Depth

Even if we agree that we want to make art of some variety, there is a very real question as to whether games can do the things we want to do. Jason Rohrer says he wants to make games with depth, which continue to speak to the audience over many playings and many years, in the same way that a significant piece of literature, theatre or visual art can. Even the best ‘art games’ do not achieve this; they generally don’t offer many different interpretations and replaying the game doesn’t often yield much in the way of additional insight (beyond, perhaps, a second playing).

Games as Art

I’ve been to several talks recently at GDC, GDX and various universities about games as “art”. Some say that games are already art, or have always been art; some say that games aren’t yet art and maybe can never be; and there are many views in between. There is a push for game designers to better understand art history and their position within it.

To me the whole term “art” is problematic.

Games as Poetry

In which we discuss
placing limits on our play
so we have more fun.

I was visiting Jesper Juul at the MIT Gambit lab today and we got into that trusty old “what is the definition of a game?” debate. While I know that greater minds than I have attempted to address this question, I have often found the answers dissatifying and too heavily focused on the idea of “winning” and goal seeking behaviour in general.

Slow and Subtle: Arthur Ganson’s Machines

I’ve just been to visit the MIT Museum where there is currently an exhibition of Arthur Ganson’s kinetic sculptures. Ganson describes himself as “a cross between a mechanical engineer and a choreographer”. His sculptures are all about creating unusual qualities of movement, and he makes a point of showing off the mechanism. In some cases the mechanism is all there is.

Books: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter.

I know that this may seem like an unlikely title for game designers, but I firmly believe that anyone who wants to work in the area of Narrative or Expressive AI should become intimately familiar with this story and regularly ask themselves the question “Could my storytelling system possibly produce works as richly complex as this?” I’ve found it to be a valuable exercise in humility.

Visiting UC Santa Cruz

I have spent the last week since GDC visitng Michael Mateas and Noah Wardrip-Fruin in the Expressive Intelligence Studio at UCSC. I am considering attending UCSC as a student in the DANM Master of Fine Arts program, and I felt quite at home. The UCSC campus is huge and mostly open land. Most of the buildings are hidden up above the tree-line among the glorious redwoods.

GDC: Day 5

Friday was the last day of GDC and my body clock had finally adjusted (more or less) to California time. Which means that I actually made it to a morning session (although not the 9am session). The talks I attended were:

1. The last minute or so of Emil Pagliarulo’s keynote for the Game Careers Seminar
2. The Game Critics Rant
3. The Dating Game
4. Real Time Research
5. Games Have Feelings Too!

It’s amazing how much more content you get when you arrive before lunchtime. I should remember that for the future.