Coffee Talk #386: Do Gamers Want Art?

First off, this isn’t one of those “Are videogames art?” columns. You’ve read too many of those already, I’m sure. What today’s column is about is whether there’s a high demand for videogames that are artistic. I’m talking…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, naughty thoughts about Courtney Stodden, Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero making it in WWE, or dreaming of VPS, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

First off, this isn’t one of those “Are videogames art?” columns. You’ve read too many of those already, I’m sure. What today’s column is about is whether there’s a high demand for videogames that are “artistic”. I’m talking about games like Ico, Okami, Elite Beat Agents, Child of Eden, etc. Secondly, I want to discuss gamer apathy and journalist snobbery regarding these games. Let’s get to it!

You see, it all started innocently enough. I was hanging out with my friend EGM Paul, getting ready to devour some outstanding pastrami. We started talking about games like the ones I mentioned above. We discussed if games like these are similar to their theatrical counterparts. While there are certainly some gamers that are thrilled by games like Ico, there are simply more that are dazzled by Call of Duty or Madden. It’s kind of like how The Wedding Banquet is one of my favorite movies of all time, but I understand why Transformers is more popular. A lot of people are passionate about “art house” games and want them to take over the world, but the reality is that they’ll never be blockbusters.

One of the problems with these games is how journalists write about them. A lot of writers get way too uppity about these titles and the pretentiousness is amazing. Too many people write things like, “You’re not a real gamer if you don’t support this game!” or, “You don’t care about the gaming business if you don’t buy this title!” There’s a fine line between wanting to support games that are different and coming off like a prick. A lot of writers cross this line. What’s more alarming is that many of them feel that their stance is justified. (For any new readers, I am not a journalist, FYI.)

I understand why journos get worked up. A lot of gamers are apathetic. A lot of people say that they’re tired of sequels and want more original games. A lot of the same people don’t put their money where their mouths are. There’s nothing wrong with buying and enjoying games in the same series year after year. Games are entertainment and gamers should spend their money on whatever entertains them the most. However, people that bitch about Activision and EA pumping out sequel after sequel while doing nothing to support new IPs and original games should just shut the hell up keep it to themselves.

For my part, I try to support my favorite developers and original games that I enjoy. Even though I get games for free, I’ll go out and buy a BioWare title or an Okami game because I want to see more. My extra copy will go to a friend that I think will enjoy the game, but wouldn’t necessarily by it. In some cases, I’ve made news fans for my favorite developers and unique games. Bonus.

How about you? Do you enjoy so-called “artistic” games? Do you care about supporting original titles or small developers? Or do you just buy whatever makes you happy? How do you feel about journalist snobbery and gamer apathy concerning these games? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

24 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #386: Do Gamers Want Art?”

  1. I enjoy new titles, but as I'm getting older I have less time to sit and appreciate an engrossing single player epic. I'll make time for Uncharted 3, but not much else that requires much story this year. Now with football back my weekend time is less. I need to hit the lottery.

    Lately I've been hooked on League of Legends, which is free, and it allows me to play a match or 2 of roughly 35 mins with friends during the week.

      1. Goodluck to you. Ive been trying to win the powerball for a few years. One day….

        This sounds so vain, but the first thing I'd buy is a Porsche.

  2. Everyone here (probably) knows that I have been losing touch with gaming for some time lately. I just can't play like I used to. I can't sit for hours on end playing games. I just haven't been enjoying them very much.
    My PS3 has become a dedicated Netflix player lately. My 360 only comes on when friends bring their kids over.

    All of the "artistic" games I have tried out, oddly none of the ones mentioned in the article, just don't interest me for long. Flower was okay for maybe 2 levels, there are a few that I downloaded that I can't tell you the names of but they aren't entertaining.

    I don't really know what I want from a game lately but I do know I don't want artistic or cut-scenes. And by no cut-scenes I mean NONE. I don't even want a storyline. Granted as a big contradiction, like Smartguy I do want Uncharted 3.

