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While I disagree with Goldstein's notion that art is "bullshit," and think that your 20,000-year-evaluation counter is absolutely fuckin' brilliant, I do agree with his proposal that videogames being considered art wouldn't change a thing.
If tomorrow, everyone on Earth miraculously agreed that videogames were among the admirable essence of baroque paintings and classical music, we'd still be blowing the living fuck out of zombies and gawking at titty physics. The end result of any medium relies on the mind of the creator, not the reputation of that medium.
While I come from an artistic background and plainly understand the merit, beauty and significance that art holds within the history of world cultures, I'd much rather tell this entire industry to "shut the fuck up" so we can just get to making good games...not respected ones."
I assume this, because you claim that the Wii had better third-party "exclusive" support than any of the other two consoles. This is 100% untrue, and anybody without emotional ties to Nintendo would back me up on this."
The DS and 3DS have decent lineups because developers recognize their already established audiences and, well, what other choices to developers really have? The Wii and Wii U, though...I am only guaranteed great Nintendo games on those consoles; most devs don't give a damn about Nintendo consoles.
My point: The Wii and DS house two very different demographics and software libraries. The Wii's main constituency isn't likely to buy into the Wii U, and Nintendo will have to make due with their diehard fanbase...which isn't that substantial. Otherwise, the Gamecube would have been a success.
Simply put: Most old people have had the same toaster since the 1960's. Nintendo is kind of fucked."
The majority of people who bought the Wii (and nothing else for it) aren't likely to re-up with a trend they barely enjoyed in the first place. Most people I know who own a Wii have it sitting behind their flatscreen collecting dust."
Really? How? Nobody is doing it, so shouldn't the margins be huge? Or perhaps it's like trying to go after a job that is virtually non-existent.
It's depressing, the reality of the role and significance that writing plays in this medium...a very, very small one."
Kojima tells story from a film perspective -- delivering expository information via boring cutscenes. This is akin to someone taking the controller from you, setting it down, and explaining to you what's going on...rather than you experiencing it for yourself.
This method, along with the series limitless twists, corny dialogue, unoriginal characters, and filler that the gamer is expected to remember, is grounds for a very torturous storytelling experience.
It's the reason why fellows like Fox can see story as "getting in the way," and why I believe games like Metal Gear Solid should be praised for anything BUT their stories.
Praise Half-Life and Portal instead...those games do it right."
The main reason for this is because games become more boring more quickly when gameplay is the main emphasis...which is why I spent about 10 minutes playing Gears of War 3. Nothing had really changed since the series' first incarnation.
Gameplay will naturally continue to evolve as developers try new and interesting things with their narratives, so storytelling should be the main focus now.
And I wouldn't go as far as saying complexity is the right direction for game narratives, nor is it a good thing in and of itself. Metal Gear Solid is incredibly complex, but that doesn't make it good. In fact, it's a pretty laughable and embarassing story, at times.
Mass Effect is a good example of great writing, but not of a good story. The narrative itself is very generic, cookie-cutter pulp sci-fi that has been around in games since their seminal years.
This medium needs to start veering away from the typical sci-fi, fantasy, and apocalypse themes that have now overly saturated the market."
This industry continuously focusing on refining gameplay at this point is like the automotive industry constantly redesigning the common steering wheel; it works perfectly fine...leave it alone.
Story, on the other hand, is about as developed in this medium as its views on sex and violence. Hopefully developers will get their heads out of their asses and actually think about the themes they're featuring in their games, rather than keep making it easy for non-gamers to assume these things are designed by 15-year-olds."
I also consider the Half-Life series to be a prime example of great narrative immersion in games. Mind you, the protagonist is a non-character, and we're shooting aliens rather than people, but the delivery of expository information within a ceaseless experience seems like the most idiosyncratic means for a game to tell a story...and HL has done is almost perfectly.
Seems like the best bet is to go with either extreme: heavy cut-scene based or no cut-scenes at all."
Plenty of fine examples of the struggles and inconsistencies games face with narrative. My biggest problem with Nathan Drake (and a problem that 99% of games have, in fact) is your point, exactly. It's hard to really feel for a character who can so blatantly kill other men who I can only assume have lives of their own. How many orphans have some of our most cherished protagonists created?
Violence is pretty trivial in this medium, and it's pretty much the crusty mole on the face on videogame narrative immersion. It has become quite tasteless, and I personally am becoming very sick of it all...to the point where I'm now more interested in other mediums that treat the subject with a little more dignity and consciousness (such as film).
Games have a lot of growing up to do...and that's apparent when I've yet to play as an upstanding character who shows remorse for ending another man or woman's life. Nothing takes me out of the experience more than that."
Plus, I got a hint of creative blue-balls after a while...not fun stuff.
And thank for your support and the offer to have me back. :) It's always great to know I'm still valued somewhere. I do need to focus a bit on making money, though...before the bills start piling up. :/
But since I have a lot more free time and want to catch up on writing, expect to see more stuff from me here or anywhere that'll have it. Which reminds me...if you know anyone in search of freelance work, don't hesitate to throw my name out there.
And don't be such a stranger! We should hang out one of these weekends."
Things are analyzed all the time, whether or not they're considered "art." People all around the web do it constantly. Did they need this supposed art bell to ring to do so? No.
To imply that the title of "art" is required for any avenue to reach its true potential is to imply that skill alone is governed by that recognition ... it isn't. The term "art" is pointless, and good and bad products exist whether or not that term is at all attached to them.
The people that have any real impact on this medium have made up their minds with regards to this art nonsense a long time ago. It's time this topic dies a very sudden and permanent death."