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Bang Bang, Is Creativity Dead?
The Last Weekly Wii Update: Super Punch-Out!!
Denver, 12:18 AM
Fri Dec 4
63 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/02/09
Take Napoleon for instance. History shows him as a Short, Murdering, Power-hungry, Dickhead. But, to put a "political spin" on it, he had a painting commissioned of himself riding a horse looking like a "Noble Hero" (Link riding Epona) -- and we all not THAT wasn't true.
Artist and Painters for 500 years were used only as a commercial media. To show the public who couldn't read, that there Kings and Church Leaders weren't murdering, money grubbing assholes. Nobody wanted paintings for creativity, and where NOT appreciated for art sake.
...and it's no different TODAY. (Wait... the general populous can read, mostly.)
09/02/09
09/01/09
War games in space is easy and allows for easy adaptability through little tweaking. It keeps me interested enough to continue to enjoy the escape I get by killing aliens and demons and shit when I sit down in front of the TV or the Computer.
As far as an idea for a different game. Since I know I won't make it. What about a game that places you in the shoes of a reporter in a major city? You have to get the scoop, get to the action, document it and get it to print.
Maybe it's open world and once you get to the scene you have a time limit to photograph as much of the action as possible. If you miss it when you go to print then you're inaccurate and the paper suffers. If you get it all but print late then you're accurate but it's already old news.
-Edit- Sorry for the whole ending spew of a random game idea. I just re-read it and it's totally irrelevant. Keeping it in there though...I mean. I still like the idea...
09/01/09
As for phoenix downing creativity in game design, I would recommend more independent game designing competitions, or give those that already exist bigger budgets. Right now, Indy game design has a reputation for being simplistic, short and scaled down, because that's all indy game developers can afford.
If there was a competition that gave indy people the budget to run with the big dogs, I think public attitude toward indie games may change, which in turn may lead corporations to take more chances with game design.
It would still be a risky venture, as competition does not ensure quality, but I think it would be a step in the right direction.
09/01/09
Whatever happened to the day when environments weren't limited to everyday places? Remember games like Sonic and Mario where you were on otherworldly creations? I loved Mario Galaxy because it felt like a return to creative, outside the box designs. Now, it is all about play as a human in an urban environment with guns. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
No creative, non-human crazy characters to play as. No imaginative stages or enemies.
What they said about outside influences like life experience and mediums outside of gaming is incredibly true.
For example, I wrote an article on a new paper art book coming for a client of mine, and from that I just got an idea of a game. In the game Origami, you and a fictional world were all turned into origami from a frog wizard. You can assume many different forms by folding (and cutting) into different animals, objects, vehicles, creations to make it through areas. Every area would be made of different color paper resembling different things ranging from strange fictional worlds made of donuts (with paper mache sprinkles) to beaches, cloud worlds, and more. Being flexible paper the stage can change shapes on you as it "folds" into new areas or or totally different environments.
Just a quick idea I had while reading the article that made me think back to that art book I saw. Sadly, stuff like this may not catch on, but I think you get what I am saying when you contrast that to the gametype cliches of today. Where are the games that inspire us today?
09/01/09
09/01/09
OK, the devs are aware that the consumer is always buying up the games where you blast people, considering that companies have limited resources and need to put food on the table, they'll go with that is tried and true, ok nothing really wrong with that. I can see the consumer being somewhat to blame in that regard to stifling creativity.
BUT, lets take WWII for example. That was a huge honking, fucking war, I mean we gave it the name WORLD war, so why in the hell are the majority of WWII games in the ETO? There was the India-Burma theater which was critical to the fight against Japan, the Chinese Nationalists fighting Japan, there was North Africa and Free French fighting in the Mid East, along with countless underground resistance movements. I for one would love to see a Metal Gear esque game where you play a French resistance member or a Filipino guerrilla. And how many games are out there where you're a tank driver as the main part of the game and not a bonus level? Why stick to the US infantry guy in Europe most of the time? That, I'll pin as lazyness on the dev's part.
So with that I'd say the blame lies a little on both. Though I don't buy this whole "power fantasy" thing as sports games and racing games are pretty popular too. I mean how many people buy the next $60 Madden patch?
