If Video Games Aren't Art, At Least They're Progressing
See Full ImageThe gaming community has once again responded to another of Roger Ebert's seemingly disparaging comments about video games. First, he restates a previous sentiment - that video games simply cannot be labeled as "art" - and secondly, he said he might not appreciate this entertainment medium because he's too "well-read." Now, I have two responses to this, but I'm not about to embark on the art debate because in my eyes, there's simply far too much subjectivity involved on either side of the fence. All I'll say is this- if games indeed implement elements from other entertainment venues that are considered "art" - i.e., artistry/design, choreography, writing, cinematography, acting, etc. - I'm a little confused as to how the entire package fails to register as "art." So the individual components are "art," but you when put them all together, the final product...isn't?
Okay, whatever. I'm not going to pursue that. But I would like to point out that if we are to compare video games against the other major forms of entertainment, it seems to me as if gaming is the only form that is headed in the right direction. Mr. Ebert, I respect you and all, but most of the films made in the past decade or so have only insulted the hell out my intelligence. I am aware that various independent and less-than-popular movies are excellent, but there was a time when the popular movies were also the biggest hits in the box office. These days, the stupidest pieces of tripe are the most popular and while I do - sadly - see gaming headed in that same direction, the industry is currently in the position film was in perhaps 25 or 35 years ago: they were getting better in terms of the intelligent aspects, and the population responded to that quality. In this industry, most of the best titles are also bestsellers...that is not the case in movies, music, or books. Not when Danielle Steele can manage to sell a gajillion copies of the same book for a hundred years.
Now, as for that "well-read" bit. I will not claim to be as well-read as Ebert but I'm willing to bet I could converse with him for quite some time; my list of completed literary classics runs for about six pages, and I have long since vowed to read as many of the best pieces of literature as humanly possible before I die. My favorite authors are George Eliot (who was actually Marianne Evans), Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Thomas Mann, Edith Wharton, Leo Tolstoy, and Henry David Thoreau. I suppose my favorite playwright would have to be Henrik Ibsen for now, but I haven't yet read Shaw or Chekov (the latter is next on my list, in fact). And here's a fact about me that few people realize: I'd give up my games before I gave up my books. It'd be hard, but I would. Nothing gives me such a feeling of complete satisfaction as these unbelievably ingenious novels. Unfortunately, I see nothing in the way of such genius in this generation of writers, which I believe is a result of the rapid-fire, ultimately inferior communication that continues to plague artistry and creativity.
Yes, literature has declined terribly. And so has music - or whatever the hell passes for music these days - and the same goes for movies. Gaming, on the other hand, while it is admittedly behind in terms of writing and character development, continues to make strides forward. There are fans of every entertainment medium and I'm sure some will disagree, but I wonder if those same people have watched the transformation and growth of this industry we love since its infancy period. Therefore, as a message to Mr. Ebert, regardless of the claims against or for the "art" description, I believe I am quite well-read, and I believe that making a statement insinuating that those who can't boast of my reading resume are simply too smart for video games...well, obviously, I find it disagreeable and inaccurate. If you can find someone who names "Middlemarch" and "Anna Karenina" as their two favorite novels, I will have to meet that person, as I will be convinced said individual is nothing more than a ghostly fabrication until I shake his or her hand.
You see, we all have our passions. But what's important is that we take a step back and do some comparisons, and apply the proper respect where respect is warranted. I suppose I'm asking this-
Rather than focusing on what gaming isn't, why can't we focus on what gaming is, and could eventually become?
4/22/2010 9:31:00 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (88 posts)
Sol
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 1:55:28 AM
Having looked Ebert up for an assignment I had to do for class, I respect him as a person and all, but he's just that... one person. The day I take his opinion over my own is the day I quit gaming, which will happen three days from never.
Besides, I read some of the reviews he did for a couple movies I liked, and didn't agree with his opinion at all. To me he is simply one face within an amazingly large crowd, his influence essentially minute.
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sinisterurge
Sunday, April 25, 2010 @ 7:25:20 PM
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MyWorstNightmar
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:17:58 PM
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As for Roger Ebert, shut your pie hole ASAP.
