Video games can never be art. Having once made the statement above, I have declined all opportunities to enlarge upon it or defend it.
That seemed to be a fool's errand, especially given the volume of messages I receive urging me to play this game or that and recant the error of my ways. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say "never," because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. To hell with longer games, tell me how SHORT your game is. I was going to skip The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
It's not that the game looked bad, or that the reviews rubbed me the wrong way — in fact everything released about the game made me believe it was right up my alley — but I knew I didn't have the time or energy for another game of standard length. And by standard length I mean anything that's eight hours or more. Then I got to the end of Polygon's review, and learned that the game was only a few hours long. Games, stay away from art. Please. Games and art.
Art and games. Do you feel your eyes rolling involuntarily to the back of your head? In the insider world of designers, critics and gamers we have long grown weary of this particular debate. But outside our closed circles, people still find it a surprisingly intriguing question.
The best of 2024 in gaming will reshape gambling, pro-sports and the food we eat. In the future, video games will have their own Oscars and the nominees for 2024's awards will include games that let you print 3D food, gamify a mash-up of gambling and savings accounts, and earn real-world power-ups for your favorite pro sports teams.
Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University for the kick-off of this year's Games for Change Festival, author and game designer Jane McGonigal walked the audience through the idea of ten-year forecasting and how it impacts game design. The idea, she explained, is similar to how Jelly Belly jellybeans can be mixed and combined to create different flavors, like a banana split or candy apple. But with forecasting, researchers look at signals, things that have become important topics of discussion, and see how they could combine in the future to create something new. Video Games and Moral Choices. Tests et mesures des productions interactives (2/3) : évaluer un jeu vidéo. Tests et mesures des productions interactives (1/3) : des sciences cognitives aux tests d’interfaces. Tests et mesures des productions interactives (3/3) : évaluer le “sérieux” d’un jeu. Peut-on créer un monde de jeu vidéo infini.
Gaming's favorite villain is mental illness, and this needs to stop. One of the most destructive aspects of mental illness is that it is invisible.
There is no obvious physical indication that someone is struggling with a mental health concern. They don’t swell up or wear a cast or waste away, evoking the sympathy and understanding of those around them. The cult of the cookie clicker: When is a game not a game? There's a growing obsession online with cookies, imaginary chocolate chip cookies. In early August, avant-garde game developer Orteil put his latest prototype online: Cookie Clicker. In the free game, players have to click on a cookie to produce a cookie. Those cookies can, in turn, be used to increase cookie production through the purchase of virtual grandmas, farms, time machines and the like. There is no goal in the game beyond producing cookies at an ever increasing rate. 30 Years Later, One Man Is Still Trying To Fix Video Games. You could probably make a comic arc in Peter & Company about such a guy.
I can just picture Peter becoming acquainted with an old man who most of his peers consider a crackpot for his radical ideas and who also had a guardian when he was Peter's age (so he could see Seth, for example). As it turns out, the old man is quite skilled in something that interests Peter (Music, Art, what have you), and starts to share some of his wisdom with Peter. Peter then begins to question why no one seems to respect the old man since he has some great ideas, and has to learn the hard truth that sometimes the world simply refuses to listen to someone even though they're right.
Of course, since I suggested this idea, it now means you'll never use it. :P But hey, if you ever do write that into one of your comics, I know I'd be very interested in it.