Video games are still estranged from old media in one sense. There’s no culture of stars in video game design and production. Yet. There should be. There are a few exceptions, of course; Shigieru Miyamoto and Will Wright, maybe – but their names are still mostly known by fanboys. Everyone knows who Super Mario is, […]
Read more "Video Games Need Auteurs, Too"For years, I’ve been hearing that video games are bigger business than movies and music combined. But no one seems to know where this statistic comes from. It could be true. One thing that is clear is that video game sales (hardware and software combined) are going through a period of explosive growth right now. […]
Read more "Recession = More Gaming"This one deserves to be shouted from the rooftops: Far from turning teenagers into anti-social loners, video games help them engage with friends and community, says a report. The Pew Internet study of US teenagers found that few play alone and most join up with friends when gaming. It found that many used educational games […]
Read more "Video Games Help Make Friends, Engaged Citizens"(Now, there’s a post title that should get plenty of search hits!) Games are a maturing medium. One day, perhaps, we’ll see games that are significant commentaries on life, the universe and everything – and we’ve gotten some that are better than others in that regard. But on the whole, games aren’t there yet. Daniel […]
Read more "Sex, sex, sex. And video games."National Public radio in the US has been running some interesting pieces on video games recently. Lately they’ve taken a stab at a question that becomes more and more important as gaming revenues continue to swell: Are video games art? Other media have a long history of relevant, moving social commentary. Movies and books lately […]
Read more "NPR Radio: Are Video Games Art?"People are reading less and less. They’re also watching less and less TV. The reason? They’re switching to interactive entertainment like the internet and video games.Here’s a piece of bricks-and-mortar support for that wild inference. Borders, one of the largest book retail chains in the UK, has started selling video games. This may seem like […]
Read more "Taking up Space"Interesting article in Gamasutra a couple of days ago. (I know, I know, I’m late with this – but I’ve been working on other stuff lately.) Jim Preston wades hip deep into the “Are video games art?” debate. Rather than concluding yes or no, he suggests (correctly, I’d say) that the point is moot: As […]
Read more "Games as Art? . . . Who cares?"
Philip Trippenbach 