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As we all know by now, the video games market is massive, raking in more consumer cash than cinema and video rental, yet for all of this financial success games are still not getting the artistic merit, acclaim and credit among a wider audience they so greatly deserve.
Can video games ever be considered an art form to rival films, literature or painting? Or will they always be classed as just harmless (or harmful depending on your point of view) entertainment?
Children, and indeed many adults love playing video games. However, there seems to be a school of thought amongst parents or Daily Mail readers to assume children liking something as evidence that it is bad for them. If they are spending many hours staring at a screen, parents wonder what harm it could be doing to them. But people used to say that about TV and cinema, yet they are more accepted.
Compare video games with books, television and films; all have great complexity and diversity – they give you access to almost every aspect of human culture and understanding – but they are not interactive. On the other hand, something like playing the piano is also complex, and interactive, but it requires a huge initial financial investment and many months or years of practice or training with the allied risk of misplacing that investment if you cant play it properly. Games are interactive relatively cheap (???) and are most of all good entertainment.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 prove that games can have intelligent scripts, great voice acting quality and well developed characters who display wide ranging emotions.
However, the majority of games still have clichéd plots together with cheesy scripts and dialogue.
Will a video game script ever be hailed as a masterpiece? Will we ever see stuffy critics discussing games on “Newsnight Review” or arty games like “Mullholland Drive: The Game”? Probably not.
Konami even acquired the services of Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams to provide the soundtrack for MGS2. Hollywood actors also provided many of the voices for characters in GTA3, proving that games could have a higher profile.
Games are mostly on the news for the wrong reasons though and only time will tell when games will become fully accepted as artistic mediums.
Video games do have award ceremonies, but these are always low-key affairs frequented by E-list celebrities and gaming journalists attracted by free alcohol.
We’ve still haven’t got any decent yearly video game exhibitions open to the public, though it is rumoured that Sony will do something like this one day. Till then all we have is the industry only ECTS, and the last one of that was absolutely pathetic with no sign of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Capcom etc.
The public want video game trade shows.
As time goes on, I wonder if we’ll ever see high profile games designers/personalities?
Film directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are mega celebrities but also creative visionaries like many video game directors.
Millions of people love games, yet mention Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami and Yu Suzuki to most of the British public and they’ll think they are the back four for the Japanese national football team.
In the future will we see bigger video game tournaments where players are idolised like sports stars?
Such competitions already exist, yet they receive little coverage and are just won by hardcore nerds who live QuakeIII.
Television coverage of games is way too poor.
Cybernet and Thumb Bandits aren’t really that bad, but when are we going to see good intelligent programmes that appeal to a wider audience, rather than treating all gamers as either ‘post-pub yobbos’ or geeks. A decent time slot would be a start.
All manner of games seem to be spawning trashy movies. “Tomb Raider”, Street Fighter the movie”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Mario Brothers”, not forgetting the masterpiece that is “Double Dragon” are all prime examples. Whether the “Resident Evil” movie will live up to expectation and do it’s gaming forefather justice remains to be seen. So when are we going to see a movie tie-in we can be proud of?
I wouldn’t really class it as a game to film conversion, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” was pretty good, although it performed pretty poorly at the box office and got a critical roasting. It defiantly didn’t get as much attention as the Tomb Raider movie.
Should games be getting better press and more well deserved credit?
Or will they always be seen as mere trashy entertainment?
Can video games ever be considered an art form to rival films, literature or painting? Or will they always be classed as just harmless (or harmful depending on your point of view) entertainment?
Children, and indeed many adults love playing video games. However, there seems to be a school of thought amongst parents or Daily Mail readers to assume children liking something as evidence that it is bad for them. If they are spending many hours staring at a screen, parents wonder what harm it could be doing to them. But people used to say that about TV and cinema, yet they are more accepted.