09/01/09
1) All art/entertainment mediums go through this. It may not be good or an excuse for it, but this is the way it is. For those who want gaming to be considered art, there are going to be movements where subjects are of a similar theme or a similar visual style. Like Cel Shading, the Grey/Black/Brown theme, etc...
2) We have to understand everyone has different tastes in art, television, and writing. We just have to accept that not everyone will be into every type of game. Does that mean that every CoD, Gears, Halo, and Killzone player is immature and only wanting the male power fantasy or that they're stupid? No and to suggest this is quite arrogant really.
3)The intro really seems to focus on violence in games, but only seems to focus on the FPS genre. However when you get down too it there aren't too many games that aren't violence centered. I mean even Mario is basically mass slaughter of Bowser's minions by stomping, fire balling, etc.. I mean sure there are novels without violence and that are more about character interaction, but it would be pretty boring for a game to have it only based on character interactions. I would find it hard to have a video game equivalent to something like 1984 or Gone with the Wind, maybe concepts from the books are there for games, but I don't think that games could work as mediums the same way novels can in this area.
4) This article seems to have the slant that similarity = bad. I don't think this is a correct assumption. People like certain types of games, novels, or tv. I would be very sad to see "crazy fantasy" settings or other well trod settings disappear from my games (except maybe WWII). With that said there are too many people who don't like to broaden their horizons, I realize this, but that doesn't make CoD 10 a bad thing. It is only a bad thing if nobody is doing anything new, and I don't see that this is the case really.
5) Many commenters seemed to point the blame to the consumer and the gamers rather than the business. This is unfair in my opinion. We have to understand that games are not only expensive to make, but fairly expensive to buy as well. If you had a choice between the newest entry in your favorite TV series, book series, etc or a new TV series or a new book that has gotten good praise which would you choose if you only could get one? I know I would go with the newest entry of a book, TV series that I know I enjoy. I would imagine that this is what the majority of gamers have to face as well. If anything those with a wider taste in games need to expose people to the rare gems of the video game world. Just like the friend who recommends movies that we may not have heard of otherwise. We can't make people like them though, and we have to understand that.
So yeah these are just a few thoughts I had on this topic. Hopefully I was able to articulate them well enough.
09/01/09
1. I agree; every media form that becomes an art undergoes a branching period. The fact that we have finally arrived at this place shows that games are truly maturing. Ironically, the infighting this causes ("Casual games suck!" "No YOU suck!" Etc.) makes the user-base look rather childish.
2. It would be foolish to assume that everybody who enjoys male-fantasy games are meatheads, but I don't think that is the implication here. Rather, its that male fantasies provide the foundational formula for most popular gaming franchises.
3. This is where I disagree. I believe character conflict can be done in a compelling manner but very little effort has been invested in making game out of it. All we have are dialogue trees (and text adventure games). The reason why games dovetail so well with violence is that traditionally both have the same binary outcome: Win vs. Lose. Conversation games would need a mutli-faceted outcome. In a negotiation game you would have to include Win, Lose, Concession Based Compromise and Alternative Arrangement Based Compromise as possible outcomes. There is interesting stuff to be had here; we just need to work at it.
4. Leigh is not suggesting that similarity is bad, she is stating that derivative game-design is hurting games as a media, and I agree. It's a distinction that gamers should pay more attention to and a line developers need to draw for themselves. At what point does this sequel evolve the gameplay of our franchise? Many times, that line is determined by new levels and a smattering of new items or armaments. I believe we can do better, and I believe we should.
5. Naturally, buyers are more inclined to go after titles they know they will like, but we as consumers should ask ourselves "Is there something this game gives me that I can't get from the previous installment?" If the answer is "No" I'd urge gamers to replay the last game in the series and spend their dough on a new title. You'll still get the experience you like and you can try a new one as well.
09/01/09
[www.cartoonbrew.com]
[www.youtube.com]
This also applies to games.
