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[raiten]

youre not very good at this

damn it, I knew somebody would see through me.

[Anthony Flack]

In yet another example of the self-referential nature of just about everything that's going on here these days, I think the subtext of this thread is more interesting than the content...

I don't believe people can necessarily distinguish between real intent, and bullshit justification. Conceptual art is rife with such bullshitters, and they often do get away with it to an extent. People are often willing to believe you're smarter than them if you can confuse them sufficiently.

BUT.

Subtext is still there. Consciously or unconsciously, we do interpret things on this level. Even the simplest elements are tied to all kinds of associated meanings. Psychologically, there is a big difference between going up and going down, for example. When the elements are working together, they can create quite a powerful combined effect. I think it's helpful to think about things on this level and discuss the implications.

I also think that this is possible when the creator themselves were not aware of the implications - or, usually they are on some level, although it may not have been rationalised beyond "well, it just felt right". But even if something interesting was produced by random chance, it's still worth talking about.

What I dislike, is when those analytical tools are used to concoct a silly allegory about the "message". Sorry George Orwell, but overt allegory is tedious. And post-hoc cockamimie allegory is the worst.

You shouldn't look for meaning in art the way you look for answers in a crossword puzzle. But on the other hand, you should be aware that everything communicates on multiple levels.

[Super Joe]

youre not very good at this

damn it, I knew somebody would see through me.

i was speaking in general; a public address if you will

[moi]

Strider is cool and shit mang

[nihilocrat]

Dwarf fortress: a metaphor for how our machinations will only lead to us drowning or being burned to death by lava, and our curiosity will eventually get us all killed.

Also, rich people just complain and make rules while any proficient craftsman is eventually doomed to go insane and start smearing themselves in infant blood.

[Stargoat]

Plok: Living in a material world, the only way to affect our will is to jump around wildly, extend our limbs towards the face of our adversary, and express ourselves through fashion.

[William Broom]

The Ratchet and Clank series is an elaborate metaphor for the radicalisation and downfall of revolutionary societies, and in particular that of the French Revolution.

The first two games are light and enjoyable platformers, featuring plenty of minigames and only a minor level of challenge. This represents the honeymoon period of the revolution when the new government is being put into place and it seems as though great reforms are being made at every turn. However, we already see the seeds of the revolution's destruction. For example, the last level of Ratchet and Clank 1 features enemies with such annoyingly high hit points that the player is forced to adopt a cagey, pop-and-shoot strategy in order to conserve his health and ammo for the ordeal ahead. This is in stark contrast to the fast-paced combat of the rest of the game.

In Ratchet and Clank 2: Locked and Loaded (a reference to the inevitable course that the revolution is 'locked' into) there is a heavier focus on combat and fewer minigames to explore. This shows that the revolution is gradually becoming more violent and radical.

In Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (a reference to the stockpiling of weapons stolen from the Bastille) we see a dramatic shift toward shooter-based gameplay. Very little exploration or platforming remains, and long drawn-out combat sequences are the order of the day. This is the beginning of the Terror, when suspected counter-revolutionaries were executed. The player is given the choice to switch his control scheme to one that is based on dual-stick aiming rather than strafing. This shows how many revolutionaries began to adopt a new perspective on the revolution, twisting it for their own ends. The introduction of multiplayer in R&C3 adds much more senseless violence to the game's milieu. It causes the player to turn against his friends when previously he only attacked AI enemies. Just as Robespierre turned against Danton.

In Ratchet: Deadlocked, the gameplay shifts again. Now the default control setting is dual-stick aiming. The player can also adjust the game to play like a first-person shooter. The game has essentially morphed into Halo. This represents the height of the Terror under Robespierre. And notice that Clank is absent from the fourth game's title. That is because Clank represents the King, who has now been deposed and executed. Also note the increased focus on multiplayer, and the storyline which involves Ratchet being forced to fight against his friends in a gladiatorial deathmatch, that is, the inescapable political forces that drive the revolution to its conclusion.

Then we have Ratchet and Clank Future. It is a return to the old design principles of the first game. There are more minigames than ever before, and shooting is back to its good old self. This represents the Thermidorian Reaction which removed Robespierre from power and pushed the revolution back into a more moderate phase.

But a threat still remains that radicalism will rear its ugly head in the future. On the border of Ratchet and Clank's intellectual space lies the Resistance series. With its goofy, over-complicated weapons, Resistance plays like a mature brother to the Ratchet series, or perhaps like the bastard offspring of Ratchet Deadlocked. This represents the campaigns of Napoleon on the borders of France. Right now, Napoleon is still merely a general (i.e. Ratchet and Clank is still Insomniac's premier title). But soon Napoleon will return home to become Emperor of France, just as the dreary shooting mechanics will return to the Ratchet series.

The logical conclusion to this epic saga would be that the Ratchet games become progressively worse and are beaten out by their competitors (i.e. Jak, Sly Raccoon, and Mario, representing the monarchical nations of Europe). Then, when the Ratchet brand is completely destroyed, Insomniac will make a triumphant return to the development of Spyro games, symbolising the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

youre not very good at this

no but you are!! (see: pigscene)

oh, and i agree with cactus, it's perfectly possible to have unintentional meaning, meaning is mostly extrapolation.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

youre not very good at this

no but you are!! (see: pigscene)

oh, and i agree with cactus, it's perfectly possible to have unintentional meaning, meaning is mostly extrapolation.

Yes but isn't unintentional meaning more powerful when the creator intentionally creates the game with unintentional meaning in mind?

ps. I totally understood that the unintentional purpose of this thread was to have a discussion on art games and related topics in addition to writing statements for games you didnt write, so this isn't really off topic

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

not always. for instance, i doubt whoever wrote goldilocks and the three bears intentionally tried to make the story about comparisons of measurement (smallest, biggest, just right; hardest, softest, just right) but that's still the effect.

