Videogames Useless?
In an earlier post, i gave a link to the videos from the GDC lectures. There's one by Keita Takahashi, the designer of Katamari Damacy, the PS2 game that won the most original game of 2005. If you're not familiar with that game, you just roll a ball around that picks up everything from stop signs, people, buildings, up to whole countries around the globe. If your ball gets big enough, it makes a star or something. Haven't tried that game. Don't have a PS2. (Will borrow a friends later when i rent that game.)
In any case, Keita said in his lecture that ultimately videogames are useless. He said that if videogames disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, the only people to complain will be the gamers & the world will go on as normal.
I hope not!
I love to play videogames. I say, videogames are as useless as music is useless. Sure the world could function just fine without music, but it would be a very different world wouldn't it? The same thing would be true of videogames. We most certainly live in a very differnt world than when videogames did not exist. Many of us "older people" can remember a time without videogames and know how different it was.
Keita knows that there are certain things that can only be done in a videogame. That's how he got his idea for Katamari Damacy. But I understand his criticism & can see where he's coming from. The gaming industry now lacks a lot of creativity & is motivated by money.
Well, hopefully, what we are doing in this class can help videogames not become useless because of its use in education. If a student has to play this YotP adventure game for his class as a requirement, then it will not be useless.
I think it was the spanish director of Hellboy (delToro or something, i forgot) who said that videogames have an emerssive quality that happens only in the best movies. In a videogame, the viewer just doesn't watch something happen as in a movie or video, the player actually experiences the events and things happen to the player. There's a greater potential for empathy in videogames that hasn't been tapped into just yet.
Anyway, that's my rant for this week. Hope the one or two of you who actually reads this blog enjoys it & posts a comment. Thanks.
In any case, Keita said in his lecture that ultimately videogames are useless. He said that if videogames disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, the only people to complain will be the gamers & the world will go on as normal.
I hope not!
I love to play videogames. I say, videogames are as useless as music is useless. Sure the world could function just fine without music, but it would be a very different world wouldn't it? The same thing would be true of videogames. We most certainly live in a very differnt world than when videogames did not exist. Many of us "older people" can remember a time without videogames and know how different it was.
Keita knows that there are certain things that can only be done in a videogame. That's how he got his idea for Katamari Damacy. But I understand his criticism & can see where he's coming from. The gaming industry now lacks a lot of creativity & is motivated by money.
Well, hopefully, what we are doing in this class can help videogames not become useless because of its use in education. If a student has to play this YotP adventure game for his class as a requirement, then it will not be useless.
I think it was the spanish director of Hellboy (delToro or something, i forgot) who said that videogames have an emerssive quality that happens only in the best movies. In a videogame, the viewer just doesn't watch something happen as in a movie or video, the player actually experiences the events and things happen to the player. There's a greater potential for empathy in videogames that hasn't been tapped into just yet.
Anyway, that's my rant for this week. Hope the one or two of you who actually reads this blog enjoys it & posts a comment. Thanks.
posted by Manny at 12:01 AM
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