Compare video games with books, television and films; all have great complexity and diversity – they give you access to almost every aspect of human culture and understanding – but they are not interactive. On the other hand, something like playing the piano is also complex, and interactive, but it requires a huge initial financial investment and many months or years of practice or training with the allied risk of misplacing that investment if you cant play it properly. Games are interactive relatively cheap (???) and are most of all good entertainment.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 prove that games can have intelligent scripts, great voice acting quality and well developed characters who display wide ranging emotions.
However, the majority of games still have clichéd plots together with cheesy scripts and dialogue.
Will a video game script ever be hailed as a masterpiece? Will we ever see stuffy critics discussing games on “Newsnight Review” or arty games like “Mullholland Drive: The Game”? Probably not.
Konami even acquired the services of Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams to provide the soundtrack for MGS2. Hollywood actors also provided many of the voices for characters in GTA3, proving that games could have a higher profile.
Games are mostly on the news for the wrong reasons though and only time will tell when games will become fully accepted as artistic mediums.
Video games do have award ceremonies, but these are always low-key affairs frequented by E-list celebrities and gaming journalists attracted by free alcohol.
We’ve still haven’t got any decent yearly video game exhibitions open to the public, though it is rumoured that Sony will do something like this one day. Till then all we have is the industry only ECTS, and the last one of that was absolutely pathetic with no sign of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Capcom etc.
The public want video game trade shows.
As time goes on, I wonder if we’ll ever see high profile games designers/personalities?
Film directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are mega celebrities but also creative visionaries like many video game directors.
Millions of people love games, yet mention Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami and Yu Suzuki to most of the British public and they’ll think they are the back four for the Japanese national football team.
In the future will we see bigger video game tournaments where players are idolised like sports stars?
Such competitions already exist, yet they receive little coverage and are just won by hardcore nerds who live QuakeIII.
Television coverage of games is way too poor.
Cybernet and Thumb Bandits aren’t really that bad, but when are we going to see good intelligent programmes that appeal to a wider audience, rather than treating all gamers as either ‘post-pub yobbos’ or geeks. A decent time slot would be a start.
All manner of games seem to be spawning trashy movies. “Tomb Raider”, Street Fighter the movie”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Mario Brothers”, not forgetting the masterpiece that is “Double Dragon” are all prime examples. Whether the “Resident Evil” movie will live up to expectation and do it’s gaming forefather justice remains to be seen. So when are we going to see a movie tie-in we can be proud of?
I wouldn’t really class it as a game to film conversion, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” was pretty good, although it performed pretty poorly at the box office and got a critical roasting. It defiantly didn’t get as much attention as the Tomb Raider movie.
Should games be getting better press and more well deserved credit?
Or will they always be seen as mere trashy entertainment?
RM18 wrote:
> I think that games will always find it hard to shake of their reputation until
> they enter mainstream media.
ps.read my post on FOG chat to see what the future
> of games will really be like
I think that says it all... despite the size of the industry, its still got the image of being cult entertainment...
Theres also the snobbishness around the media... whereas book fanatics may ridicule the idea of cenimatic art...
Movies goers may deride the idea of Video Games as an artform...
Indeed I can think of no games which have any depth ouside of the 3D accelorator, I suspect there are one or two that will be considered with respect in the future, though I suspect that games are still in their infancy and although are most definitly here to stay, have still got a lot of growing up to do.
> I think that games will always find it hard to shake of their reputation until
> they enter mainstream media.
ps.read my post on FOG chat to see what the future
> of games will really be like
I think that says it all... despite the size of the industry, its still got the image of being cult entertainment...
Theres also the snobbishness around the media... whereas book fanatics may ridicule the idea of cenimatic art...
Movies goers may deride the idea of Video Games as an artform...
Indeed I can think of no games which have any depth ouside of the 3D accelorator, I suspect there are one or two that will be considered with respect in the future, though I suspect that games are still in their infancy and although are most definitly here to stay, have still got a lot of growing up to do.
Gaming will get credit, albeit not that it deserves when there are more movie/series/game show tie ins to bring gaming to the average punter.