09/01/09
I think keita takahashi is relevant to your essay, somehow. He's a very creative person but even the Katamari games were too conventional for him, it seems. I may be misquoting, and forgive me if I am. So he's come up with Noby Noby Boy, which I can appreciate, but hasn't gained anywhere near the same sort of traction as something with more game-like mechanics and goals.
Creativity is a rare thing in any medium. If it was common, we would find it conventional and boring. That said, Leigh, you do echo a lot of my complaints about AAA titles, and the sort of reasons why a) I don't play them and b) I keep my eye fixed on weekly download lists for new morsels.
I like these new creative platformers (NyxQuest, Braid, that Chaplinesque game that's coming out for XBLA), but how long until they become a genre and rule-set of their own?
I apologize for the lack of organization here... i'm a little tippled. But these are issues that I do give thought to, and worry that they aren't solvable, sometimes.
Also, did you mean for CliffyB to come off as badly as he did here? The man's quote makes him sound like an adrenaline junkie above any and all else.
08/31/09
The consumer continues to buy games like Call of Duty 8: Yet Another World War II Shooter while ignoring games like Okami that push the envelope in terms of creativity. People aren't willing to take chances on new ideas.
Of course, one reason that violence is so popular in video games is because a game's premise is nothing if there's no conflict, and violence is the most common source of conflict in the world.
08/31/09
But HOW do you convince Mr. "Fallout gears of Killzone Halo4Dead" that?
I feel like this conversation about creativity reeks of deja vu from 5 years ago. And 10 years ago. And 15 years ago. Wasn't it Doom-clones last time? And Mortal Kombat-clones?
Games sell because they bring ideas that are tried-and-true and people are familiar with. The moment you start to tell me that mushrooms and stars set me on fire is a new, creative avenue and I'm stupid for not buying this amazing game is the moment that gaming hits it's downfall.
Gaming is fine just where it is.
08/31/09
As long as people continue to buy the same trash year after year and ignore the creative games, publishers will insist that developers keep making the same old games.
09/01/09
A two hour independent film can probably be made for a fraction of the cost of most 20 hour games, and so needs to make less of a commercial impact in order to cover costs. And the budget of an independent film dwarfs that of most pieces of theatre, or novels, or many musical recordings.
So perhaps the commercial pressure in gaming is greater than in other artistic industries.
08/31/09
08/31/09
Nintendo has actually had the most success with creative branching out of the 3 console manufacturers: the Wii series, whether or not you like it, is definitely inventive gameplay compared to hardcore and nintendo-core games. That is the type of creativity most desperately needed in video games today; note how little game inputs have changed since the PSX era! Even before that, they were simply more complex takes on the NES controller. Gameplay depends on the structure of player input, and that has changed very little for 25 years; it has changed even less in the past 10.
08/31/09
Let's not kid ourselves that it wasn't about that, if the creative and 'original' games SOLD and they made sequel after sequel we would easily dismiss it.
Eventually EVERY original game becomes stale, that's the nature of the genre. Originality is NOT the end all to be all nor does it make it a great game. I rather play 10 unoriginal but GOOD games then spend one second on a ORIGINAL and shitty game.
Another thing is opinion, everyone has one and everyone thinks that the other stinks as the quote so eloquently states. Look at the Ninty fanboys screaming for a Hardcore game in their ranks and at the same time booing the recent offering of a classic. And Someone who might like WRPGs will diss on JRPGs because of the tried plots, ridiculous designs and 'unoriginal' story whereas the JRPG fan will diss on the WRPG because of the Tolkien themes, boring environments and lack of a personal story to get invested.
Both camps will shout one is original over the other, they'll bring out their examples and a flame war will ensue.
As it stands both RPGs and FPS/TPSs are in the spotlight for the harsh 'unoriginal' glare.
So what should we do? Should we advocate for more originality at the expense of long time favourites? Companies have to make money, the more money they make the more they can take risks.
So in actuality we SHOULD support the sequels so we CAN see the original offerings at a later date.
:sigh: I dunno....I'm just a gamer with a thought about the matter, this gen has been exhausting. LOL!
08/31/09
Now, the solution to this problem? I don't really know, myself. It's hard to convince legions of teens and young adults to change their preferences.