Via Joystiq. Kind of interesting to think about, as far as completely unimportant topics go.
In the “Games as art” debate that seems to never end, the number one opponent of our industry’s medium of choice being considered art (at least “high art“) has been renowned film critic Roger Ebert. Since he made his initial declaratory statements about video games many years ago, folks have pipedup on both sides of the argument. Ebert’s latest volley in the long-running discussion is a piece published on the Chicago Sun-Times website in response to thatgamecompany prez Kellee Santiago’s TED talk at USC last summer.
While he allows Santiago many pleasantries and compliments throughout the piece, he argues that, regardless of her various points, games “can never be art.” At the very least, he says, “No video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form.” He contests that games consist of “rules, points, objectives, and an outcome,” which stands in contrast to his somewhat ambiguous definition of what, exactly, art is. In a moment of seeming clarity at the end of his piece, he asks: “Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art? Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan and Dick Butkus never said they thought their games were an art form.” And while we might not agree with all of Mr. Ebert’s points, we can certainly find common ground with his wondering why the debate over games as art is still such a topic of concern among gamers (ourselves included).
You jerks sick of me talking about Magic yet? You are? Well tough shit because the pre-release events for the new set, Rise of the Eldrazi, are going down this weekend. If you happen to be in the Lincoln/NE area and are planning to go, maybe we’ll see each other.
John U. Abrahamson has erected a fucking fantastic overhead sculpture of his own flesh and blood. But wait, there’s more! Underneath this installation, he has placed 15 years worth of his own daily journals (that’s 6000 pages of this man’s life, to be exact) which the viewer was encouraged to destroy.
I doubt you’ll be able to refrain from reading more. More pictures on the artist’s website here.
Check out this dramatic image from next spring’s large MTG set, believed to be called Rise of the Eldrazi. Sorin Markov has quickly become a favorite character of mine so I’m interested to see him playing what appears to be a major role in the story.
Hat-tip to @renderful for this video. Some dude is stepping up the Halloween decoration game with a bitchin’ homemade animatronic zombie. More info at HauntForum.com
The headphones, which won the Nokia headset design competition in 2008, feature gravestones, zombies and that creepy, yellow-eyed wolf bursting through the door. Though only one pair was made by Nokia into a working model, we hope that Jackson’s passing inspires Nokia to produce at least a limited-edition run of the freaky-awesome headphones.
a fucking fantastic overhead sculpture of his own flesh and blood. But wait, there’s more! Underneath this installation, he has placed 15 years worth of his own daily journals (that’s 6000 pages of this man’s life, to be exact) which the viewer was encouraged to destroy.
