So let me begin

The final year of my education is getting into full swing, and I want change. The world of games needs to change. It needs to grow up. In what little way I can, I want to do my part.

Earlier this year I started following several highly informative blogs, almost all of which I discovered through IndyGamer (found on Google). They opened up a world of games that I had always expected to exist, but never found. Games trying to say something.

The Marriage (by Ron Humble) is a prime example of this idea and maybe a failure to achieve it. The game was built as an experiment, as a work of art. It's intention, like modern art, is not to necessarily to please but instead to promote thought and discussion. Go play the game a few times, think about it. As I said it isn't a perfect piece of art (read Tale of Tale's criticism)

What I took from the game? Games can be Art.

Then some months later I read the Realtime Art Manifesto, which felt like a kick in the back-side. After reading throught it, and then looking at what I'm doing, I started to feel that all my intentions and ideas had been built upon the concept of building a game. This foundation was inevitably cutting off paths and ideas. Something with almost no element of a game, and yet created a deep interactive environment. Why make a game? Are they just devices to keep the player hooked? Is it wrong, immoral to get a player hooked?

And then there is the idea of non-linear storytelling, and the forced mechanics of a linear plot. What if you existed in a story, and chose your own path?

This isn't the end of all that has been of what we call Games. It is more an attempt to understand the pure realtime interactive art, and what it can be. There's no reason to throw away your (digital) copy of Half-Life 2 for it's linear storytelling sins, but it's time to see what can really be achieved.

The Game will live on. There is a place for puzzles, but there are many more seats to be filled...

So that's where I am. Where now?

There are a lot of very good blogs looking deeper into games, the genres strengths and weaknesses*. I instead hope to build on these sources, and putting what I can into practice. Make games realtime interactive art.

* see: Artful Gamer, Arthouse Games, Only a Game, The Brainy Gamer