What experience are you pulling your opinion from? What games have you played, or witnessed played.
Are you going to state your opinion on a movie you haven't seen?
Imagine the hours that go into producing the amazing visuals in these games. Now then tell the individuals who have spent years perfecting their craft and tell them what they do is not an art form.
So dissapointing Mr. Ebert. We all have opinions, but I would gather you haven't given this much thought, otherwise you would come to a very different conclusion.
Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 4/22/2010 10:22:53 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:24:33 PM
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Kowhoho
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:30:14 PM
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-high artistic value in the scenery, straight from the concept art
-insane, beautiful orchestral musical score
-period storytelling
I'll say this; games have had a much more profound effect on me than any painting.
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MyWorstNightmar
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:34:41 PM
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Kowhoho
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:36:00 PM
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Bugzbunny109
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:36:51 PM
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A2K78
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:58:36 PM
Car and motorcycle manufacturers also hire artist from art schools. Now by your reasoning does that make cars and motorcycles art?
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kraygen
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:50:08 AM
Using creativity and imagination to create something sounds like art to me, altho I guess lots of people could define art in different ways.
here's a car, looks like art to me.
http://carsmedia.ign.com/cars/image/article/713/713588/top-10-tuesday-concept-cars-20060620041319549.jpg
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CH1N00K
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:49:38 AM
If you've ever watched a Barrett-Jackson auction, you'll see what I mean. The attention to detail that goes into a car? Sure some people will think it's "just a car" but to others, to own a piece of that automotive history to display in you driveway or garage? Sounds like art to me.
Not to mention when you look at a well made car, like an Austin Martin...you can't help but admire it. The lines, the style, the curves is like looking at an artist's brush stroke. And most cars start out as a clay model before being turned into an actual car.
Last edited by CH1N00K on 4/23/2010 9:53:01 AM
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Bugzbunny109
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 4:16:25 PM
Unfortunately, society sees art only as painting and drawing. But there is more to art than that. A motorcycle IS art because to create it, artists have to go through the art process-in this case mainly design. If you want to know how to create a motorcycle, you have to understand, harmony, variety, movement, unity, balance, and proportion. All of these listed here are principles art. In summary a motorcycle is art because artists play the key role in developing it by going through the art process.
Last edited by Bugzbunny109 on 4/23/2010 4:17:53 PM
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Darthvintage
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:41:09 PM
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BikerSaint
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:49:05 AM
Yes some cars & motorcycles are art, and some are even considered masterpiece, as any gear-head can vouch for the car side.
And I'll take the motorcycle side of things....
In 1998, the Guggenheim Museum in New York had a famous exhibit called the "Art of the Motorcycle".....
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/press-room/press-releases/press-release-archive/2001/675-october-7-the-art-of-the-motorcycle
And in 1997, there was also the "Liquid Chrome Exhibit" motorcycle in New York too.....
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Scarecrow
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:58:08 PM
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It will take a millennium for society to agree that v-games is art.
It's OBVIOUS video games is art. Most everything is CREATED, that alone is art, for me anyway.
i hope to reincarnate and remember that I was one of those who believed that v-games was indeed art.
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michiganfan1983
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:00:07 PM
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Kowhoho
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:06:49 PM
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BikerSaint
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:01:35 PM
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and a very good face-palming too!
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SvenMD
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:12:18 PM
I guess he just has to have a controversial opinion on everything to stay interesting as a mainstream critic.
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Superman915
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:59:48 PM
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VicTheMighty
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:12:17 PM
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Bet his son beat him at mario bros and he held a grudge against it hahaha.
In other words he never got to finish a game. It's like looking at the tiny left corner of a painting... Is that art? Not really right? You have to look at the whole thing before considering it ART... So there you go...
In other words, my guess is he lacks other skills than being *well-read* and can't enjoy games as much as other *well-coordinated* people can. Then he looked at Ben and felt frustration and jealousy before a person who is *well-read* and also *well-coordinated* . And that is how he came to make such a shameless comment. Shame shame shame on him. :D
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Swim_Irr
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:28:16 PM
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A2K78
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:33:40 PM
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http://kotaku.com/150043/kojima-says-games-are-not-art
Anyhow videogames are not not art but entetainment instead. To say that video games is art would be like saying pornography is art.
