tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post8862689267769944914..comments2024-01-04T02:49:23.470-08:00Comments on Blessing of Kings: Video Games, Art, and Social StatusRohanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-51668454020643414062008-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:002008-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:00Well, one major difference is that you can analyze...Well, one major difference is that you can analyze games through the lens of economics, decision theory, or game theory. You just can't do the same thing with Art.<BR/><BR/>Apart from the fact that it doesn't really matter, my personal feeling is that games exist at the intersection of Art and Sport. Games have elements of both, but are also have their own unique elements. Certain games come closer to one side or the other.Rohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-30040716434847382222008-07-08T15:16:00.000-07:002008-07-08T15:16:00.000-07:00Furthermore, I am admittedly very biased, I majore...Furthermore, I am admittedly very biased, I majored in "Media & Theatre Arts" and when your entire schooling is based around the idea that "the entertainment medium is an art" then wrapping your head around the idea that some people think video games are NOT art becomes very difficult indeed.Pikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249690585703986146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-21044367965261667462008-07-08T15:05:00.000-07:002008-07-08T15:05:00.000-07:00@ Rohan - it's part of the game, you have to selec...@ Rohan - it's part of the game, you have to select the right phrases for the Opera.<BR/><BR/>Furthermore I'd like to point out I'm not really making a serious argument here ;P I'm just pointing out a video game scene that touches my heart.Pikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249690585703986146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-24659163311476771952008-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:002008-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:00Pike, while that's a good cutscene, is it really p...Pike, while that's a good cutscene, is it really part of the game, or is it just a movie embedded in the game?Rohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-89465220129451079522008-07-07T21:47:00.000-07:002008-07-07T21:47:00.000-07:00My reasoning for believing that video games are ar...My reasoning for believing that video games are art can be summed up in a single game clip:<BR/><BR/>http://youtube.com/watch?v=ohp9KQ7KcLE<BR/><BR/>Aaaand I rest my case =PPikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249690585703986146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-77754763399872911382008-07-02T06:55:00.000-07:002008-07-02T06:55:00.000-07:00Video games are mostly not accepted as art because...Video games are mostly not accepted as art because of propaganda spread by older forms of media. Over the last 15-20 years I would say there has been an un-organized but consistant smear campagin against video games. Old multimedia conglomerates don't own stake or control many gaming companies and they feel threatened by the rising average age of gamers.<BR/><BR/>How many movies portray gamers as slackers and misfits? <BR/><BR/>Howe many often does the news directly attack video games with stories of them being murder simulators or time wasters?Relmsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10358853054116842043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-2197273528296087002008-07-01T10:22:00.000-07:002008-07-01T10:22:00.000-07:00Excellent post! This is my first visit to your blo...Excellent post! This is my first visit to your blog but it wont be my last. I've felt the same way for years. Games are a tremendously creative medium and a wonderful source of entertainment but wont be socially accepted anytime soon. Your comment about giving social status to the plebes by accepting their medium was dead on. Well said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-47040691931154422862008-07-01T02:00:00.000-07:002008-07-01T02:00:00.000-07:00You can make the same statements about any medium....You can make the same statements about any medium. Paintings are paintings, regardless of whether or not they're art. Books are books, regardless of whether or not they're intellectual or trashy romance novels.<BR/><BR/>Art is definitely subjective, which is why I defined art based on both mine and Ebert's views of what is classified as "high art."<BR/><BR/>The only reason I posed the argument is because the medium has received unwarranted disdain from circles who simply don't understand it. Is that rooted in a desire to be socially accepted? Yes. But not rooted in a desire to be socially highlighted. I could care less what formats Oprah or Charlie Rose run. G4 and a local news program in my area called "Tech Now" attract the type of audiences that play games and we can have intellectual conversations within our own circles. I don't need more than that.<BR/><BR/>What I do care about is when a bunch of ignorant blowhards try to position themselves as experts on things they don't understand. And that's where the argument comes into play. And the topic deserves to be treated with intelligence people like Clive Barker can't provide.<BR/><BR/>I look at where films were 100 years ago and read the arguments made by so many early progenitors of the medium and it's no different than the arguments some video game enthusiasts make today. Pointless to some, but it highlights the way in which we view that which we enthuse. And, to many people, that can be important, even if it's simply to reinforce our confidence about the medium we enjoy and the ways we enjoy it.Lumehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07597457142510206969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-11095826349129388202008-06-30T22:18:00.000-07:002008-06-30T22:18:00.000-07:00I agree totally on your analysis. Still I'm wonder...I agree totally on your analysis. Still I'm wondering sometimes - do we really want to be wholeheartly accepted by society. Sometimes identifying as being an underdog can be quite nice. I wrote a follow-up-post about it.LarĂsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05769822260333419777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-52944660803800725572008-06-30T16:08:00.000-07:002008-06-30T16:08:00.000-07:00I love your blog and I do believe this the first t...I love your blog and I do believe this the first time I've commented. ^^; <BR/><BR/>Anyhow, I just wanted to say that I think you're onto something. <BR/><BR/>I'm part of the GameDev club where I used to go to college and my SO is getting a degree in design for games so I've been knee deep in the argument more than once and I think it's fascinating how many different opinions there are. <BR/><BR/>I even met one guy who swore up and down that if you make a game with story, plot, or even characters that you ruin the whole experience of playing a game. Ask him if games should be art and he'd laugh in your face. He was the best designer I'd ever met. *grins* <BR/><BR/>Anyhow... I think it's interesting that one of the reasons for not being considered art is that they're interactive. When video games play like interactive novels, are they considered not!Art because they're marketed as games? You'd think that the moving images would bump it even higher into the art realm. <BR/><BR/>I don't know it's so much 'status' as 'recognition'... which I think is more what you're driving towards. Game designers with aspirations to big-'A' Art want to be recognized as masters on par with other creative industries. Equal recognition almost more-so than status, since alot of the good designers already have the status of demi-gods within their own segment of the population.Alii Silverwinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16903808291841951523noreply@blogger.com