[The Escapist]

Zero Punctuation: Heavenly Sword and Other Stuff [The Escapist]

With the question of "Are video games art? Can they be art?" being something of a hot issue in recent years, it's always interesting to see how "art for art's sake" and a profit-driven enterprise like, well, video games mash together occasionally. This week's Escapist Magazine has an interesting article entitled "Limit and Measure: Welcome to the World of Art Mods". Something of a cross between (frequently wacky) performance art and run of the mill mods that many people add to their games, art mods

... strip away some of the games' basic elements and ideas, rather than adding on or multiplying the things you can do. In that sense, art mods pull back the technology a little to reveal the little human decisions we take for granted. Violence is slowed down, exaggerated and poked fun at. Sexual politics in games are examined, mocked and re-organized.

The Escapist, as usual, is worth a read, and I think the question of the art/game divide is made more interesting (and more complex) by the addition of little works of art in games, added by people other than the designers. Maggie Greene

But this piece is different. Why? Because it not only features Dear Leader, Brian Crecente, waxing journalistically about his the industry, but also former Kotaku contributor Luke Smith, bearded 1UP news reporter extraordinaire.

Plus, you get, as a free bonus, insight from other respectable game dudes like the studly Simon Carless, the dark and mysterious Brandon Sheffield, the stern, but fair, Greg Kasavin, and a host of other big name writer types.

Good stuff that might clue you in on how unglamorous the whole job can sometimes be and how respected names in the industry see the business. Michael McWhertor

Game Journalists On Game Journalism [The Escapist]

Perhaps the most obnoxious element about the occasional Escapist article concerning the misogynistic subjugation of females by game devs is the nagging suspicion the reader gets that the author is only writing it in a misguided attempt to get laid. As if a few hundred words of simpering apologetics about the fact that men actually find busty polygonal women in spandex attractive is going to make female gamers the world over see the author's sensitive soul through his pale, flabby shell.

If you've ever been similarly irked by these rather dry, pompous analyses of the immorality of sex appeal in games, you'll probably like this brutal skewering on the subject by Richard Cobbett. Here's a small taste:

[Lara Croft's chest] is your introduction; your jumping off point. How you tackle this thorny issue will affect the whole tone of your cutting article. Refer to "Lara's chest", and you sound debonaire and suave, aware of the connotations, yet subtly removed from them.

FLORIAN ECKHARDT

Writing A 'Girls In Games' Article [Richard Cobbett]

Over at The Escapist, Richard Bartle — the game designer who created the very first MUD back in 1978 — has a highly entertaining account of the sex MUD a dot com company approached him to created in 2000. It's a really great read, detailing the tough decisions that go into designing a game of this type. For example, do you implement a PvP-like system and allow characters to flag themselves as rape-able? How is pregnancy handled? What about chlamydia? Bartle even describes an innovative sexual "combat" system in which the amount of "mana" you have doesn't benefit you, but instead your partner.

Of course, the Dot Com bubble burst and the game was never completed, but even if you aren't Wagner James Au, you should read Bartle's reminisces. This is a hugely entertaining read and actually a good primer on the game design process to boot.

I Was Young, I Needed the Money [Escapist]

I love the fact that gaming apparel has quietly slipped from geek wear to chic wear. OK, maybe not chic, but it was the only fashion word I could think of that rhymed with geek. Kyle Orland, of Video Game Media Watch, wrote an interesting story about the rising mainstream popularity of geek fashion for the Escapist a few weeks back. The best part is that he quoted are very own weekend editor Michael McWhertor, who also runs Geek on Stun.

"It's a quick punch line versus an elite club of recognition," says Michael McWhertor, author of the Geek on Stun blog, about why he doesn't like shirts, like those mentioned above, that use familiar videogame images as a jumping off point for some ironic gag slogans. "Why does it have to be a joke? I'm semi-comfortable admitting in public and in front of peers that, yeah, I'm a gamer. But if Kuribo's Shoe is a good design or aesthetically pleasing, why can't we start there?"

Personally, I only like the truly obscure T-shirts like my Shiigy shirt, or the Role Model hat I just bought.

Geek on your Sleeve [The Escapist]