Entry 2 - Games as Art

( In response to http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=345 )

Edward Picot's article discusses the notion of games being a new art form, and examples many 'games'. He makes reference to a The Escapist article, "Game Rules as Art," which states that the rules in games qualify as art, regardless of the graphics and other components. Picot references many games throughout the article, examining their artistic merits. Two of these games are Gravitation, where you control a man who plays with a child giving him the power to travel to a screen above and knock stars onto the screen below where the child is, only to find that each time the stars might grant you points, but also trap the child until you collect them, and eventually the child disappears completely; and the Graveyard, where you control an old lady through a graveyard to a bench, and then control her out, with very little room for interaction.

I believe that Gravitation is a much stronger piece than the Graveyard because of its proper use of the medium. The Graveyard's creators, Tale of Tales, state that the lack of any gameplay in their 'game' is that "gameplay distracts from the story." I find this to be an absurd statement, as without interaction, the piece is not a game, and attempts to wipe away any differences the medium of games have from movies. It is making the mistake that most commercial games make, by trying to copy the format of movies. Because the rules of most games do nothing to tell the story beyond the visuals and music, Tale of Tales assumes that gameplay can only distract. The Graveyard is an extremely weak piece because it does not use its medium effectively. It is akin to a movie containing only an audio track without any visuals. It is a collosal step in the wrong direction, even ditching game-specific qualities that could enhance the story, such as the ability to move the camera, perhaps making you notice different things in each playthrough.

I consider Gravitation to be a much more successful example of how games can be art. The game uses its medium-specific interaction to add to the way the (although simple) story plays out. Because of the way your interaction adds to the experience and emotional response, it shows how games might be able to tell stories in a different way than movies, books or music. When game designers learn how to tell more complicated stories through their interaction, the medium might begin to get some recognition as a legitimate art form.



Works not cited:
"Indie Nation #39: The Graveyard" by Anthony Burch for Destructoid.com "http://www.destructoid.com/indie-nation-39-the-graveyard-110611.phtml"