Thoughts on post-modernism in videogames.

[Deadlyveggie]

All media is to an extent affected by it, but do you think the overt 'borrowing' of video game ideas has reached a level where true originality is on it's way out?

The biggest example I can think of would be Bioshock. Apart from it's innovations, the copy/pasting of Systemshock borders plagiarism... Also, look at ANY AND ALL FPS's after Halo and COD.

I'm not just having a digg at large mainstream AAA titles, but I wonder if we'll see what happened to movies happen to games, that 95% of the time you have to look for independent producers for a good show.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

It's impossible to be original these days, everything is "borrowed" from something else.

The film industry went through something like this also, where developers fell into a "this is what sells" formula, then a new generation of film makers (George Lucas) put "new ideas" on the table and suddenly Hollywood was original again. I guess all I'm saying is, wait, we have plenty of developers who push the standard, and plenty more up in coming.

Then when games reach a new standard, everybody will make games to fit the new norm and we'll be back where we started, it's a vicious cycle.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Ecclesiastes 1:9 "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; There is nothing new under the sun"

Truly original ideas are incredibly rare, even among the most decorated titles. Indeed, pretty much everything owes something to something else, so judging a work on originality alone is a fruitless endeavor. Instead, look for games that can take old tropes and apply them in ways that make them feel new, or in a classic way that is well executed.

 

[GammaZord]

I'm also frustrated with the copy/paste mechanic of videogames (and most media nowadays). Thogh I don't think that's a defining characteristic of postmodernism more than it is a representation of our hyper-consumerist culture.

A central element of postmodernism is the pastiche (or blending) of a traditional artisitic medium (or mediums) with non-traditional ones. Which, I think videogames are by nature since videogames are a new and certainly questioned "artisitic medium" that tries (at least) to adopt film or literary elements.

In my opinion, the truly "postmodern" games such as Metal Gear Solid 2 are postmodern in that they challenge the notion of videogames as representational of reality. Bioshock (or System Shock 2.5 for you video game hpisters), questions the autonomy and "intent" of the player (as well as the creator) in a given artistic medium--which sums up part of the shift literature experienced in the mid 20th Century.

Though that isn't the only dimesnion of postmodern videogames, I think it's the most intriguing...and more importantly, if explored fully, it's a theme around which videogames can advance as an art form. Think of Citizen Kane. It is considered by many critics as the first film that took camera as a MEDIUM and adapted it to a distinctive and resonant means of storytelling. Once developers start playing with "interactivity" I think videogames will more fully become a reputable art form with themes and techniques that haven't been expressed a million times before in literature and film

 

[shadow_Fox81]

if we let them copy and paste mechanics instead of pandering after "originality" like a bunch half witted sheep braying for inovation, perhaps developers could focus on quality.

 

[Pjotr84]

I don't think post-modernism in gaming should be confused with borrowing from other games or the playing-it-safe mentality of developers. Intertexuality is by no means the defining characteristic of post-modernism and it certainly - barring a few titles - shouldn't be applied to games.

In general I feel post-modernism's attitude on creativity/new things is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it can create great cross-overs of genre or medium, on the other it leads to laziness.

 

[shadowsoul222]

While I don't think that true innovation is completely out the window (I mean look at Bastion), it's like any other creative medium, everyone is influenced by others, and whether they intend to put that influence into their art or not it will almost inevitably find it's way in.

Although like you said, many of the more "original" games WILL appear on the indie market as they have more flexibility in their creativity, what with not having giant publishers breathing down their necks.

Although the real question isn't whether or not this borrowing is becoming too rampant, it's whether or not it's having a negative affect on the industry. And although you can complain all you want about all the COD's and Gears of Wars' out there that are all gritty and brown, look at Deus Ex: HR, it copies from a few games, yet it presents that information in a new and pleasing manner.