What exactly is it that we do? - Part 1
by Shayne Guiliano · in General Discussion · 07/08/2003 (1:27 pm) · 23 replies
I was just reading through a great thread about new ideas and couldn't help but pose a new thread....(loved everyone's game ideas, btw)
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=399
I think there are two major reasons why the videogame industry has become stagnant and I wanted to share them with everyone. (this is kind of a long post....sorry for that)
1 We limit ourselves in the most basic ways we think and talk about ourselves. This is true for most things, especially when we think about ourselves as "Videogame Developers". The connotations behind the word used to describe our industry, "Videogame", have become so limiting that they build mental walls around our ability to concept new ideas. The biggest force behind this connotative limitation is also the force that ignited the era of videogames we're still in...Miyamoto. I love Miyamoto. He's shown us all how to make games "fun". But enough! We are still in the era he began, what history will one day see as the "Fun Era", but someone needs to start a new era. Someone needs to discover the Citizen Kane of videogames. I think, as a community, we can help start this new era by discovering a new word with a new definition for what we do and try using it systematically in every interview or casual conversation we have for the rest of our careers....
The best thing I've been able to come up with is "CompArt". It describes what we do pretty well, it rolls off the tongue, and it's even in Hungarian notation! Haha Please, if you have thought of a better word, post it. As an independent movement, we should take it as our responsibility to discover and rigorously use words that will throw down the shackles of connotation weighing down on us as artists.
(I added part two to another post cause it was too long to fit in this one...sorry again for length...i just had a lot to say, I guess...)
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=399
I think there are two major reasons why the videogame industry has become stagnant and I wanted to share them with everyone. (this is kind of a long post....sorry for that)
1 We limit ourselves in the most basic ways we think and talk about ourselves. This is true for most things, especially when we think about ourselves as "Videogame Developers". The connotations behind the word used to describe our industry, "Videogame", have become so limiting that they build mental walls around our ability to concept new ideas. The biggest force behind this connotative limitation is also the force that ignited the era of videogames we're still in...Miyamoto. I love Miyamoto. He's shown us all how to make games "fun". But enough! We are still in the era he began, what history will one day see as the "Fun Era", but someone needs to start a new era. Someone needs to discover the Citizen Kane of videogames. I think, as a community, we can help start this new era by discovering a new word with a new definition for what we do and try using it systematically in every interview or casual conversation we have for the rest of our careers....
The best thing I've been able to come up with is "CompArt". It describes what we do pretty well, it rolls off the tongue, and it's even in Hungarian notation! Haha Please, if you have thought of a better word, post it. As an independent movement, we should take it as our responsibility to discover and rigorously use words that will throw down the shackles of connotation weighing down on us as artists.
(I added part two to another post cause it was too long to fit in this one...sorry again for length...i just had a lot to say, I guess...)
#22
07/10/2003 (12:51 am)
Steve: I totally agree!
#23
I think Biowares RPGs are some of the best games to come out lately.
And the bioware guys have said "We made an the game based on how we would like an rpg done"
Perfect example of how a developer making a game for themselves turned out to be exceptional.
Btw, the "By Gamers for Gamers" quote is Interplay's slogan. I tend to like thier games too :)
Oh, and I AM a developer too. I still dont think games are an art. Monopoly isn't art. I dont believe you should use the word Art to describe something interactive.
Games are a package that can contain art. Certainly the 3d models, or 2d backgrounds can be considered art. Music of course. A good story requires a WRITER not an ARTIST. So the story really isn't an art. The code would be what ties it all together to make a game. Doesn't make the game art itself.
Game: activity engaged in for diversion or amusement
Having not played Citizen Kane I'll have to go by what I've gleamed. But a well done story is a DIVERSION from reality. If its a really good story, it'd make it a really good game in my opinion as long as its either amusing enough that I'm not constantly thinking about problems in my life, or enough of a diversion for the same reason.
07/10/2003 (9:55 am)
Corre:I think Biowares RPGs are some of the best games to come out lately.
And the bioware guys have said "We made an the game based on how we would like an rpg done"
Perfect example of how a developer making a game for themselves turned out to be exceptional.
Btw, the "By Gamers for Gamers" quote is Interplay's slogan. I tend to like thier games too :)
Oh, and I AM a developer too. I still dont think games are an art. Monopoly isn't art. I dont believe you should use the word Art to describe something interactive.
Games are a package that can contain art. Certainly the 3d models, or 2d backgrounds can be considered art. Music of course. A good story requires a WRITER not an ARTIST. So the story really isn't an art. The code would be what ties it all together to make a game. Doesn't make the game art itself.
Game: activity engaged in for diversion or amusement
Having not played Citizen Kane I'll have to go by what I've gleamed. But a well done story is a DIVERSION from reality. If its a really good story, it'd make it a really good game in my opinion as long as its either amusing enough that I'm not constantly thinking about problems in my life, or enough of a diversion for the same reason.
Steve Fletcher
I don't think that we should try to redefine video games or change how they're made or what-not.
I like video games the way they are now. I don't mean that I want every game to be identical, but I don't think that video games are stagnating.
Alot of games are pretty similar, but almost every new game (well, every new COMPETE and relatively PROFFESSIONAL game) has some innovation (even if it's minor). I don't expect someone to just wake up one day and create the video game that transcends all video games made before.
It may have been like that in the past, but only because games weren't very good then. It's not hard to make a game better than Pong. It's going to take alot of hard work to make games better than what's coming out today.
I think I may have misunderstood what you're talking about because I'm easily confused. But, in any case, I think that video game design (and its related fields) are where they need to be today.