Video games as art

My brother and I just had this conversation this weekend. We were talking about how we feel about video games being considered an art form. We both agree that they are. So I decided that my brother and my conversation from this weekend would be a good posting. My brother and I were talking about some different games that really could be looked at as an art and some reasons. The first one that we were talking about was the Fall Out series. We said it was a very artistic view of what the future could look like if nuclear warfare is continued to be used. Also, the first two being based in California makes it seem close to home. Another game we talking about or a mix of games are the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games. It takes the art form of music to another level. With these games older rock songs are being played and sung by the game players. Also, they add in some songs that are not well known among the population and these bands get more publicity and gain popularity. So in the end these games are actually promoting music. My brother talked about a game that I have never heard of before. It is called Little Big Planet. He told me that this game lets you create your own levels and characters and then log in online and play them. I thought this was very interesting because I had never heard about a game like this that enabled you to create a level that you create. The last game that we discussed was Star Wars Night of the Old Republic. My brother brought up the fact that some people have said that the story line of the game is better than the movies. I told him that this was impossible. Star Wars being so advanced for its time and is still some of the best movies created. As you can tell I am a big Star Wars fan. One other thing that we brought up was just the basic fact of that many games now let you have the capability to create your own character to make it look very close to the way you look or just how you want it to work. So in general, are video games a form of art? I feel so.

Week 3 ENG 298 posting

I really enjoyed the article “yellow-Game Journalism.” I understood and agreed with the entire article. I feel like critics do not always get their critiques right. They come out with their critiques way before the game comes out and this is not fair to the gamers out there that want to play the game for themselves, especially if it is a bad critique. There have been times that I wanted to play a game and saw that there was a bad critique on it so I would not buy it thinking the game is not that good and then when it gets older and cheaper due to the poor sales I would get the game and find out that I liked it.
Gamers need to be very careful with the type of critics they read. Every critic has their own favorite style of video game even though they have to critique them all. They will always have their favorite, so their thoughts of a certain game that is not in their favorite category will not appeal to them. Not all critics have and open mind to all types of games.
I was extremely shocked when I read that some critics only play 15 minutes of a game and then write and entire report on the game based on just those 15 minutes. To me, this ruins their credibility. If I want to read a critique I want the critic to have played the entire game. Fifteen minutes is not nearly enough time to judge a video game. A person cannot get the story line figured out with most games within that. Most people cannot get the complete story line within that first hour of playing some games.
Another interesting point that the author brought up that I had never thought about, but as soon as I read it I understood it completely. I do not like it when critics compare parts in the games to another video game. I am not a big gamer myself, there are only certain games that attract me to them, so when a critic compares a game to one that never really caught my interest I do not have the urge to go out and play the game anymore. This could completely ruin my experience with this game. I could love the game but because they said the action is like another I lose complete interest.

ENG 298 Week 2

The End of Gamers:
I agree with the fact that games should be seen more as an art form. They do have multiple purposes other than the normal of what society thinks they are for, such as mentioned in the article of promoting violence and making our young people obese and lazy. Society needs to open up and take in a new culture form, and understand these gamers more.

The Hipsters of Gaming:
What is a hardcore gamer? Is there really a definition? I think that anyone who plays a game so much that they can study and look into what the game is really trying to get across should be considered a hardcore gamer no matter what system they are playing on. Many gamers are mad at the Nintendo Wii gamers. I feel that Nintendo is more family oriented rather than for a normal gamer. I feel that children are always going to play videogames. It is inevitable. They are going to be exposed everywhere they go. Nintendo has made it to where they have a young child selection of games more then any other system.

The Place of Games in Culture:
I think it is true with there being more games that are based towards males then there are for females. The games that are more based towards females are more like childish games. There are plenty of women gamers out there that would like more games for us. Many characters of games now are mostly males. There are not many with main female characters that survive the entire game. The gaming community needs to be less misogynistic. Let us play! Also I liked this article because it really looks at the culture. I think it would be good for game designers to put a little more culture into their games. This could possibly change some minds of the society because they would not just be playing a game but also be absorbing culture from another country. Also I would love to see other countries getting on the map of gaming. Anime animation is always a classic game for most, but I would love to see what France and India would do with their games. Would they use the standard Asian looking character or would they make their characters look like their culture. Plus, their history is completely different from that of the United States and of Japan. I loved the idea of France coming out with a Renaissance game. I think a game based on that time period could possibly be very interesting.

First Post

Here is my first post for ENG 298.