[Hideous]

Someone do IAB :D

[Noyb]

Someone do IAB :D

In Another Brothel is a meta-criticism of the games industry. The player character, who works at a supposed "crate factory," is a cleverly veiled videogame designer. Hideous depicts the struggle of this graphic designer through the freedom he offers the player. You can take the easy way out and flood the level with crates to reach each phone booth (calling in each milestone to the executives), or be meticulous and try to minimize how many crates you shoot. Crates stand for every lazy game design shortcut, as exemplified by Old Man Murray's classic Start to Crate metric.

In Another Brothel is longer than it seems at first, mirroring the multi-year development cycles of big budget games. It also does not penalize the player for crate abuse, mirroring the willingness of the gaming market to overlook lazy design. By virtue of its length and lack of player accountability, this game depicts a compelling story of a game designer who keeps cutting corners in his work. Hideous makes this even more compelling by having this fall from grace occur by the player's conscious choice, letting the player empathize with this modern day tragedy.

The imagery of prostitution clearly reflects this choice to become a "sellout." To reach each optional harlot, the player must use even more crates, filling each level with more and more cut corners in order to reach a cheap and easy thrill.

[jstckr]

With the Art Game "Team Fortress 2", Valve demonstrated in impressive clarity the differences and qualities of the economic systems "capitalism", "communism" and a society based and classified by racist values using a live and highly metaphorical example in three cycles - all involving their whole player base.

In the early days of Team Fortress 2, before the class-specific updates were introduced, the premisses and game-given qualifications for every player were the same. Noone had any materialistic advantage compared to any other players. A person's well-doing was entirely depending on his own skills. At the end of the day, a player might be better than his teammates, but no unfair advantage will get between their comradeship.

Then, Valve introduced the element of unlockable extras, luxurious items. It divided the player field into the Haves and the Have-Nots. A player who does well in the game is now not the better player, he is gratified with an affluence the less fortunate players cannot achieve. (Here it is only fair to mention that Valve's capitalism had an "American Dream" twist - a player who works hard and steadily enough will - over a longer time period - finally achieve his goals of Owning, of Having. Yet it must be noted that the power - the happiness - of this Having only works in relation to Have-Nots who own less).

The last cycle of Valve's important lesson started just today, when Valve introduced racial segregation into their game. The membrane-ous model of acquiring item affluence which gave players a way to measure their abilities' worth has now been replaced by a system that classifies people as "lucky" and "unlucky" - synonymous to the "white" and "black" population in slave-time America, for example. The white population of Team Fortress 2 effortlessly wins the new cool items doing seemingly nothing - they are being rewarded for their pure genetical characteristics. The poor blacks can try as they might, all they will get in their lifetime of playing the game will be dozens of duplicate, worthless weapons - and that's if they get anything at all.

To derivate a clear meaning or messages from Valve's behaviour is not an easy task. What can be said though, I guess, is that Valve value communism's power to unite people all over the world and to be a constant source of happiness for the entire population, not just the gifted upper 20 percent. Another clear warning, it seems to me, is that "it can always come worse".

[Super Joe]

cave story is a piece of shit. "you eat pieces of shit for breakfast?" ha ha! a common question posed to daisuke amaya (creator of cave story) because he is a piece of shit that made a piece of shit. and he eats pieces of shit for breakfast.

[Renton]

So he's a cannibal?

[Super Joe]

So he's a cannibal?

quote is a piece of shit (dumbass trash robot or something? i dunno) given purpose by a thing that happens (theres a guy who wears a toaster on his head and he hates rabbits?) so its about recycling (shit eating shit)

[moi]

So he's a cannibal?

quote is a piece of shit (dumbass trash robot or something? i dunno) given purpose by a thing that happens (theres a guy who wears a toaster on his head and he hates rabbits?) so its about recycling (shit eating shit)

EPIC!
WHERE CAN I GET THIS CAVE SORRY GAME?

[Super Joe]

find a cave and go into it and look for droppings (bring a torch)

[Hideous]

Someone do IAB :D

In Another Brothel is a meta-criticism of the games industry. The player character, who works at a supposed "crate factory," is a cleverly veiled videogame designer. Hideous depicts the struggle of this graphic designer through the freedom he offers the player. You can take the easy way out and flood the level with crates to reach each phone booth (calling in each milestone to the executives), or be meticulous and try to minimize how many crates you shoot. Crates stand for every lazy game design shortcut, as exemplified by Old Man Murray's classic Start to Crate metric.

In Another Brothel is longer than it seems at first, mirroring the multi-year development cycles of big budget games. It also does not penalize the player for crate abuse, mirroring the willingness of the gaming market to overlook lazy design. By virtue of its length and lack of player accountability, this game depicts a compelling story of a game designer who keeps cutting corners in his work. Hideous makes this even more compelling by having this fall from grace occur by the player's conscious choice, letting the player empathize with this modern day tragedy.

The imagery of prostitution clearly reflects this choice to become a "sellout." To reach each optional harlot, the player must use even more crates, filling each level with more and more cut corners in order to reach a cheap and easy thrill.

I love you

[Asystole]

Today I die is a story of depression, hope, friendship and love, told in a very limited number of screens and in a very short amount of time. At one point in the game the player can decide to acquire help in the form of protective bubbles, or choose to go through her troubles the hard way. The fact that both methods have the same result is a statement in itself. A combination of amazing, evocative music and a bittersweet story told mainly through gameplay instead of words makes the game one of the most emotionally affecting pieces of art in recent memory.