Sure the PSOne made gaming popular, especially with the youth club culture, but you see very few adults (people over the age of around 27) openly discussing gaming. There are games that have tried to aim themselves at adults, but their notariouty made them even popular with kids.
Cheap tie-ins will get the publicity that gaming wants and needs, but it will be mainly spent on promoting the poorer quality games are churned out on pretty much a weekly basis by 3DO. Star Wars games are trying to do this, which may popularise gaming again, even if the rest of the sane, normal gaming community yawn once again at the averageness of the gameplay and tawdry plot, whilst others praise it on account that it looks good.
Lets just hope Metal Gear Solid 2 turns the tide that GTA3 has started
Sure the PSOne made gaming popular, especially with the youth club culture, but you see very few adults (people over the age of around 27) openly discussing gaming. There are games that have tried to aim themselves at adults, but their notariouty made them even popular with kids.
Cheap tie-ins will get the publicity that gaming wants and needs, but it will be mainly spent on promoting the poorer quality games are churned out on pretty much a weekly basis by 3DO. Star Wars games are trying to do this, which may popularise gaming again, even if the rest of the sane, normal gaming community yawn once again at the averageness of the gameplay and tawdry plot, whilst others praise it on account that it looks good.
Lets just hope Metal Gear Solid 2 turns the tide that GTA3 has started
I think that games will always find it hard to shake of their reputation until they enter mainstream media.
ps.read my post on FOG chat to see what the future of games will really be like
ps.read my post on FOG chat to see what the future of games will really be like
As we all know by now, the video games market is massive, raking in more consumer cash than cinema and video rental, yet for all of this financial success games are still not getting the artistic merit, acclaim and credit among a wider audience they so greatly deserve.
Can video games ever be considered an art form to rival films, literature or painting? Or will they always be classed as just harmless (or harmful depending on your point of view) entertainment?
Children, and indeed many adults love playing video games. However, there seems to be a school of thought amongst parents or Daily Mail readers to assume children liking something as evidence that it is bad for them. If they are spending many hours staring at a screen, parents wonder what harm it could be doing to them. But people used to say that about TV and cinema, yet they are more accepted.
Compare video games with books, television and films; all have great complexity and diversity – they give you access to almost every aspect of human culture and understanding – but they are not interactive. On the other hand, something like playing the piano is also complex, and interactive, but it requires a huge initial financial investment and many months or years of practice or training with the allied risk of misplacing that investment if you cant play it properly. Games are interactive relatively cheap (???) and are most of all good entertainment.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 prove that games can have intelligent scripts, great voice acting quality and well developed characters who display wide ranging emotions.
However, the majority of games still have clichéd plots together with cheesy scripts and dialogue.
Will a video game script ever be hailed as a masterpiece? Will we ever see stuffy critics discussing games on “Newsnight Review” or arty games like “Mullholland Drive: The Game”? Probably not.
Konami even acquired the services of Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams to provide the soundtrack for MGS2. Hollywood actors also provided many of the voices for characters in GTA3, proving that games could have a higher profile.
Games are mostly on the news for the wrong reasons though and only time will tell when games will become fully accepted as artistic mediums.
Video games do have award ceremonies, but these are always low-key affairs frequented by E-list celebrities and gaming journalists attracted by free alcohol.
We’ve still haven’t got any decent yearly video game exhibitions open to the public, though it is rumoured that Sony will do something like this one day. Till then all we have is the industry only ECTS, and the last one of that was absolutely pathetic with no sign of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Capcom etc.
The public want video game trade shows.
As time goes on, I wonder if we’ll ever see high profile games designers/personalities?
Film directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are mega celebrities but also creative visionaries like many video game directors.
Millions of people love games, yet mention Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami and Yu Suzuki to most of the British public and they’ll think they are the back four for the Japanese national football team.
In the future will we see bigger video game tournaments where players are idolised like sports stars?
Such competitions already exist, yet they receive little coverage and are just won by hardcore nerds who live QuakeIII.
Television coverage of games is way too poor.
