1. Games Are Art, and what to do about it Randy Smith

2. My personal thoughts about: How video games are art How better artistry can benefit games Finding and developing the aesthetic center of a game

7. =+

8. CLOSURE is the space between the panels

9. INTERACTIVITY How user input is translated into activity on screen

13. Distinct Qualities of Cinema: Editing, Cuts, Camera movement, etc. TONS!! Hardly any

14. Distinct Quality of Video Games: Interactivity TONS!! Hardly any Magnitude of Interactivity = How much the game listens to and applies the player’s input

16. DiscreteAnalog StepwiseContinuous IsolatedConnected Designer-AuthoredPlayer-Authored More Interactive

17. = Kickflip = Roastbeef Revert A B

18. Interactivity Is Technical …for now… !

20. Media Literacy The Language of Cinema 

21. ! TONS!! Hardly any

22. ? ? Magnitude Of Interactivity

23. A Functional Definition of Art

24. Consistent trends in stories from disconnected cultures: Certainty of Death Need for Connection Fundamental Isolation Stories as Functional

25. Relevance Honesty and How Should I Live My Life? What Is Life Like For You?

26. QA Teaches you about life Gets stuck in your head Makes you feel less alone Gets through the thick wall

29. Great Product Contains Great Art

30. Top 10 Best Selling Movies 1.Titanic 2.Return of the King 3.Dead Man’s Chest 4.The Dark Knight 5.Philosopher’s Stone 6.At World’s End 7.Order of the Phoenix 8.The Two Towers 9.The Phantom Menace 10.Shrek 2

31. The story could not have been written better...The juxtaposition of rich and poor, the gender roles played out unto death (women first), the stoicism and nobility of a bygone age, the magnificence of the great ship matched in scale only by the folly of the men who drove her hell-bent through the darkness. And above all the lesson: that life is uncertain, the future unknowable...the unthinkable possible. James Cameron

32. MALE FEMALE  AGE 

33. MALE FEMALE  AGE 

34. MALE FEMALE  AGE 

35. 11 mil 16 mil 33 mil 40 mil 90 mil 106 mil

36. 11 mil 16 mil 33 mil 40 mil 70-140 mil

37. Why Think About Games As Art: You could reach more people You could make more money

38. How it works How it feels Aesthetics

39. All the flowers you planted in the backyard All died when you went away. I know that living with you was sometimes hard But I’m willing to give it another try Because nothing compares 2 U I could put my arms around every boy I see, but they’d only remind me of you.

40. “Message” comes from: The topics of the artistic piece How the piece represents how they work, how they feel

41. How it worksHow it feels

42. How it works How it feels

43.   artist player Dynamics When the leader is knocked out, the rest of the pack scatters MechanicsAesthetics Players often attempt to knock out the leader as quickly as possible I feel like a calculating hunter trying to identify and take out the leader in a quick surgical strike Leader is identical to the others Players can’t identify leader until he gets knocked out I feel like I flail in desperation, then suddenly the pack scatters, and I feel a flood of relief

44. Possibility Space What is possible in the game world? An understood, designer-authored range of possible experiences

45. Discovery Through Play

46.   artist player Dynamics When the leader is knocked out, the rest of the pack scatters MechanicsAesthetics Players often attempt to knock out the leader as quickly as possible I feel like a calculating hunter trying to identify and take out the leader in a quick surgical strike Leader is identical to the others Players can’t identify leader until he gets knocked out I feel like I flail in desperation, then suddenly the pack scatters, and I feel a flood of relief Which is the right aesthetic for your message?

47. FUN! Fairness Goals Clarity Balance The dogma of !

48. Topics Aesthetics, Messages Mechanics Licensed IP Your own idea Team project

49. Topics Aesthetics, Messages What excites you about these topics? Get deeper by asking “why?” repeatedly

50. Topics Aesthetics, Messages Mechanics What mechanics and tuning will produce those aesthetics?

51. Post-Apocalyptic MMO Human struggle, neediness Tenuous alliances  starvation economy  individuals vulnerable, groups hard to kill

52. Post-Apocalyptic MMO Human struggle, neediness  starvation economy Why?

53. Topics Aesthetics, Messages Mechanics Why? Mechanics

54. RTS meets FPS The loneliness of leadership  jump jets, LOD renderer Responsibility of war commanders  soldier reactions to being sent into battle  audio and visual touches  giving RTS orders from FP

55. Topics Aesthetics, Messages Mechanics Tuning

56. Summary Video games are a maturing art form, but still lots of people to reach Interactivity is our distinct quality Game mechanics carry your aesthetics and messages to the player The overall interactive work is a possibility space

57. Limited range of topics Dogmas of what games are supposed to be Interactivity is technical, but the barrier to entry will drop some day ! But are we going to be the ones to mature the art form?

58. Thanks! Q & A Randy Smith write for slides: geminiradio@gmail.com