Posts Tagged ‘game development’

In addition to being an interesting discussion of Amazon’s problematic pricing and compensation policies, this advisory from the IGDA should also be of interest to writing teachers. It is a wonderful example of how to make a respectful but very assertive argument. Rhetorically, it is a very savvy piece of work. Game developers do have a lot to gain from Amazon’s app store, so the IGDA doesn’t want to alienate Amazon. Hence this piece includes some wonderful examples of how to qualify the argument in a way that is designed not to attribute evil intent to your opposition. As such, it is an example that is all too rare nowadays.

There are many mysteries in life to which we will never, ever find a satisfactory answer: why Wall Street continues to make money hand over fist in the middle of a recession, how baseball replaced watching paint dry as the US national past-time, why anyone takes Michele Bachman seriously. One of those unsolvable mysteries is [...]

In his article Broadpaw made an excellent point about the reluctance of many people to think of games as art or even that particular games might be a form of art; we are lightyears away from someone acknowledging that a specific game might be great art.  Broadpaw noted that the entire debate is structured around [...]

Upon leaving a reply to “It may be art. . .but I really don’t care,” I soon realized that the reply was quickly becoming its own post. So here it is. My good Twitchdoctor, I am pleased that you tackle the question of “Are games art?” in the way that you have – in that [...]

I’ve often heard the argument that games can’t be art because there are a lot of schlocky games out there. Well, there are also a lot of schlocky novels, films, plays, and paintings out there but we don’t automatically assume that that disqualifies entire forms of expression from ever being considered art.

I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if a million voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Then I remembered. Five years ago, something terrible happened.

Players don’t typically buy a game expecting to finish it in a couple of hours. That our involvement with various games is more in the nature of a hook-up than a shared toothbrush holder regrettably says more about the quality of the games we are presented with. Most players I know, after all, really want a game that has great replayability and to which they can return after being unfaithful with some other tawdry and momentarily attractive title and find that it welcomes you back without any questions asked.