Cybernet and Thumb Bandits aren’t really that bad, but when are we going to see good intelligent programmes that appeal to a wider audience, rather than treating all gamers as either ‘post-pub yobbos’ or geeks. A decent time slot would be a start.
All manner of games seem to be spawning trashy movies. “Tomb Raider”, Street Fighter the movie”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Mario Brothers”, not forgetting the masterpiece that is “Double Dragon” are all prime examples. Whether the “Resident Evil” movie will live up to expectation and do it’s gaming forefather justice remains to be seen. So when are we going to see a movie tie-in we can be proud of?
I wouldn’t really class it as a game to film conversion, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” was pretty good, although it performed pretty poorly at the box office and got a critical roasting. It defiantly didn’t get as much attention as the Tomb Raider movie.
Should games be getting better press and more well deserved credit?
Or will they always be seen as mere trashy entertainment?
Can video games ever be considered an art form to rival films, literature or painting? Or will they always be classed as just harmless (or harmful depending on your point of view) entertainment?
Children, and indeed many adults love playing video games. However, there seems to be a school of thought amongst parents or Daily Mail readers to assume children liking something as evidence that it is bad for them. If they are spending many hours staring at a screen, parents wonder what harm it could be doing to them. But people used to say that about TV and cinema, yet they are more accepted.
Compare video games with books, television and films; all have great complexity and diversity – they give you access to almost every aspect of human culture and understanding – but they are not interactive. On the other hand, something like playing the piano is also complex, and interactive, but it requires a huge initial financial investment and many months or years of practice or training with the allied risk of misplacing that investment if you cant play it properly. Games are interactive relatively cheap (???) and are most of all good entertainment.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 prove that games can have intelligent scripts, great voice acting quality and well developed characters who display wide ranging emotions.
However, the majority of games still have clichéd plots together with cheesy scripts and dialogue.
Will a video game script ever be hailed as a masterpiece? Will we ever see stuffy critics discussing games on “Newsnight Review” or arty games like “Mullholland Drive: The Game”? Probably not.
Konami even acquired the services of Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams to provide the soundtrack for MGS2. Hollywood actors also provided many of the voices for characters in GTA3, proving that games could have a higher profile.
Games are mostly on the news for the wrong reasons though and only time will tell when games will become fully accepted as artistic mediums.
Video games do have award ceremonies, but these are always low-key affairs frequented by E-list celebrities and gaming journalists attracted by free alcohol.
We’ve still haven’t got any decent yearly video game exhibitions open to the public, though it is rumoured that Sony will do something like this one day. Till then all we have is the industry only ECTS, and the last one of that was absolutely pathetic with no sign of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, Capcom etc.
The public want video game trade shows.
As time goes on, I wonder if we’ll ever see high profile games designers/personalities?
Film directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are mega celebrities but also creative visionaries like many video game directors.
Millions of people love games, yet mention Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Shinji Mikami and Yu Suzuki to most of the British public and they’ll think they are the back four for the Japanese national football team.
In the future will we see bigger video game tournaments where players are idolised like sports stars?
Such competitions already exist, yet they receive little coverage and are just won by hardcore nerds who live QuakeIII.
Television coverage of games is way too poor.
Cybernet and Thumb Bandits aren’t really that bad, but when are we going to see good intelligent programmes that appeal to a wider audience, rather than treating all gamers as either ‘post-pub yobbos’ or geeks. A decent time slot would be a start.
All manner of games seem to be spawning trashy movies. “Tomb Raider”, Street Fighter the movie”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Mario Brothers”, not forgetting the masterpiece that is “Double Dragon” are all prime examples. Whether the “Resident Evil” movie will live up to expectation and do it’s gaming forefather justice remains to be seen. So when are we going to see a movie tie-in we can be proud of?
I wouldn’t really class it as a game to film conversion, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” was pretty good, although it performed pretty poorly at the box office and got a critical roasting. It defiantly didn’t get as much attention as the Tomb Raider movie.
Should games be getting better press and more well deserved credit?
Or will they always be seen as mere trashy entertainment?