    I can play games like Lumines and Tetris for hours. I like puzzle games on my phone. And mindless, senseless shooting and destruction on my consoles. I have 100+ games sitting on a shelf I won't touch anymore. :(

  3. I really love the visuals of El Shaddai and while it is nice on the eyes I feel that the game plays like crap. Most of the "artsy"/different games that I played tend to feel that way to me. I feel like that some teams focus too much on being different and "artsy", but lose the basics, which is great game play and functionality. Bionic Commando and UFC 2010 come to mind.

    New IPs are a different story, I love to support new games and do so as much as possible. I wanted to play a sequel for Borderlands so I bought the game and all of the DLC because I felt they deserved it. Same goes for Assassins Creed, R.U.S.E, and Far Cry. I know they aren't for everyone but its for me and I've been buying those games and DLC since day one.

    1. Dude, I picked up UFC 10 last week because it was 20 bucks.

      I really don't know what your issue is and I'd like to find out. I think that the game play stepped up from 2009 and the career steps it up as well.

      Granted, I got hooked on the ground game on 2009 and this year I'm mastering the clinch. The striking is a gimmie.

  4. I really love the visuals of El Shaddai and while it is nice on the eyes I feel that the game plays like crap. Most of the "artsy"/different games that I played tend to feel that way to me. I feel like that some teams focus too much on being different and "artsy", but lose the basics, which is great game play and functionality. Bionic Commando and UFC 2010 come to mind.

    New IPs are a different story, I love to support new games and do so as much as possible. I wanted to play a sequel for Borderlands so I bought the game and all of the DLC because I felt they deserved it. Same goes for Assassins Creed, R.U.S.E, and Far Cry. I know they aren't for everyone but its for me and I've been buying those games and DLC since day one.

  5. I think I have a looser definition of art than most people.

    I think the gameplay in a game can be art. Similar to the way the Globetrotters make an art out of playing basketball. Every game has this artistic attribute. Somebody has to visualize how this game controls in their head and then they make it happen.

    I believe the way a woman does make-up or her hair has artistic merit.

    I sometimes look at the Pepsi logo and wonder how many man-hours went in to getting that exactly how it is.

  8. What I would do to improve on it is start with the animations. The takedowns should have like 10 to 20 different random animations to switch up the look of them. For example… one of the best for double leg takedowns is GSP. I've lost count of how many times I watched this dude jack a fool up and drop him on his ass. However… though it's always been the same technique and the same move… it's never looked the same twice by either him or the fool getting slammed.

    The multiple animations should apply to the blocked ground transitions as well.

    Next… making people tap is hard. I'm on the fence about making this easier or not. That's a whole other conversation.

    Finally… the career. I think you should be able to make a fighter in CAF that is just as good as anything you can make in career. This would eliminate the sense of urgency to build a fighter that can compete with the online fighters who are rated like 109 overall (out of 100).

    After that… the career could be a whole new experience with a long, branching story. The whole building aspect can still be there… but make it for fun and not so damn grinding for the sake of online competition.

    I think that if the good folks over at Yukes did all that… the game would be great.

  11. i just want to say i just read that back and forth between ray and smartguy about BF3

    im the guy that all my friends come to with computer questions….but WOW, you guys know way more than i could ever even hope to know with regard to PCs (or macs)

  12. i just want to say i just read that back and forth between ray and smartguy about BF3

    1. sorry about the noob level double post, i was confused as Ray must now approve my comments…

      Ray, off topic, dude….what, if anything, have you heard about the HTC Kingdom? Seems like the best new phone coming out for sprint…please correct me if im wrong

      1. I'm not sure why your comments keep ending up in moderation. I'll look into that.

        Sprint has a few goodies set for Q4. The Kingdom and Samsung Galaxy S II variant are two. There's one more that I can't mention yet.

      2. I see what's going on with your comments. If you use an IntenseDebate account then your comments won't go into moderation after the first approval. Plus, you can compete for the top 10.

    1. Your comments should post automatically going forward. You also have your first thumbs up! The top 10 commenter rankings are based on the number of comments and the number of thumbs-up ratings. Good luck!

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