My musing on the latest gaming news, what I'm playing general comments on the state of gaming ect.

• 1Oct 09

  Games as Art

  Games as art is something that has been weighing on my mind recently, it something that is constantly been debated and something that I've haven't really had an opinion until recently. More and more games are expanding on their roots and are actually incorporating many other art forms on top of coming together as a single entity.

  While it can be noted that some games do have more artistic merit than others this is a medium that can be considered artistic.

  Firstly games contain representations of real and made up locations, situations and characters. These are basic characteristics of most art forms, all though with this broad a definition it was bound to fall into this category. In particular with many games you can find accurate representations of people and scenes that can be considered wholly artistic, every little detail must be designed and placed in that game, sure some games do it with more care than others and some do not look to push the boundaries but many do.

  Some games evoke landscapes; Crysis is as beautiful and breathtaking as any great landscape painting. Many games opt for a far more stylised look; Jet Grind Radio's cell shaded look could almost be described as a 3D comic or an interactive cartoon.

  Not to forget the Katamari series of games which has some surrealist concepts in it and it is visually interesting to boot.

  Every game is lovingly created and every character, item, colour, hue and symbol is there to represent something and to try and enhance the story. Very similar to cinema the only difference is that the viewer, in most instances is in control of the protagonist.

  Recently the Beatles Rock Band not only took some of the greatest pop songs in history but reinterpreted them visually that was both visually pleasing and interesting to look at.

  Quite often I have heard that art cannot possibly be interactive, this is untrue, all art or at least good art should be interactive it should make the viewer feel something react to it, wether it is emotions or otherwise. Sure games may be more interactive in terms of user inputs but there are exhibitions by artists in the 'true' art world are moving to involve the audience in some way. Games have been doing this all along, our button presses controlling the on screen art.

  It has also been said that a work of art can not be made by a large group of people that is seen in making them. Blatantly untrue, many works of art were created by group of people, even if there was one designer. Also does this exclude film or all kinds from being art? I don't hear anyone questioning film's legitimacy as an art form.

  People do claim that film is while games aren't because a director has artistic licence over the whole project, what and the director of a game, or the creators of the game don't have a say what goes in to a game? Games do not just happen, they need direction and some one to have final say on what is and isn't included. The same could be said for music, often songs are written by multiple people, sung by another produced and effects added by yet another party, still no one questions that a great song is artistic (or a bad one for that matter).

  Also many make the point that the interactive nature of games leads to a weak story. This argument holds the most weight. Games are still maturing as a story telling medium, and there is no denying there are more Dan Brown stories out there than Shakespeare stories, it is a shame but games like Farenheit and Knights of the Old Republic, do really try and carry the torch in this regard and for the most part they work, they do tell an extremely interesting story.

  The final argument that is often thrown about is that the 'artists' on games are limited by the technology at their disposal so they can not possibly meet their own artistic visions, there fore they are not creating art, because of these limitations. In the early das this was somewhat true, we all remember getting the game manual with the character bios and the adjacent picture, that was almost saying that blocky smudge on your screen should look like this. Even those block sprites had their place and were artistic, sure they may not have been overly sophisticated, but neither was the hardware that was used to display them.

  That being said, games are not the only art form that has suffered from technological limitations. Cinema, for example, did any one dispute the legitimacy of this as art simply because it had no sound? Or music, were the classical composers not artists because they had no access to electrical instrument? Surely not.

  It is hard to deny that there are some games that have less merit than others, sports games for example are unlikely to be considered too artistic, but they still need to be designed and animated. You will be hard pressed to find anyone that will hold Stalin Vs Martins up as a fine example of an Artistic game. All forms of art have their low and inexplicable points, cinema has its Ghost Rider, and Games have their Stalin Vs Martians. No one will argue that Ghost Rider is not art, albeit terribly poor art, the same rules apply to games. There is a little bit of art in each and every game, no matter how poor it may be.

  It is easy to dismiss games as a just 'toys' and try to discredit them as an art form. Games as a new medium may find it a long time coming before they are truly accepted. Games actually are drawing on many areas of the art world, they use music to emphasise moments, and they utilize actors and cinematic techniques to convey a story and to pull the viewer in and to evoke emotion. The designers come up with interesting ways to display characters and worlds, use filters and different visual effects to create an experience.

  Its clear games are the infant of the artistic world, and as such are frowned upon currently. This is not dissimilar to Rock and Roll music in its early days and to lesser extent movies, entertainment for the masses, but not much more than that. In 50 years time we will be discussing the greatest games of all time and how the impacted the world's culture. Here is hoping anyways.

  • Posted Oct 1, 2009 6:20 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 7Sep 09

  My Gaming Update September

  It's been a while since I've done an update on what I have been doing with my gaming so now is as good a time as any to update.

  Firstly, I've finally posted a review for Red Faction Guerrilla, you can read it here. It was an enjoyable game if only for the destruction. I gave it an 8. It's a game that once I've experienced the main story I don't think I'll find much reason to go back to it although time may tell on that one.

  I also picked up Dissida and it looks like I will be a fun game in the same vein as a Smash Bros Brawl. It has some RPG elements and a ton to unlock, so I think it will be great fun.

  I have also put a couple of hours into Trauma Centre on the DS. It's a blast but it tests my dexterity on the stylus. I have a hell of a time stitching up wounds, so any help would be appreciated . I can see myself losing patience with this one as I move through the game and hit a wall.

  Wolfenstein was a pick p for me, it's actually relatively easy to get through and while I haven't got through it as of yet (around 75%). It's an entertaining journey through the single player with the veil powers doing just enough to separate it from the pack. Unfortunately for trophy hunters the trophies are mostly multi-player focused and the multiplayer is terribly laggy. Unless there is a patch I would avoid multiplayer like the plague.

  Finally the Batman: Arkham Asylum is the definition of awesome. It really does get the gritty feel of the comics down pat. The world guides you on where to go without being overly restrictive. The combat system is intuitive and it copes well with beginners and masters with a system that will get you by with one or two hit combos but will satisfy those with a craving to get 40 hit combos, which does take some doing to get. The game is packed full of unlockables, and each area has so much to see for fans of the Dark Night. I can't recommend this enough for anyone. Expect a review in the not so distant future.

  Future purchases have started to ramp up too. I have pre-orders down for Uncharted 2, Scribblenauts, Brutal Legend, Assassins Creed 2, Ratchet and Clank, Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands which has rocketed up my anticipated list. It almost pips Uncharted 2 as my most anticipated but not quite. All of the previews have been positive.

  On top of the brick and mortar shop pre-orders I have further pre-orders on Persona, Bowser's Inside Story, Katamari Forever, Alpha Protocol, Tekken 6 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma.

  Along with having my eye on The Beatles Rock Band, Wet and Dragon Age: Origins.

  Looks like I will be quite a busy few months in gaming .

  • Posted Sep 7, 2009 10:17 pm GMT
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• 27Aug 09

  Two things I have learnt from Wolfenstein

  The Nazis wre havily into the occult and they were very lacklusture at protecting their intelligence memos.

  • Posted Aug 27, 2009 3:59 am GMT
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