The Art of High-Def Gaming

[Attebery]

Wayne Santos' latest article explores the art of High-Def gaming.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...ion_Games/1814

[everythingornothing]

I was looking forward to this article from the title and was bitterly disappointed by the content. Games have long been denigrated as any new medium has been until it has a breakthrough where even the harshest critics have to admit that it is a legitimate art form. Film took about twenty years from novelty to art form. Television probably didn't get art status until about 25 years after it was mainstream (probably with the Roots miniseries) and comic books labored for more than fifty years before we got Watchmen. Games probably have reached the "art" level, but the games presented in the article (with the exception of Bioshock) won't likely sway critics. Katamari? Very fun but shallow and the art in the game is just 3D clip art from the mid-80s. As fun as it is, it doesn't strive to be art, doesn't stretch the medium in any conceivable way, and was likely the result of a brainstorming session during a bout of the munchies (from you know what). Everyday Shooter? It's a 2D shooter. Worse, it's whole design is a shallow 2D ripoff of a game that rightly could be on the list- Rez (HD). Okami- well not a bad choice (very artistic) but odd to see in a high-def gaming article when it is a last gen title.
If you really wanted to sway non-gamer critics:
Bioshock- always on every list of artistic games.
Eternal Sonata- for its visual style and its themes of music and dreams.
Portal- for humor and mind-bending puzzles.
Mass Effect- for storytelling and emotional depth.
Braid- for taking a familiar concept (simple 2D platformer) and completely transcending the genre with its use of time manipulation and the underlying story.

[Rhoq]

Since the Wii was included - LostWinds deserves at least an honorable mention.

[Badger3920]

Thanks again for the article. You can't please everyone.

Perhaps if you had written this a month later, MGS4 would be on there (except i like how you try to calm the fanboys by leaving out recently hyped games). From what it sounds like, it's an artistic masterpiece.

I also feel this way about Gt5p, but I can understand not using a racing game as an example of art

[Keegs]

You should have added PS2 for the console format that Okami is on, especially since you have Bioshock on there when its not yet available on PS3. Any case minor and good article. Good to see you give credit to the amazing art of Everyday Shooter.

[Detroit Tigers Fan]

Bioshock for the ps3 seems to be sold out at all the stores I go to...you listed it as being on the ps3...can you help me out on where I can find it because I want to play it on my ps3 this weekend.

[crazzeto]

Great write up, I guess you can't please everyone... I hadn't even heard of Okami, I think I'm going to have to give that one a try... Also I'm going to have to take a second look at bio shock, I had tried out the demo on x-box live but never made the purchase, maybe that time is approching.

[ericede]

I'm not buying it either. For most people asking them to play old games is like asking them to play with cheap wooden toys. Lets face it, in it's prime the newest game release is amazing, but 3 years later it almost offends our senses to even look at it.

Simply put; Art is timeless and games are not.

I used to love Ultima 2 on my Atari 800 but that doesn't mean I can bring myself to play it. Back in 1982 that was a work of art. Now... nobody would waste their time.

[DoubleJ]

Okami is a perfect game to include in this article. If you have the Wii, definitely pick this one up. You'll be paying less for this game than most PS3 or 360 games, and it has more value than most of them as well.

[Shoeless]

Originally Posted by Detroit Tigers Fan

Bioshock for the ps3 seems to be sold out at all the stores I go to...you listed it as being on the ps3...can you help me out on where I can find it because I want to play it on my ps3 this weekend.

It's not out yet for the Playstation 3, it's slated for a release towards the end of year, as stated in the article in the first paragraph for the Bioshock portion.

[Detroit Tigers Fan]

Originally Posted by Shoeless

It's not out yet for the Playstation 3, it's slated for a release towards the end of year, as stated in the article in the first paragraph for the Bioshock portion.

Oh...So why wasn't Gears of War 2 talked about in this article then? GOW2 is also coming out in November.

[Shoeless]

Originally Posted by Detroit Tigers Fan

Oh...So why wasn't Gears of War 2 talked about in this article then? GOW2 is also coming out in November.

Mostly because of personal criteria. I've played Gears of War and I feel it's an incredibly entertaining game, but my own sensibilities wouldn't really label it an Artful Game. It's one hell of a ride, but I don't think it provokes that kind of reaction in an audience that something like Shadow of the Colossus or Bioshock would.

In the same way that movies can accommodate "Important Films" like Schindler's List and then slide all the way over to the pure, fun, check-your-brain at the door entertainment like Independence Day, I feel that games like SotC and Bioshock may be "Important Games" while Gears of War is most definitely more of a "summer blockbuster popcorn" game. The story--at least in the first Gears of War--isn't particularly original or profound, and the only way the game challenges players is in the traditional way of reflexes and tactics. It didn't fit in with scope of the article. Obviously Gears of War 2 would likely make a list of good looking HD games when it's finally available, but unless CliffyB has done a massive 180 turn on how he approaches the narrative and gameplay in GOW2, it's a pretty safe bet that it's going to be more of same great gaming from GOW1, but not the sort of game that academics, critics and others can say makes an artistic or cultural contribution of some sort.

[supervillainy]

I'm not a Wii fan. I'll start out by saying this. My girlfriend bought one and I can say, why have Wii when a 360 stares you in the face. The biggest problem with giving the Wii honorable mention in a Hi Def gaming article is that the wii is not Hi Def. It outputs standard and looks like crap on a Hi Def screen, one of the major reasons it doesn't compete with the ps3 or the 360 for serious gamers. That's all I have to say about that.

[LtLalue]

lol, these intellectual things are always fun,

like the music critics who aren't musicians, or siskel and ebert who aren't directors.

I love how 'scholars' feel the need to critique and come up with a score card of measurements to determine whether something artful, truly is or not.

gears of war- it's a war, in the title of the game...
- supposed to be spanned over 3 parts... so it explains why the story is lacking.
another thing that explains why the story is lacking, it's a WAR.
I found the amped up action over the story telling made it feel much more like a war that is at home. plus you can see posters for immulsion or watever littered throughout the game, without really getting the backstory for what immulsion really has to do with anything.
perhaps, I can see a parallel here to how oil is in the Iraq war.

also , the pacing of the game...where there are scenes of frantic battles and scenes of serenity...maybe that also is similar to iraq. or the new state of warfare...bam out of nowhere a bomb goes off and it's all hell breaks loose in the middle of the street.

so looking at it that way, it's easy to point out how gears of war truly is an amazing work of art, from it's design, to pacing to story telling..
the user is experiencing the War.

lol, MGS4, that's on a whole other level aswell for an action/story game.

either way, this is good to see, hopefully, in my university, someday, I'll be able to minor in cinema studies and video game studies as well.
lol, how sick would that be, playing games as class work to examine the art.

[twonunpackmule]

Originally Posted by LtLalue

like the music critics who aren't musicians, or siskel and ebert who aren't directors.

Careful, Ebert has screenwriting credit...and it doesn't take a "director" to see flaws, or appreciate art.

However, Music Critics are just plain awful. In fact, I would say that the music critics are worse then gaming critics. The only "music head" that I admired was John Peel. Now that he's gone...there's a great void in the music landscape. All other critics are pompous asses that think way too much about the "meanings", instead of focusing on the "feelings".

Pitchfork is the pits and should never be considered a premiere source for "critiques".

I really went off on a tangent...but that issue irks me.

Anyway, I would like to say that I personally feel that Gears 2 is going to surprise a lot of people. I really think it's going to be what God of War 2 was to God of War. Better in almost every way.