SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Finally, a good argument in favor of games as art

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

And from Cracked no less:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/defending-the-habit-10-video-games-as-modern-art/

I'm glad someone is differentiating games as art in their own way instead of trying to attach them to movies or novels via plot. I thought I was relatively alone in trying to pick out the political, philosophical, and visual imaging as well as how well a game plays. We need more well-written publicity for the medium if it's ever going to get more respect from the "games are evil" crowd.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Feb 23 2009 06:45 pm

I knew Ico would be on that list.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Grim Fandango on it.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I keep meaning to try Ico and Colossus, but the lack of a PS2 is holding me back. I've been really getting into artsy games lately.

Posted: Feb 23 2009 07:03 pm

I'm glad Deus Ex got an honorable mention of sorts.

I really want to play Psychonauts. >_<

Posted: Feb 23 2009 07:55 pm

For the record, there are 16 colossi, not 14.

Posted: Feb 23 2009 07:58 pm

Psychonauts is a terrific game, I have never really played anything like it before. You basically have to enter the minds of crazy people and maneuver through their twisted thoughts and perceptions of how they view the world.

There is one level in particular that sticks out for me that involves entering the mind of Napoleon(or a character similar to him). Anyway I don't want to ruin anything but you can see the potential for it.

Also, Monkey Island would be a good candidate for that list. In terms of adventure/puzzle games it's my favorite story line.

Posted: Feb 23 2009 10:37 pm

I feel like a complete moron for saying this, but...am I the only person who thought Psychonauts was grossly overrated? Sure, it's innovative, but "innovative" does not always equate great gameplay. I thought it was just another run-of-the-mill platformer.

Posted: Feb 23 2009 11:07 pm

ThatGuy wrote:

For the record, there are 16 colossi, not 14.

Beat me to the punch, there are indeed.

And frankly, I count lizards as enemies too. Those fuckers are just begging to have an arrow through the head. Wink

Posted: Feb 24 2009 12:05 am

Cameron wrote:

I feel like a complete moron for saying this, but...am I the only person who thought Psychonauts was grossly underrated? Sure, it's innovative, but "innovative" does not always equate great gameplay. I thought it was just another run-of-the-mill platformer.

Did you mean to say overrated?, but I understand what your saying about the gameplay. It's definitely not comfortable with the keyboard and the camera angles are often suspect throughout the game. On the other hand, those type of games are never focused on great gameplay.

For me, the gameplay was overshadowed by the innovative premise of the game itself. I was completely consumed on seeing how the next level would layout because every stage of the game was so unique.

Posted: Feb 24 2009 12:17 am

TopShelf wrote:

Cameron wrote:

I feel like a complete moron for saying this, but...am I the only person who thought Psychonauts was grossly underrated? Sure, it's innovative, but "innovative" does not always equate great gameplay. I thought it was just another run-of-the-mill platformer.

Did you mean to say overrated?

Dang, yeah, meant to say overrated...

TopShelf wrote:

For me, the gameplay was overshadowed by the innovative premise of the game itself.

Exactly.

Posted: Feb 24 2009 01:50 am

I am glad to see Bioshock got an honorable mention. The atmosphere that game was able to create is unbelievable.

Posted: Feb 24 2009 05:05 pm

Am I the only one that was unimpressed with Bioshock? It sure was atmospheric and creepy, but Doom 3 did that imo a while back and Doom was a well balanced shooter. Bioshock had weird glitchy animations and bizarre textures and the hacking minigame made no sense in the way it was represented (fluid in a tube? wtf, Fallout 3's hacking made more sense...) rant rant complain well I just didn't care for it so I'll leave it at that. Neutral

Posted: Feb 24 2009 05:50 pm

The plasmids are real badass and well integrated with the weapons, plus the tonics you power up various abilities with are awesome.

The presentation and voice work is simply fantastic.

I cannot argue about Fallout as it is a superb game.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I think Bioshock got by on its writing because people knew it had "something to do with Objectivism," and didn't really look into it.

One of the things I like the most about Psychonauts is the fact that you don't really "kill" any of your enemies. You examine their minds and how they work, and attempt to help them find peace within their psyches. Any enemy you kill (save for the dentist) exists only in people's minds, and it's kind of an awesome idea of that sort of intelligence over brutality. It's hard to talk about the concept, but fun to consider, especially since video games now are so obsessed with the "mature" nature of just gutting everything that's not a "good-guy."

Posted: Feb 24 2009 07:24 pm

Andrew Man wrote:

The plasmids are real badass and well integrated with the weapons, plus the tonics you power up various abilities with are awesome.

The presentation and voice work is simply fantastic.

I'll agree with that, but it still didn't wow me for some reason.