Video games as art

13

Comments

  • edited June 2008
    it's funny because the graphics look cool but they're so very, very simple. It's well worth the $20, Jake. Funny and fun to play. Short but longer than a movie, interactive, and a decent ish price.
  • edited June 2008
    I have trouble imagining video games as art. I can clearly see how a landscape or narrative from a game can be art, but to me, that's more like a different form of painting or writing than the game itself being art. It's entirely possible I haven't played the right game (I'll download that Passage game at a more reasonable hour), but nothing so far has managed to use the interactivity of games in what I feel would be an artistic way. Games are defined by their interactivity, an artistic game would have to make use of that; otherwise it'd just be an artistic story.

    Even with all that I still have a hard time imagining of a video game as art. The game making process involves so many different people and steps that I can imagine the original artist's vision getting hopelessly muddled and lost between his initial idea and the released product. To me, an artistic game would have to be made entirely by one man or a small, like-minded group. Weird thing is, I consider movies an artistic medium and they go through a similar process to get made. I think it's because I can easily look at the director as the artist, everyone working on the film does exactly what he says and nothing is lost in translation between designers, publishers, and coders. I'm not as sure how games are made. Is there a single guy-in-charge that oversees the whole process from start to finish? If so than I just don't think I've played the right game yet.
  • godgod
    edited June 2008
    Wow, I just downloaded passage. One of the biggest shocks to me was seeing him bald and realizing that he was old. I hadn't even realized it was happening. After that, you know that you and your wife are old and will die soon, but the death comes out of nowhere, and you aren't even ready for it.
  • edited June 2008
    When my wife suddenly died, I couldn't just keep going... I had to sit at her grave for a while... I just couldn't leave her without a moment of reflection.
  • edited July 2008
    *Bumb*
    Amoeba Boy wrote: »
    The game making process involves so many different people and steps that I can imagine the original artist's vision getting hopelessly muddled and lost between his initial idea and the released product.

    It's the problem with so many promising games that end up being less than their consept sugests. Writers and artists, by nature will have somewhat conflicting ideas of fine art. When these ideas (or rather the art/media that is influenced by them) come together, it doesn't really mix into the media, or mix of medias, we call video games. too well. And of course the game suffers from having it's components separated. This activates the consumer's suck'dar©. But he or she probily does't really know exactly why it sucked*

    HOWEVER: ask any game director/cordiator why their game sucked and they'll always blame it on limited time, so you could chose to believe them instead of me:(
    after all E.T. was made in only a week

    usually (and unfortunately) this is fixed (whether intentional or not) by haveing one type of art take over. ie. writing, scenic/beauty, marketing (sports games to jocks), and sometimes even ideas. An example of this is mace, it has no story line exept what you can scrape outa the charater descriptons and pre-fight trash talking. Instead the progamers made every thing awsome, so thats the art the game focuses on. That's right awsome is hereby an art form. :smiley with face so stuned, it implodes:
    And of course some games actualy are able to balance their elements to acheive things that none could alone-
    -JUST KIDDING

    *A +3 to die roll of all professional reveiwers.

    Also, this post is largely influenced by Scott McCloud, whom I endorse.
  • edited July 2008
    Did Scott McCloud ever talk about video games?

    Also, I find it highly amusing that you like Mace so much. I've never played it, but it doesn't seem like the game that anyone would hold up as a paradigm of awesomeness... I mean, it's a basic fighting game, right?
  • edited July 2008
    I believe my point can be best proven by this here British guy.
    The part that I'm quoting is 0:55 - 1:48.

  • edited July 2008
    Did Scott McCloud ever talk about video games?

    Also, I find it highly amusing that you like Mace so much. I've never played it, but it doesn't seem like the game that anyone would hold up as a paradigm of awesomeness... I mean, it's a basic fighting game, right?

    How does this guy keep saying all this cool stuff...
    I mean... wow...
  • edited July 2008
    How does this guy keep saying all this cool stuff...
    I mean... wow...

    Are you referring to the British guy?
  • edited July 2008
    no,
    And which one?...

    EDIT: OH. the video? I ignored that.
  • edited July 2008
    Nope, I'm totally lost. My first impression of your post was that you felt that I was attacking you. If that's what you felt, I was not, it only amuses me. If that's not what you felt... well, then I'm really confused.
  • edited July 2008
    By the way the full commentary of Half-Life that guy posted is quite interesting, and if you're interested in artistic video games then you should probably watch it.
  • edited July 2008
    I was saying that your your post was awesome (and pretty spot on)
  • edited July 2008
    Oh... well, thanks?

    Also, I'm still curious about Scott McCloud. I really liked "Understanding Comics," but did he do any work on video games?
  • edited July 2008
    I don't think he did anything with video games but there is a newer book of his called Reinventing Comics.
  • edited July 2008
    No, that would be cool though. I was talking about Scott's general theorys on art and how I basicly just applyed chapter six to games.
    EDIT:
    Hmm... you respond too quickly, are you sure your completely human?

    EDIT 2:
    To be clear, I was talking about how NoLonger beat me to responding.
    Also he did a much better job
  • edited July 2008
    I was completely human.

    Hey, this made me think... I've got a new topic of conversation. I'm making a new thread.
  • edited July 2008
    Yay! Off-topic-ness once again births a topic all of own.
  • edited July 2008
    By the way illithid235, is the term pear-shaped (insinuating things getting bad) a slang term? The guy in the commentary says it quite a lot and I was wondering if it came from Brittan.
  • edited July 2008
    Well...... it might be. I'm from the Chicago area, so I don't really know British slang that well. Night Lord would be the one to ask on that.

    Do I seem British or something? Because that would be awesome.
  • edited July 2008
    Lol, I remember one time way back when I was around 13, someone guessed that I was 21. That was awesome.

    EDIT! I meant here on the forums. By here, I mean inksandwich.
  • edited March 2011
    I don't know if this is old news, but the Smithsonian is doing an exhibition on the art of video games and you can vote online on which video games you think should be shown. http://www.artofvideogames.org/
  • edited March 2011
    MADDEN
  • edited March 2011
    Obviously, but which year?
  • edited March 2011
    Madden 36 B.C.
  • edited March 2011
    What console was that on?
  • edited March 2011
    The Atareks 5201. Alongside Space Gar.
  • edited March 2011
    Azrodal wrote: »
    Madden 36 B.C.

    Man...the Lions even sucked in that version...
  • edited March 2011
    Not sure how you could possibly tell in 4d.
  • edited March 2011
    "The Lions" That's how.

    To be perfectly honest I know absolutely nothing about any football team.