Friday, December 08, 2006
On computer & video games
Strange thing to discuss on my comeback, but it's all I have words for, you see.
I've been saying goodbye to too many friends as I prepare to leave for London. So, the only other thing having consumed my conscience in the last month being games, I will share some of my thoughts on the subject.
Firstly, they are important. Or will be, soon enough.
Do not doubt for one moment that within fifty years, some game designer's name will be mentioned in the same breath as Fellini, (Lucien) Freud, or John Lennon.
It's bound to happen. Games are, in the widest sense, an interactive medium. That's it: they are interactive. Usually, they set objectives and challenges for the player but they can also be merely an interactive experience.
The point is, there's nothing that brackets games into the simple-minded Space Invaders stuff that we are used to.
First we had games for adults. Soon we will have games for artsy-fartsy Oxbridge adults.
Intellectually, there's nothing demeaning about user-participation in narrative. It's very post-post-modern.
Mario 8, coming soon to the MOMA. It can happen.
Now, you must ask: Why Niel, why? I'll try and convey my excitement to you.
Some interesting things about games right now:
1. People aren't just interacting with games, they are reinventing them
a minor modification to Doom 3. Light up zombie foes with your Hello Kitty night light
Mods are reprogrammings of a game's content. They offer endless opportunities for creative reconfiguration (and cultural/textual/psychological analysis) and represent a "taking the power back" effect unparalleled in other media.
2. Anyone can join the fun
User-friendly kits that promise to let anyone make their own game within a week are appearing everywhere.
It's drag-and-drop, it's DIY. Nothing to be scared of, just go.
It means that creative people, people with ideas and stories in their heads but no idea how to make games, can now do so. Result? Better stories, better ideas, better games.
I'm hoping this might happen to me. What happens when a journalist tries his hand at writing a game? I hope to find out.
3. Interactive is changing
The latest Christmas must-have is the Nintendo Wii. It's like other gaming consoles that kiddies (and adults) go gaga for, but it's distinguishing feature is that its controller responds to motion. So, if you're playing Wii Tennis, guess what, you wave it through the air like a tennis racket.
It's cool because it's only the beginning. A movie doesn't understand it when I punch. When I dance. But soon, games will and that could be a cool thing. It could be an arty thing.
Nothing can kill the radio star. Or the film star. But games can sure put them on the dole.
See you soon, readers.
There is way too little praise for games. Many games are very educational, see the info on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Even ome NGO's are making funding available for game development.
If it wasn't for Sim City and Civilization, where would all our strategists be?
Post a Comment
I've been saying goodbye to too many friends as I prepare to leave for London. So, the only other thing having consumed my conscience in the last month being games, I will share some of my thoughts on the subject.
Firstly, they are important. Or will be, soon enough.
Do not doubt for one moment that within fifty years, some game designer's name will be mentioned in the same breath as Fellini, (Lucien) Freud, or John Lennon.
It's bound to happen. Games are, in the widest sense, an interactive medium. That's it: they are interactive. Usually, they set objectives and challenges for the player but they can also be merely an interactive experience.
The point is, there's nothing that brackets games into the simple-minded Space Invaders stuff that we are used to.
First we had games for adults. Soon we will have games for artsy-fartsy Oxbridge adults.
Intellectually, there's nothing demeaning about user-participation in narrative. It's very post-post-modern.
Mario 8, coming soon to the MOMA. It can happen.
Now, you must ask: Why Niel, why? I'll try and convey my excitement to you.
Some interesting things about games right now:
1. People aren't just interacting with games, they are reinventing them
a minor modification to Doom 3. Light up zombie foes with your Hello Kitty night light
Mods are reprogrammings of a game's content. They offer endless opportunities for creative reconfiguration (and cultural/textual/psychological analysis) and represent a "taking the power back" effect unparalleled in other media.
2. Anyone can join the fun
User-friendly kits that promise to let anyone make their own game within a week are appearing everywhere.
It's drag-and-drop, it's DIY. Nothing to be scared of, just go.
It means that creative people, people with ideas and stories in their heads but no idea how to make games, can now do so. Result? Better stories, better ideas, better games.
I'm hoping this might happen to me. What happens when a journalist tries his hand at writing a game? I hope to find out.
3. Interactive is changing
The latest Christmas must-have is the Nintendo Wii. It's like other gaming consoles that kiddies (and adults) go gaga for, but it's distinguishing feature is that its controller responds to motion. So, if you're playing Wii Tennis, guess what, you wave it through the air like a tennis racket.
It's cool because it's only the beginning. A movie doesn't understand it when I punch. When I dance. But soon, games will and that could be a cool thing. It could be an arty thing.
Nothing can kill the radio star. Or the film star. But games can sure put them on the dole.
See you soon, readers.
There is way too little praise for games. Many games are very educational, see the info on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Even ome NGO's are making funding available for game development.
If it wasn't for Sim City and Civilization, where would all our strategists be?
Post a Comment
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