lost in games

I have talked about this before in comments i made about a Time article on Halo 3. How games are perceived by non gamers and the acceptance of games as a form of art. There is a discussion going on at N’Gai’s blog over at Newsweek about this with some really good comments worth reading. It is a never ending debate but one which needs to be made and fortunately now there are people who can now do so in a mature manner, strong arguments and in more influential positions. You can just look at the way the issue is now being discussed to realise how much the medium and its fans have matured.

This is a comment posted by a Newsweek user, StolenName

I’m 22 at the moment and when I read these interviews (Clive Barker interview) I actually feel younger than I am, call it lack of experience, but from what I can glean from your interviews with Barker and the media at large, it seems like critics, whether of art, film or novel, are close minded or myopic. Couldn’t their rejection of media like games and music be partly because they have no way of understanding the mixed media, as games are a marriage of visual, audio, writing and player interaction, and actually finding a way to understand that within their on learned discourse?

And also, N’Gai, do you believe that as younger gamers grow older and begin to move into the industry (as I’m trying!) and the older critics move on, that the perception of games as art / not art or for adults (as well as children) will shift? Or is there something about games in particular that forces them to remain an under-appreciated artistic medium by the general public?

To which N’Gai replied:

StolenName, every critic has assumptions, biases, prejudices, dogmas and blind spots, all of which add up to what some might call myopia and others might call personal taste. The challenge is for we critics to recognize the baggage that we bring to the table and to constantly engage it–publicly, whenever possible–so that our readers can see us working through our thought processes.

As you correctly point out, games present a particular challenge to older critics because while many older media only require the intended audience to have eyes and/or ears, videogames add a mechanical component that necessitates varying degrees of skill. I’m fond of saying that we “see” games with our hands; unfortunately, this means that a number of people who sit in positions of influence and authority over videogames–parents, politicians, protesters, even some publishers–are for all intents and purposes blind to the medium.

As for whether or not demographics alone can solve the art/not art conundrum surrounding videogames, I don’t believe that that alone will be sufficient. First, there are many people who make videogames who don’t believe that games are art–Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Konami’s Hideo Kojima among them–and the same is true of a lot of people who play games. Second, those of us who do believe that videogames are art are still struggling to understand and articulate the nature of that artistry. If I had to predict, I would say that the process by which videogames may become widely accepted as art will be both long and incremental, and its success is not guaranteed.

There are more comments like these over at the Newsweek blog - LINK

If i had to choose my best game of all time it would be a most difficult decision. I would say i can’t answer that. There is not just one. But if i was say tortured to give an answer then it would be Civilization back in 1991, the turn based strategy game on the PC. My first big love. It set the benchmark for every gaming experience i had since then.

Unfortunately, as i cut my self loose from the PC, i slowly started to neglect my few PC games. I played CIV IV for about a month, loved every minute but then went back to the living room and my consoles. The PC is just not doing it for me and Civilization paid the price.

That is why when Firaxis announced they would be bringing the series to the next gen consoles i was ecstatic. Now the reunion is set for 2008.

I have two main concerns. The first one is controls. Strategy games and especially the ones with the depth and options of Civ need a mouse a keyboard. Hopefully they will manage to implement a not so cumbersome system on the joypad so that there is no major barrier to the game’s accessibility. The second is that they will dumb it down in order to reach more console gamers who are not so into strategy games. The thing is, what i loved about the series was it vast array of options. You could practically do anything you wanted. I hope they do not compromise on that.

On the bright side however, multiplayer may be more accessible especially on Live compared to the PC.

There is a demo coming out this year while the game is being released in 2008. I have faith that it will be as sweet as i remember it to be.

IGN - hands on