Taken from n-sider:
The main theme to consider here is the sheer degree of courage needed on the developer’s part. Imagine coming into the office, having a large checkbook provided by the higher-ups, and telling your team you want to make a game about escaping from a castle with a little girl and boy. One might not realize how much pure courage is needed to not only fly in the face of accepted tradition, but to also follow it through until the final line of code is written. Particular themes like “game as art”, “emotional reality”, “communication through empathetic body language”, “abstract story”, and “minimalist design” are completely abnormal ideas in the industry today. They are simple, albeit somewhat abstract concepts that do not necessarily require experience to understand. Yet today you will see some developers cower by supposedly “upping the ante” with their titles. The truth is that it takes very little courage to back 95 percent of the concepts released today.
For an entertainment industry to be accepted as a suitable artistic medium, it must first be supported by genuine artists who are willing to take risks. Artists who will no doubt explore the boundaries of the medium in the hope of uncovering those untold wonders that lay waiting for us all. Without such visionaries and risk-takers, the modern video game will be hard-pressed to mature.
This quote is speaking of ICO for the Playstation 2 but the implications for the industry are profound.
The article talks about the complexity of games and really the point, from the view of a website dedicated to gaming on Nintendo systems, is that Nintendo is bolding trying to take gaming to the next level. While Nintendo is definitely in this to make money, it’s nice to see a company so instistent(sp?) on making art that it will risk losing money to see it happen.
Nice.
