Of+War.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300923619540437282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 245px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ideally, gameplay and storyline should meld. There should be no single gameplay 'mechanic' so to speak. The player should control their avatar, and simulate the actions that he/she/it/they are capable of. In this way, any 'mechanic' derives only from the context of the story. The narrative should provide motivation for the characters actions, and those actions should catalyze the narrative progression. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For instance: you take on the role of a farmer. You have abilities like picking up objects, interacting with objects (that you know how to use), walking, running, climbing etc, etc. These abilities never change, but the storyline, the setting, and the objects around you do. The mechanic is not the focus, only the way that your abilities adapt based on context and locale. If your farmer finds himself in the underbelly of NYC, his skills might have totally different outcome: for example, his familiarity with farming implements back home might help him fend off muggers in the subway station. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">More importantly, your farmers abilities should reflect his motivations and progress the storyline. For instance, you might get a manual labor job in the city in the hopes of earning enough to pay the way home. Gameplay decisions might also elicit emotions normally absent from videogames: your farmer might be motivated to murder someone, for instance. The ensuing guilt would provide an altogether different motivation and might ultimately bring the story to a close.</span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The game </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(Oddworld)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stranger's Wrath</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, created by independent studio </span><a href="http://www.oddworld.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oddworld Inhabitants</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, begins to explore narrative gameplay shifts like this. Halfway through the game, your character is compelled to reveal his true identity, drastically altering his motivations, the story, and the underlying gameplay mechanics. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8cN3UU93vMmuZgMLl_my9btxGJhSVkzlbQDmqcWnJ0qAGPARnbVpe7K1xI8IPi3iQltX1ap_zbpRl-77JvNp5MPaJp4BYl1nlX-XYCK_BlHa4vB7XL5fS-N6h2YjiaW-G_8tBK8CAs/s400/Stranger.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300982607175492178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 219px; " /></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ultimately, gameplay should become more plastic. Rather than focusing on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">mechanic, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">it should focus on motivation, context, and emotion. <br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(On a side note, a character might learn new skills or abilities based on the progression of the story line, but this should not be the convention that it is today. it's only logical for a character to expand their abilities if the narrative necessitates it.)</span></p> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-13723506072686125632009-02-08T18:54:00.000-08:002009-02-11T17:33:29.832-08:00Diversity of Videogames as an Art Form<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj126_H0OlaBqHSbdhsOjrud9n8mFEajGotF2XzL3oK9wrutdtF5vZIy_28OygILSNVHRsrGk9zWGl-83Ei9_oiW8AcM8k58sEy4dzWKNfubVhMj3FEF5H4KfY_2f3PawEGMd31bAsfSaQ/s1600-h/Little+Big+Planet.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Read </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">this</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> more recent post first.<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I just wanted to clarify a few things. So far I've been focusing almost all my analysis on narrative based games, but narrative is by no means the end all of videogames as an art form. The single most defining aspect of Interactive Media is the novelty of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">player input. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Unified by that singularity,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> a videogame can be nonlinear or abstract; it can be similar to painting, to literature or to music; in short it is a virtual representation of reality itself. A videogame is as broad as art itself. </span><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As long as videogames model other art forms, the presence of an auteur is necessary, but not all videogames </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">do</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> model other art forms. The game </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LittleBigPlanet"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Little Big Planet</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, created by british company </span><a href="http://www.mediamolecule.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Media Molecule</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, is far closer to Lego</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">than it is to Mario. The game offers the player with an indelible set of user-friendly tools and the ability to create their own sidescrolling levels. Little Big Planet represents the apex of user-creation in videogames, and there was no one auteur behind it - is it a piece of art? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj126_H0OlaBqHSbdhsOjrud9n8mFEajGotF2XzL3oK9wrutdtF5vZIy_28OygILSNVHRsrGk9zWGl-83Ei9_oiW8AcM8k58sEy4dzWKNfubVhMj3FEF5H4KfY_2f3PawEGMd31bAsfSaQ/s400/Little+Big+Planet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301261328791508978" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 205px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Games like LBP push the medium forward, but they also bring into question the definition of art itself. In order to understand the underlying form of videogames, I think it's best to start with games that model other media. Thus far I've focused on narrative games, and I've drawn an analogue with film, but videogames are conducive of many other existing art forms.