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kraygen
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:53:53 AM
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BikerSaint
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:00:14 AM
And that article was back from Feb 2006, I would think Kojima's "old" statement back then is irrelevant for these times now. Both, the games, & the graphics, have changed ten-fold for the better since then.
Some interviewer should ask him if he still thinks that same way now.
(And I'll bet he doesn't).
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VicTheMighty
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:00:26 AM
Still if games are not ART then movies aren't either, They go through the same process nowadays (creation pipeline). And why not say paintings are not art either. Any 5 yrs old can do abstract huh? And music... Just some doods hitting and pinching pieces of metal and wood... so primal... Theres no Art there huh?
And why not say you go watch a painting for entertainment purpose. Isn't it the same thing? Some Art is meant to amaze and question yourself and other to entertain.
Video games don't differ from that. They go through character and set design with thousands of drawings and ideas... Then those Ideas are shared through a Media for you to experience them. The same way some painter puts paint on a piece of paper for you to look at in a museum after.
No one is perfect and it is not because Kojima says he thinks games are not art that I will agree with him. I think he made a mistake saying that.
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CH1N00K
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:57:12 AM
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Superman915
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:55:34 PM
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but realistically, yes, games are art. like another online forum said, they are art on top of more art piled on by more art.
They have actors like a movie.
Artists like a painting.
Writers like a book or screenplay.
Designers and architects like a beautiful cathedral.
And they can stir emotion on the viewer like a poem or a sonnet.
They're art.
Last edited by Superman915 on 4/22/2010 11:58:14 PM
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Scarecrow
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:01:23 AM
v-games is Super Art
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Nlayer
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:55:43 PM
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Shams
Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 11:55:47 PM
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Deleted User
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:08:41 AM
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Oh, wait. You guys might not know this but Roger Ebert can't talk any more due to his thyroid cancer. Sadly, he can still write his dated opinions on why video gaming isn't considered art.
Then again, nobody is going to convince this old fogey that he's wrong.
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:26:53 AM
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It's not so much him I'm going after; it's some of the concepts that have arisen as a result of his comments.
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bridgera
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:48:58 AM
I used to really like Ebert, then, I don't know if I got older and changed my views or what, but I started disagreeing with almost every single review he had.
About video games, he has NO idea what he's talking about. Being too "well read" is utter nonsense. He using his twisted stereotypical attitude about video games, and probably hasn't played anything since Pac Man in 1975.
I'm certain he hasn't sat down and played a $ 10 million game this millineum.
It doesn't matter if you like Ebert or not, the view that video games aren't/don't contain art is ridiculous.
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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:57:12 AM
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Superman915
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:37:56 AM
With that said, he's not only wrong on video games, he's straight up insulting in them "He's too well read to get video games." as he stated in a twitter. GTFOH. Steven Spielberg has been playing video games since he made Jaws and I don't think anyone in his career would consider him an idiot.
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Jawknee
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:58:54 AM
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Superman915
Saturday, April 24, 2010 @ 6:22:57 PM
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Jawknee
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 1:11:09 AM
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just2skillf00l
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 1:40:32 AM
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After reading Kojima's statements for why video games are not pieces of art, I can appreciate and respect his reasons and opinions. To sum up Kojima's argument, video games are not considered as works of art because they are more of a service for the consumer rather than a reflection of some value of the individual creating it. This makes perfect sense IMO. Kojima is arguing that video games are censored and have to be mended and molded for marketing purposes.
I sort of relate this to how books have to be manipulated and engineered when they are transferred to the big screen. Books to movies also need movie scripts; books can't simply transfer the entire experience it contains. This tampering of the original and artistic value of the media in an attempt to appeal to its audience destroys the artistic element originating in the book source.
However, when looking at art as being this pure, undisturbed, and personal creation, one could argue many things that are considered art, not to be by this idea and definition Kojima conjures it.
Despite Kojima's definition of art, art itself is what makes up a game. The games art style, its character models and background settings, down to the music that could invoke an emotion in our hearts given the right mood and event. When looking upon video games in this way, video games are more artistic than many other different variations of media.
