Recent content by IvoryTowerGamer

While I enjoyed the experience of playing Dear Esther, I can't help but feel a little twinge of disappointment when people tout this as a shining example of how games can be art. Nearly all of the artistic aspects of Dear Esther can be replicated in other mediums. Meanwhile, the one great...

Most of the complaints you list above only apply to pointification, the bastard child of gamification. It's what happens when untrained teachers think that making things into a game means you "just add points" to every positive action. Unfortunately, that isn't gamification any more than...

Hey, sorry I took so long to respond. I can see what you mean now about the controls, and upon further reflection I agree that the lack of difficulty/linearity of the interaction added to the game in a way that would not be possible in a video. I guess my problem with Scraperteeth is the...

Isn't the interface simply an extension of the aesthetic? Or were you referring to the controls? I didn't find them to be particularly broken. Mechanically, here's what the work consisted of: a simple, linear platformer without death penalties and an emphasis on light exploration (to find...

Always disappointing when an "art game" only shallowly uses gameplay to explore its themes. It's a shame the SF MOMA chooses to showcase this over the work of Tale of Tales and Jason Rohrer. There's a difference between something being considered an artistic medium and a medium being...

Can you at least give a few more details about it the stereotype then? I'm not questioning the existence of the stereotype so much as I am curious why I've never heard it. When you say "music-minded folk" are you talking about people who like classical music, jazz, blues, or contemporary...

Erm, can either of you post links to a board post or blog that illustrates this stereotype? I frequent some music boards and blogs and I've never come across anything like that.

I wholeheartedly agree, though I'd also like to point out that your last paragraph seems to preclude players of most single player games from being considered "artists" as well (unless they document or communicate their experiences in some way, that is).

Just OOC would you do the same if someone were having a similar discussion about film or literature? If not, why the double standard?

Interesting you should mention that because it brings me to my next problem with Portnow's argument. While I agree with all that you say above, I don't see how video games are special in this regard. People often say that literature only comes to life when there is someone to read it, and...

So then according to Portnow's argument, can Joe Montana or Michael Jordan be considered amazing artists? What about the announcers describing the game? That's one of the problems I have with that line of reasoning. Also, the rules of physics are dictated by nature, not by a human, so they...

Sorry for the following wall of quotes, but there's one aspect of the Portnow argument that I don't really understand and I was hoping that at least one of the people agreeing with him could explain it to me. While I can see how you could make the argument that players are artists too...

You seem to have missed his point. Sure, you might personally think the movie is boring, but do you at least realize why people (particularly those in the film industry) hold this film in such high regard? It's not necessary to like a work of art in order to understand what makes it great.

No they didn't. Gamification isn't about making life into a skinner box; it's about giving something a game structure. There's a difference.

You're willing to endure the horrible design of DF's UI? And you call yourself a gamer?