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I've always been fascinated by the idea of videogames in a gallery setting, for example. Each piece depicts a different space envisioned and meticulously developed by the artist and his small team. Lights dimmed. controllers? headsets? motion sensors? Mo-cap actors and programmers mingle with art critics and painters at the opening reception. </span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How does player input manifest itself in a videogame modeled after visual art? Games like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">flOw</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, by the group </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(video_game)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That Game Company</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, might give you an idea. <br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjFpjOx75YANRGe-xqe3rHKcPMRRvF9MYcExCVLYa8B3rlZNWZ-F-KJaqvViJteYH3UduqcjP-Ucu1R4S_Y7VMKPuYmCS4LGH3g7ul0FamWRGb3rkYNbwy-B1KLWXI0GupvbPm2fT9eY/s400/flOw.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300683165249029090" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 203px; " /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-69176510380520166732009-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:002009-02-11T17:32:53.110-08:00The Videogame Auteur<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Read </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">this</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> more recent post first.</span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The role of the Videogame Director can be most aptly compared to that of the Film Director. <br /><br />The visual nature of the medium immediately likens videogames to cinema, but the more fundamental analogue lies within the developmental process of each respective art form. Both interactive media and film rely on assemblages of disparate talent. The realization of a single videogame or a single movie requires the cooperation, and more importantly, the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">cohesion</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of tens or even hundreds of individuals each trained in separate and often alien fields. <br /><br />In film, it became the role of the Director to focus the collaborative effort, and ensure the artistic quality of the final product. As members of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Nouvelle Vague</span> asserted, the director should always attempt to channel his/her personal vision into the final product. In a sense, the artistic responsibility was shifted from industry to the individual: In Truffaut's words "there are no bad films, only bad directors." Today, film relies heavily on the artistic vision of the director, at least on a superficial level: the role of the director has been elevated and expanded, in part due to the efforts and ideas of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Cahiers Du Cinema</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. <br /><br />However, it is easier for a director to leave his/her imprint on a film than on a videogame. While both mediums rely on the collaboration, it is both more extensive and more essential to the production of a videogame. The various facets that contribute to the structural backbone of a videogame are also more disparate. Subsequently, the director of interactive media has a more varied role, and it becomes harder to realize his/her vision in the final product. <br /><br />For instance, the film director's 'canvas' is less complicated than that of the videogame director. Auteur Theory states that a director should utilize </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">mis en scéne </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">to imprint and perfect his/her particular style. Truffaut and other members of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Cahiers </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">charged that the directer be responsible for all visual aspects of the scene, from props, to lighting, to the positioning of the actors themselves. It was often argued that the director should use his camera as the artist does his pen. By arranging the visual aspects of each scene, a director can channel his/her vision both wholly and immediately. <br />The videogame director, on the other hand, cannot. Because the 'scenes' in a videogame occupy a virtual space, every aspect must be designed. Even the 'actors' in a videogame must be designed. Other visual facets of the medium, such as lighting, the positioning of the actors, and the camera itself, must be programmed. The diversification of responsibility that occurs in the creation of a single 'scene' in a videogame is staggering. The best videogame directors will strive to saturate each area of the development process with their unique vision. In other words they will have to direct in more distinctly disparate areas than a filmmaker: they will direct the animators, they will direct the concept artists, they will direct the programers. Ideally the videogame director will actually be responsible for some of these developmental roles. <br /><br />While the videogame director should never be </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">required</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> to participate in every tier of the developmental process, he/she should always attempt to preserve and perfect a unique vision in the final product. In this sense the videogame director should utilize </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">mis en scene </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in the same way that the auteur of film does. The videogame director should strive to personalize each 'scene' through constant involvement in the complex developmental process.