benlehman

There's a whole other aspect of 'art' that I think also needs to be addressed; play in art.

Art, to me, is in part about dealing with human emotion. human conditions. human impulses. As an artist, this is something i've always tried to bring into my own work, I want to make pieces that people can enjoy at the most base of human levels: touch. This is WHY I make video games. As a way to make a piece that people can play with. Because being in a gallery setting, people don't want to PLAY with your work. They can't, because the gallery world has instilled "DON'T TOUCH" so deeply into our mindsets that when we go into a space that is specifically designed to be interacted with, people just DON'T. They Freeze.

So, my mini rant aside, why a dearth of art in games? Well, it depends on where you're looking. Indie games are where the greatest 'art' pieces are going to be. This piece for example was poignant to me: http://www.ludomancy.com/games/today.php
The big budget games? not as much, considering how many people are involved, publishers, and the sheer amount of money involved. Bioshock was skirting on the edge of that, but not quite committing. And in all honesty, I don't blame bigger companies for being worried. They're not there to make art. they're there to make money. art means risks. and means risking someone getting on fox news who has no exposure to your product complaining that your game is a full on sex simulator (i'm looking at you Mass Effect).

I would argue that there were points in my life that at one time a book or a movie might have influenced, were replaced with a game. Xenogears being the one that stands out most in my mind, comparing it to Soylent Green, when realizing that all the food on the planet is actually recycled people. And the utter revulsion that followed, and /how could you do that to people/.

This weekend/week, I will be playing Heavy Rain, which is, from what I hear a piece of art. I'll let you know how it goes. but if this game is half as poignant as i've heard it is, it might be the harbinger of things to come.
ok, i hope that i'm not off topic here. but this sort of struck a cord, and since it's my industry felt i should chime in. yea. :)