Ebert, at least argue your point with valid reasons for why something can't be viewed as an artistic medium after you make such a claim. Honestly, I can respect and appreciate Kojima's reasoning because he brings to surface a compelling idea I have never before pondered. Next time Ebert, before you wave around your Pulitzer prize in all its glory, be sure to also carry around your justification for receiving it.
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___________
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:28:14 AM
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as they say one mans garbage is another mans trophy.
art is such a subjective medium, i mean scrambled letters to some is considered art?
ill never understand that, i can paint scrambled letters so does that make me a artist?
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kraygen
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 3:00:12 AM
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Personally I think that claiming anything is not art is ridiculous. I don't care for the mona lisa and yet its one of the most famous pieces of art on earth. Yet some pieces of art that evoke an emotional response from me, wouldn't effect other people.
IMO art is anything that moves us inside or out. FF7 made me cry, thats art to me.
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Underdog15
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:25:25 AM
Last edited by Underdog15 on 4/23/2010 9:25:52 AM
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bridgera
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:12:13 PM
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Gordo
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 3:49:24 AM
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The cavemen drawing on the cave walls depicted their hunting scenes, their gods and their shamanistic representations. They also tell the story of their seasons, their lands and their hunting activities.
Is this art? Yes it is.
Is it 2 dimensional and static? No, it is meant to be interacted with. The cave drawings are part of the person and part of their society. They were painted to invoke emotion by those that painted them and those that viewed them.
Zoom on 50,000 years...
We've had sculpture, paintings, architecture, furniture, clothing, writing, many periods of art through to abstract and modern art, poetry, comic books, music, dance, theatre, movies, erotica and now video games.
You can't tell me any of those are not art?
Art is anything designed or created by someone to emotionally move and involve another person.
Art is emotion. Emotion is art.
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Deleted User
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 5:02:56 AM
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I also respect most of his opinions, they're his opinion's and he's allowed to have them.
but not with this, saying video games aren't art isn't an opinion. That is someone who thinks they are stating a fact.
I am an artist, I make a living by making art. I have been to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A place where a canvas with a cut sliced through the middle of it is hung on the wall with a mind boggling price tag. as Gordo said: Art is Emotion, Emotion is art. What Ebert is doing here is just slapping an entire industry in the face.
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Ultimadream
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 6:40:26 AM
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Games have certainly evolved over the past few generations, its more than just the challenge and puzzle element. The production value is huge, you now get pretty much all the same jobs in the film industry available in the game industry. If i was not studying film i would certainly be working towards getting in the game industry.
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www
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 6:47:22 AM
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Game makers > Movie makers.
Requires MORE BRAINS and creative people to make games thus its expensive than movies, go figure Ebert. Bet you couldn't make a train scene from Uncharted 2 and actually making button commands instruct characters on screen, its damn EASY telling Bruce Willis to act that train scene but INTERACTION is a whole different story.
Decisions a player makes in games like Heavy Rain, FF, Fallout etc affects the story considering each players unique decisions OPPOSED to everybody just sitting and watching Brad Pitt make his own decisions without the viewer's influence. Gosh, I can't go on explaining this.
Does it mean a cheaper painting is better than an expensive one? Since movies are cheaper than games. The sole fact that a product is more expensive means it has greater value. Ebert you FAIL!
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Ultimadream
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:46:36 AM
Last edited by Ultimadream on 4/23/2010 7:47:39 AM
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www
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 3:16:30 PM
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Ultimadream
Saturday, April 24, 2010 @ 2:45:23 AM
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JackC8
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:14:17 AM
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I find many things in video games to be artistically pleasing. If the guy who wrote the screenplay for "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens" has a different opinion, well, gosh...that means absolutely nothing to me.
Last edited by JackC8 on 4/23/2010 7:29:29 AM
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ace_boon_coon
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:21:38 AM
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BikerSaint
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:10:50 AM
Man, you picked the perfect example of art!!!!