</span><br /></div><div> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"> </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"> </p></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-17575082733653487202009-02-06T21:15:00.000-08:002009-02-11T17:31:50.248-08:00The Videogame Industry<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Read </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">this</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> more recent post.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The single largest issue that plagues game development today is the lack of artistic intent.<br /><br />Rather than the creativity of individuals, it is </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">industry </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">that propels the videogame medium. While the economic sector still has a hand in music and film, (evidenced by corporate entities like Hollywood & the Music Recording Industry) the degree of influence business has on videogame development is unparalleled.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />To fully understand the issue, one must have at least a cursory knowledge of the game industry. In order to develop a videogame, a Game Developer must recieve a publishing deal with a Game Publisher. The Developer must then purchase a development kit, (usually for one of the consoles he plans to develop </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">for</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">). However, in order to get the publishing deal, the Developer must have a history of console developments. It's cyclical at best, and bureaucratic at worst. One can see the underlying trend without understanding the industry's nuances: videogame development is an insiders playing field, and the insiders are not artists but businessmen.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Publisher is essentially at the top of the creative ladder. More often than not it is the Publisher who orchestrates and initiates a videogame's development. Game Producers are now an industry standard, but their main objective is far more executive than it is artistic. More detrimental still, the publisher commonly maintains creative control (to a variable degree). The result is that marketing interests, trends permeate the creative process. Unlike film, which has been largely liberated by filmmakers, videogame development is rarely overseen by an artist. The creative process is so diversified, so nebulous, and ultimately so corporate, that it lacks any significant auteurship. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The position that a videogame auteur </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">would </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">occupy is best defined as a videogame Director, (a title almost universally absent from western games). The videogame Director, held to the same standards as the auteur of film, the author of literature, or even the painter of paintings, is essential to forwarding videogames as an artistic medium.<br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-1523888504319584002009-02-05T23:13:00.002-08:002009-02-11T17:32:13.794-08:00Videogames vs High Art<div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">UPDATE: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Read </span><a href="http://gamenewwave.blogspot.com/2009/02/breakdown-videogames-as-medium.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">this</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> more recent post first.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As of today, videogames have yet to transcend their name: They remain a plaything in the eyes of society. Their growing audience does little to strengthen their cultural importance - only their economic legitimacy. While their capacity for artistic merit has grown harder and harder to deny, it will be a while before videogames become a part of High Culture.<br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Which begs the question "why?" What has separated, and continues to separate videogames from literature, music, film and fine art? Many members of the online community have nodded their heads at critics, arguing that videogames have been neglected through the elitism of high culture. Others have focused on the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">type</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> of critics native to the gaming world, condemning their criteria, their credo or their credentials. On the other side of the fence, public figures and critics alike argue that videogames are essentially unworthy of critique.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The answer, however, is more complicated. Respected critics have indeed lambasted interactive media, the “critics” of the game world have focused more on review than analysis, and ultimately it’s true that videogames have been excluded from the cultural canon. Each argument has a semblance of truth to it – more than a semblance, in some cases – however, the most important facet lies in the form of videogames themselves. The underlying structure of the videogame as a piece of art is undeveloped and flawed. This blog will (hopefully) serve as a place to outline these foibles and how they must change.</span></span><br /></span></div>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478043521669869335.post-89557163934704163342009-02-05T22:21:00.001-08:002009-02-08T18:27:51.769-08:00Disclaimer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;">I'd like to start with a bit of a preface, or perhaps more of a disclaimer. As of now this blog is basically a thought experiment. In many ways it's like a research project. I say this mostly to excuse the lack of citations, indices, and other hallmarks of true essay writing. I will be revising and re-revising as I go along, so input will be taken very seriously.</span></span><br /></span>Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927680473577654370noreply@blogger.com0