Games Are Art, and what to do about it Randy Smith.

GamesAre Art,

and what to do about it

Randy Smith

My personal thoughts about:

• How video games are art

• How better artistry can benefit games

• Finding and developing the aesthetic center of a game

= +

CLOSUREis the space between the panels

INTERACTIVITY

How user input is translated into activity on screen

Distinct Qualities of Cinema: Editing, Cuts, Camera movement, etc.

TONS!!Hardly any

Distinct Quality of Video Games: Interactivity

TONS!!Hardly any

Magnitude of Interactivity =How much the game listens to and applies

the player’s input

Discrete Analog

Stepwise Continuous

Isolated Connected

Designer-Authored Player-Authored

More Interactive

= Kickflip

= Roastbeef Revert

A

B

Interactivity Is Technical

…for now…

!

Media LiteracyThe Language of Cinema

!

TONS!!Hardly any

?

?

MagnitudeOf

Interactivity

A Functional Definition

of Art

Consistent trends in stories from disconnected cultures:

Certainty of Death

Need for Connection

Fundamental Isolation

Stories as Functional

Relevance

Honesty

and

How Should I Live My Life?

What Is Life Like For You?

Q A

Teaches you about lifeGets stuck in your head

Makes you feel less aloneGets through the thick wall

Great Product ContainsGreat Art

Top 10 Best Selling Movies1. Titanic2. Return of the King3. Dead Man’s Chest4. The Dark Knight5. Philosopher’s Stone6. At World’s End7. Order of the Phoenix8. The Two Towers9. The Phantom Menace10. Shrek 2

The story could not have been written better...The juxtaposition of rich and

poor, the gender roles played out unto death (women first), the stoicism and

nobility of a bygone age, the magnificence of the great ship matched

in scale only by the folly of the men who drove her hell-bent through the darkness. And above all the lesson:

that life is uncertain, the future unknowable...the unthinkable possible.

James Cameron

MA

LEF

EM

ALE

AGE

MA

LEF

EM

ALE

AGE

MA

LEF

EM

ALE

AGE

11 mil

16 mil

33 mil

40 mil

90 mil

106 mil

11 mil

16 mil

33 mil

40 mil

70-140 mil

Why Think About Games As Art:

• You could reach more people

• You could make more money

How it worksHow it feelsAesthetics

All the flowers you planted in the backyard

All died when you went away.

I know that living with you was sometimes hard

But I’m willing to give it another try

Because nothing compares 2 U

I could put my arms around every boy I see,

but they’d only remind me of you.

“Message” comes from:

• The topics of the artistic piece

• How the piece represents how they work, how they feel

How it works How it feels

How it works

How it feels

artist player

Dynamics

When the leader is knocked out, the rest of the pack scatters

Mechanics Aesthetics

Players often attempt to knock out the leader as

quickly as possible

I feel like a calculating hunter trying to identify and take out the leader

in a quick surgical strike

Leader is identical to the others

Players can’t identify leader until he gets

knocked out

I feel like I flail in desperation, then

suddenly the pack scatters, and I feel a

flood of relief

Possibility Space

What is possible in the game world?

An understood, designer-authored range of

possible experiences

Discovery Through Play

artist player

Dynamics

When the leader is knocked out, the rest of the pack scatters

Mechanics Aesthetics

Players often attempt to knock out the leader as

quickly as possible

I feel like a calculating hunter trying to identify and take out the leader

in a quick surgical strike

Leader is identical to the others

Players can’t identify leader until he gets

knocked out

I feel like I flail in desperation, then

suddenly the pack scatters, and I feel a

flood of relief

Which is the rightaesthetic for

your message?

FUN!Fairness

Goals

Clarity

Balance

The dogma of

!

Topics Aesthetics, Messages

Mechanics

Licensed IPYour own ideaTeam project

Topics Aesthetics, Messages

What excites you aboutthese topics?

Get deeper by asking “why?” repeatedly

Topics Aesthetics, Messages

Mechanics

What mechanicsand tuning willproduce thoseaesthetics?

Post-Apocalyptic MMO

Human struggle, neediness

Tenuous alliances

starvation economy

individuals vulnerable, groups hard to kill

Post-Apocalyptic MMO

Human struggle, neediness starvation economy

Why?

Why?

Why?

Topics Aesthetics, Messages

Mechanics

Why?

Why?

Why?

Mechanics

Mechanics

Mechanics

RTS meets FPS

The loneliness of leadership

jump jets, LOD renderer

Responsibility of war commanders

soldier reactions to being sent into battle

audio and visual touches

giving RTS orders from FP

Topics Aesthetics, Messages

Mechanics

Tuning

Summary

• Video games are a maturing art form, but still lots of people to reach

• Interactivity is our distinct quality

• Game mechanics carry your aesthetics and messages to the player

• The overall interactive work is a possibility space

• Limited range of topics

• Dogmas of what games are supposed to be

• Interactivity is technical, but the barrier to entry will drop some day

!But are we going to be the ones to mature the art form?

Thanks!Q & A

Randy Smithwrite for slides: [email protected]