As a p.s., the New York Times had an essay last week about video games as art, covering some of the same topics. It’s a little scattershot, but addresses whether we should even be looking at games as narrative art:
As games gain attention as an art form, it remains to be determined just what sort of art they can or should be. Are they like movies, projecting the vision of an auteur like Mr. Spielberg or Peter Jackson, who recently collaborated in “Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie”? Or are they more like the song “Frankie and Johnny,” which is performed in different ways by many people, and in which the art lies in the sum of performances?
It’s an interesting question, but I think the game industry has already answered it: video games are narrative art, but a different kind from what we’re used to. The challenge is rising to the level of other narrative art without losing the reason why video games can be unique in the first place.
— December 9, 2005
Korr Values 