Are Games Art Part 4: Roger Ebert Won't Shut Up About What He Doesn't Know

Roger Ebert is famous for his movie reviews, and I'm one of his devoted followers. He's also infamous for writing an article claiming that video-games are not art, and never will be.

He has wisely not sought to expand or defend this ridiculous claim over the years, until now. After watching a TED presentation by Kellee Santiago on games and art, he has chosen to restate his original assertion, largely as a response to the presentation. (Roger's article, the presentation below)



Roger summarizes the presentation, bandies around various definitions of art, deconstructs Kellee's choice of a definition, and then sniffs at the three games that Kellee presents as steps in the direction of greater art. Because, after seeing half a minute of each within the presentation, they didn't move him as much as he has been moved after experiencing a complete film on the same subject.

And he repeats, from his original assertion (about which Kellee also, strangely but erroneously, agrees): "No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets."

Roger is an exemplification of the line from Simon and Garfunkle, that "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." He asks, "Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art?" To which I reply, why are you so intensely concerned that games not be defined as art?

You know damn well that I, and anyone else, can define art as whatever the hell they want to, and so, by definition, games are art, if I so choose to define them so. So you have to ensure that only what you define as art is art. You conveniently choose a definition of art that allows you to draw the boundaries where you want. Just like, in the over 1,000 comments you have received on your post, the only ones on which you comment are the ones where you can correct the commenter who got something wrong about which you wrote. All the others, who cogently disagree with you, remain unanswered.

"No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets." I'm in the game field, and I hereby assert that the game of Go is worthy of comparison with the great filmmakers, novelists, and poets.

I think I know something about games, certainly far more than you do. Furthermore, I am not unfamiliar with great films (I have experienced many of them from beginning until the end), great works of literature, and great works of art. The latter two, I'm sure I am at least as familiar with as you are.

Now, since as far as I know you've never experience a single game of Go from beginning until the end, nor several dozen years of playing Go, which is where and how the art in Go unfolds over time, I think any opinion you have on the subject is simply irrelevant. How can you justify continuing to talk about what you don't know, and about art which you've never experienced?

Roger, you haven't played games. You haven't done research. You look at thirty second samples and remain unmoved.

Looking at a few video games from the outside, without experiencing them, is like looking at a film trailer or reading the blurb on the back of a book. And, even if you've played a game or two and were not moved by them, so what? You are pre-disposed to not be moved by it. Plenty of people sat through The Godfather bored out of their mind, or looked at a Rembrandt or listened to a concerto while checking their watch. Your subjective opinion on a piece doesn't mean much, when you're not even remotely familiar with the medium about which you're judging.

(part 1, part 2, part 3)

Session Report, in which we play a lot of Bridge

The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Robber Knights, Dominion x 2, Summoner Wars, Bridge x 3.

We play a lot of Bridge and Dominion.

The Board Game Industry is a Subset of the Licensing Industry

The board game industry, like other industries to which it is vaguely related, such as toys, comics, video games, sports, puzzles, and so on, sells entertainment.

Players in the board game industry want you to part with your money for the promise of minutes, hours, weeks, or years of entertainment. Anyone in the industry who thinks that, for instance, board games are created to sell game play, is in the art business, not the entertainment business, and, like others in the art business, must prepare to starve while they pursue an uphill, self-righteous battle.

The value of an entertainment product is how much it entertains, for how long, how many times, and for how much cost (in time and money, at the expense of some other entertainment), as well as a few other variables (such as if it can be shared, transferred, returned, or resold). A board game's value can be measured using the same criteria as any other entertainment product. A board game doesn't have to deliver a good play experience to be successful entertainment; it simply has to entertain (or make promises that it will entertain).

Thus, a board game that functions as a toy is entertaining. One that evokes conversation, nostalgia, or laughter is entertaining. Game play may be a significant sales point for board games - and may generally be pushed as the primary sales point of board games - but is actually secondary, a means to an end, at least as far as entertainment is concerned.

Worthwhile and original game play is tricky, complicated, and highly subjective, which makes it costly and difficult to get right. Licensing marries one successful entertainment product (a theme) with another successful entertainment product (proven game play). Original games require game play development, art, production, marketing, fulfillment, and distribution. Licensed games dispense with the game play costs and much of the art costs. So they're not only more likely to be entertaining, contain elements that are already familiar to potential consumers, and appeal to a built-in fan base, they're also cheaper and quicker to produce.

Will a licensed game entertain for a minute? A few hours? Weeks? Years? That depends on how long the theme is in fashion (or if it will come back into fashion), and whether it is bought for the game play or for some other entertainment purpose, such as "collecting" or "playing with" it. Does a licensed game give a consumer a reason to buy? This depends on the amount of disposable income the purchaser possesses and what he or she expects from the entertainment he or she purchases.

It is not much of a surprise to see that industry insiders talk more about licenses and trends than they do about game play. For game play to make an impact, it has to be a breakthrough (or marketed brilliantly). Unfortunately for the purists, this type of breakthrough happens rarely. While they celebrate and pontificate over the thousands of great and wonderful original game play designs introduced each year, the industry continues to sell safe and tried entertainment to the happy meal consuming, on the go, summer blockbuster watching public.


Take heart, purists. First of all, stop whining about poor sales and an inability to penetrate to the mainstream market when you're not making products that the mainstream market wants. Second of all, armed with the  knowledge of what they want, use this information to marry the simplicity and accessibility of what the mainstream wants with your currently idling game play ideas. License. Copy. Brand. Market. Appeal.


Save the good games for game night with the geeks.

Session Report, in which a new player shows up

The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: It's Alive, Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, Boggle, Tichu.

This shabbat at Nadine's, Abraham, Sarah, Nadine, and I played Trivial Pursuit, the original edition. Man, I thought I knew those questions, but those questions are pretty hard, especially thirty years on.

Apparently, Bananagrams has become a pretty big hit among my kids and their friends round these parts.

Scrabble With Rachel

Rachel's last act in Israel (other than packing up the Pesach dishes) was to toast me in a Scrabble game 491 to 288. She started with JEWEL, and though I got my own 48 point word eventually, after she scored two Bingos, several Ss, and a Z or two, I was just hoping to score at least half of what she did.

So she left for America on a happy note. Well, happy for her, anyway.

Scrabble With Mom

Mom occasionally beats me in Scrabble, even many years after I think she can't do it any more. There's nothing better than being surprised by your mom's mental acuity just when you think she's getting older.

This was not one of those times.

It might simply have been the letters. But on several of her turns, I pointed out a number of locations where she could score twice as much using the letters she just placed on the board. Even with that help, I played a bingo and won by a large margin. And without using the new two-letter words from 4th edition, with which she is unfamiliar (QI, ZA, etc).

Maybe next time.

Yehuda

Games Day Session Report

The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Age of Empires III, Blood Red Sands (RPG), David & Goliath, El Grande, Hunting Party, Shadows Over Camelot.

I didn't think there would be a games day until very late, so I didn't advertise or host it. Gili hosted it, and nine people attended. Thanks, Gili.