"1 thumb-up for you"
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NeoHumpty
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:30:36 AM
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NoSmokingBandit
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:01:57 AM
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Ebert is great, but i really think he is just shooting his mouth off without knowing what he is talking about. Claiming he doesnt like video games because he is too "well read" is bullshit, plain and simple. I'm fine with the fact that he doesnt like games, there's nothing wrong with that, but trying to say he is superior to gamers by some means is out of line. I'm certain he is quite a bit more intelligent than most gamers (or most other people in general), but he would go around saying he doesnt like tomato soup because he has eaten too many oranges in his life. Its just not related.
Last edited by NoSmokingBandit on 4/23/2010 8:02:17 AM
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Underdog15
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:49:05 AM
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Underdog15
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:43:39 AM
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I majored in Theatre (ok for those of you who know I've said I majored in Psych, i'm not making stuff up. I took 4 years in a double major in Theatre and Phys Ed, then 2 years to major in Psych and minor in english. I have two BA's, and I'm currently part-time taking master's courses towards counseling Psych. I work full time as a youth advisor/employment counselor/job developer, so the masters will probably take another 5 years of part time studies.) so I feel I can accurately conclude Ebert has made many bad reviews, and I feel that he feels if he doesn't have an opinion on something, then he must not be informed enough. Unfortunately, he doesn't know diddley-squat. I mean... this is the same guy that gave "Cop and a Half" 3 out of 4 stars, and is the ONLY pro-reviewer that gave "Speed 2" a positive review. (It was named Speed 2... How do you feel about sequels that merely add a number to the end of the prequel?) Just some examples...
At any rate, I feel, like Ben, that I am also well-read and educated. I feel that games, movies, music, and most forms of artistic expression have loads of drivel throughout the mainstream mediums, however, all have some incredible contributions that have the ability to actually MOVE people. This is another example of the media making assumptions about gaming. 'M' rated games sure are bad influences for kids, but that's why they're rated M for NOT kids... Mass Effect was not a Sex simulator (FOX news, I'm looking at you), and not all games are hack n' slash, shoot 'em up, swing-the-whole-way, button mashing 6/10 entries. Some are actually WELL DONE, and as Ben said, BETTER than most movies.
Even the MUSIC is better than mainstream! Remember the music in Dragon Quest 8, for example? Or anything, for that matter, by Nobuo Uematsu? I'd rather my kids listen to video game music than most main stream and popular music...
ok, I'll stop now.....
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Underdog15
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:53:24 AM
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:23:07 AM
As for theater, I love plays although not quite as much as I love novels. And as beautiful as someone like O'Neill's plays are...I mean, I felt like someone had whacked me in the gut with a sack of oranges after reading "A Long Day's Journey Into Night." ;)
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Underdog15
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 8:46:23 AM
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AirplanePeanuts
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:08:31 AM
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It just seems to me like he doesn't "get it". I guess for us "getting it" seems pretty normal as we grew up watching games advance, not only in terms of how they played but how they looked and how they defined themselves. Ebert seems to be stuck on considering games as either high score shootouts or multiplayer competitions. If he played a game like Heavy Rain, even if he didn't have a kind thing to say about the directing or the writing or whatever, he'd at least HAVE to admit that games can not only tell a story but have the capacity to tell stories in their own unique way.
Nevermind that I believe games can be art without telling a story at all. Maybe they're not all good art, but there's something to be said about games that try to be expressive in ways that only games can.
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CH1N00K
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:09:35 AM
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If Ebert hasn't been into playing video games, then it's kind of to late for him to get into them now and start doing reviews on them, He's not going to understand the culture. Not to mention he's made a career out of watching movies which only last 2 hours at a time. If you are going to review a game, 2 hours worth of gameplay is not enough to do a game justice.
I wouldn't be surprised if this comment stems from the fact that his career/pastime is being threatened. Some young producer/editor somewhere probably looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry old chap, no one is listening to what you have to say anymore, now it's all about video games. We're not going to pay for what you have to say anymore, we need to focus on a different art form."
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I_defenestrate
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:32:30 AM
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Mr Bitey
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:24:13 AM
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Seriously, Super Mario Brothers, isn't all that different from New Super Mario Brothers. Wii Sports looks worse than a PS One game.
If Nintendo had it their way, we'd all still be playing Pong.
