SnV Forums

Rocky Sullivan · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:54 am Post subject:

I can't think of anything more depressing than being a video game snob.
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ZealousDemon · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:00 am Post subject:

Carlo Von Sexron · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:40 am Post subject:

Depressing.
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Der · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:54 am Post subject:

Carlo Von Sexron · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:13 am Post subject:

Like it's cool to be a wine snob ever since that movie Sideways, apparently.

I hated that movie.
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dodger · Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User

I was having this same conversation, coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago with an acquaintance of mine. I always thought that being enthusiastic and knowledgeable about something was a good thing, but it turns out I was wrong and people hate everyone who knows more than them about anything.

Wrong or not, I am going to continue to operate my life under the assumption that my immense collection of records makes me a music "geek" or "enthusiast". Not like that old jackass that used to come into the record store and complain about rock music, while buying contemporary Chicago blues albums. Snobbery at its finest.

And the idea that some consider video games an art form on par with film and music sort of sickens me. I'm not saying they're not an art form, but seriously.

Carlo Von Sexron · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:27 am Post subject:

I think "enthusiast" certainly has different connotations than "snob".

An immense collection of records makes you awesome, even if girls don't want to talk about them.
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dodger · Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User

I might post a picture of me standing with them... maybe right now?

ZealousDemon · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:43 am Post subject:

Rocky Sullivan · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:58 am Post subject:

Mikes! · Gender: Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 1843 Status: Moderator

Its_The_Sneak!!! · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:03 am Post subject:

ZealousDemon · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject:

Here, I mentioned Shadow of the Colossus before. If you haven't played the game, let me demonstrate. If you plan on playing the game and haven't yet, I suggest you don't watch it. It's the final boss.

Let me set it up for you. You're a boy who's trying to bring back to life a girl that is very dear to your heart. To save her, you enlist the help of spirits. These spirits ask you to take down sixteen giants, and then she will be revived. You've taken down fifteen of them and you've had some other losses along the way. There's no turning back. It's time to fight the last one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SapNmzuXk2U

The music. The atmosphere. The size of the giant. Your desperation as you climb the giant. Just the way that everything is put together in this sequence is pure artistry.

Certainly this is the epitome as games as art as it stands currently. But the potential is certainly there for other developers to make their own living pieces of art.

possums · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:59 pm Post subject:

The thing you have to realize about video games as art at the current time is this:

a) It takes a lot more math, CS skills, and patience than most people are willing to learn, myself included.
b) As Dave said, the games are interactive, so the process by which you see the creator's vision is usually very different from that of a movie or book.
c) Their popularity is irrelevant, the most important thing to consider is that since they were not widely considered art at their inception into culture, video games won't be considered art for a long time. I think this is where you can draw the comparison to movies, not in terms of popularity.
d) Chance of finding a programmer who's also an auteur: 1/100000000
e) If people are going to think of puzzle games and DDR as art, they're probably going to be ridiculed, but I think all forms of video games still have potential for art recognition. Though I think that the art label will be (or has been?) applied almost exclusively to RPGs, more epic action/adventurers, more epic FPSes, and other epic games for a long time.
f) It doesn't help that most video game players have a VERY limited scope of taste.
g) It also is pretty non-conducive that most programmers are fucking nerds.

If anything, I think art recognition among the video game world will or already has taken place mostly in Japan. This is because the current generation of Japanese at our age aren't fucking elitists when it comes to art. (that is if they appreciate art at all, don't get me wrong)

My best advice to my Anglo pals who are not willing to accept video games as art: just try it. It's not going to kill you to play The Ocarina of Time and think of it in terms of interactive literature. You might find something new about it that you love.
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dodger · Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User

Ethan raises a good point: The fact that there is very little new in terms of concepts. I will agree that Coffee's game is artistically styled, it still appears to be rehashing the same swords-and-sorcery stuff that's been around forever. It's art, sure, but in the same way that Bob Eggleton's painting is art: technically proficient but lacking in real artistic value.

There are other games that I think are better contenders, like The Sims or (sigh) Katamari.

Never mind the fact I have one of Eggleton's art books laying around.