Kojima and Ebert Psychically Connected
Details at six.
While you’re waiting around for that very important story to appear on Entertainment Tonight, we’ve got the real details for you right here at Play-Girlz.
Roger Ebert drew a lot of flak from gamers when he declared that video games were an inferior form of entertainment to movies and literature, and that games, in his opinion, were not art. Of course all the gaming sites jumped all over that one and raged up one side of Ebert and down the other about how he had no respect for the effort and creativity of gaming, and how he was an ignorant lout. Well now gamers will either have to consider Ebert’s points with a more self-reflective mind, or screech at one of their own for daring to have the audacity to question the One True Media.
Hideo Kojima, recently noted for his adventures in podcasting, has considered Ebert’s comments and found them to have a good deal of merit. Kojima is not exactly known for toeing the line, and his personal opinion is regularly splashed all over the internet, but it is interesting that someone so involved in the industry (I mean, it is his livelihood after all), would pointedly, and publically agree with that kind of criticism.
Said Kojima:
“I don’t think they’re art either, videogames. The thing is, art is something that radiates the artist, the person who creates that piece of art. If 100 people walk by and a single person is captivated by whatever that piece radiates, it’s art. But videogames aren’t trying to capture one person. A videogame should make sure that all 100 people that play that game should enjoy the service provided by that videogame. It’s something of a service. It’s not art. But I guess the way of providing service with that videogame is an artistic style, a form of art.”
I have to agree about games not being art. They may have some very artistically rendered environments, but no they are not art.
As for games being an inferior form of entertainment to movies and literature, that is purely subjective and Roger is stating his opinion, as we all have the ability to do. His is a snobbish opinion of course :)
Mine is that they are of a different form of entertainment, and there is no reason you cannot enjoy movies, literature and video games together. They each provide different types of entertainment, but they all entertain nonetheless.
What Cal said. :)
Ah, art. Good to see that we’re still trying to figure out what it encompasses.
Personally, I see games (not all of them) as a form of art. Like books and movies, it tells a story. Like a painting or drawing, it shapes a world, or a view of it.
That said, there are lots of books, movies and games that are all marketing and proft and no art. But then that’s an entirely different debate.