Last edited by Mr Bitey on 4/23/2010 10:24:29 AM
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bridgera
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 12:15:15 PM
Adults appreciate awesome graphics, little kids want cratoony looking stuff.
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NoSmokingBandit
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 9:54:37 PM
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Fane1024
Saturday, April 24, 2010 @ 5:16:02 PM
Last edited by Fane1024 on 4/24/2010 5:16:21 PM
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shadowscorpio
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 10:56:03 AM
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Art can be found in anything. Its the way of the world/universe , whatever. If you're even going to say that something isn't art video games are far from being on that list.
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Bjorn77
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 11:19:46 AM
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Define art? In Holland the government gives money to artist. And then they come with something like trowing 1000 breads into the ocean. Or a giant statue that resembles a leprechaun holding a dildo... That in my opinion is not art but a waste of public money. But hey.... I play games so I am not literate.
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Silent_J
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 11:24:55 AM
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Imagi
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 11:37:01 AM
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I_defenestrate
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 1:01:25 PM
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Alienange
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 1:08:19 PM
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Gimme a minute while I compose myself.
"Well read." What the hell is that? Oh! You're "well read!" Oh ok. Then what you say MUST be true! What kind of air of superiority is THAT?
Guess what Ebert? I'm well read too. Unfortunately for me though, that reading habit will be coming to an end because they're getting rid of gaming manuals.
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BigBoss4ever
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 2:28:52 PM
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just look at these, Demon's Soul isnt art? Last Guardian isnt art? MGS4 isnt art? GOW3 isnt art? all the FF games isnt art? all the chrono games isnt art? how about the drawings in the collector's art books? are they not art?
nothing further to be asked.
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SolidFantasy
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 3:54:52 PM
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I personally think video games are the ultimate hybrid of the film and literature worlds. As developing becomes more and more competitive and "odd ball" games like Heavy Rain continue to prosper I can only hope that we see more and more games that really push for artistic capabilities that they are capable of.
Not that there aren't already games that do this of coarse. Such examples are obvious to the PSX community.
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Danny007
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 4:21:27 PM
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RebelJD
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 5:06:17 PM
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The budget for big blockbuster movies is through the effen roof e.g. Transformers 2 @ $200 million. Back to the Future only cost $19 million to make back in the '80s.
GTA IV cost $100 million to make, GT5 is slated to pass the $60 million mark. Just like movies, video games are becoming bigger and bigger simply to cover production cost alone.
Movies offer big name actors for the potential to bring in more money. They make deals with products, automobiles, etc. for the potential to bring in more money. I've been seeing that trend now in video games for quite a few years. Big name actors doing voice overs (check). Licensing access to copy right music (check). Product placement and automobiles (check).
Gaming is great, and so are many many big budget games (for the most part). Yet we've seen producing companies go "bye-bye" because the games they made didn't cover production and marketing cost.
Hollywood is Hollywood people.
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darxed
Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 6:24:10 PM
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Cabalavatar1
Sunday, April 25, 2010 @ 11:36:33 AM
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I don't agree about one thing that your entry here shows, though. How can you talk about "great lit classics" without falling into the same stupid argument that Ebert does? Why does a book by George Eliot (whom I personally hate due to her tedious and boring writing "skills") or a play by Shakespeare deserve any more praise than anything else, especially if art is subjective? I don't plan to go on reading the "classics" because the entire concept of the "classics" relies on the same dominant discourse in 'Art' for what's available to be considered art as what Roger Ebert alludes to/relies on in his assertion that video games can't count.
I agree with you, moreover, that putatively well-read people are quite equipped to like video games. I read at least 2-3 dozen books every semester, along with 3 articles per book. Then I read more and more for research on my various essays and my thesis. Yet, I own more video games than many of my gamer friends (mostly because being a Teaching Assistant, I get paid fairly well lol). And all, save one, of my fellow male Grad Students own a gaming console (or use PC) and play on a regular basis. Believe me, we're -forced- to be well-read, and we still love gaming.
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WorldEndsWithMe
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Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 10:15:51 PM
Anyway, saying that a person who is too well read can't enjoy games is foolish, as Ben proved. I can understand when someone is just too OLD to get into them or appreciate them though.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 4/22/2010 10:16:24 PM