[-empyre-] games as art or art as game

[Jason Nelson]

All,
   
  Sorry for the late jump in here. 
   
  Some thoughts....I've been corresponding with Jason Rohrer lately, as you know he created
  the art/literature games  Passage and Gravitation, both of which use game devices (small scale and old school graphics) to tell stories/create artwork. http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/jason-rohrer/  (scroll half way down for the games and other links)
   
  He feels an art game must use the rules and gameplay to truly be an art/literature game. Whereas, I feel that the game interface, the movement, and exploration offered by game engines should be explored by artists/writers. And those works should be considered
  art games despite the lack of intricate game play.
   
  I released a game last year called, Game, Game, Game and Again Game, which, mostly
  due to its rather insane graphics and scribbles, went viral around the web. But it was covered in most of the major gaming blogs http://www.secrettechnology.com/press/
  and seemed to spread debate about the use of game engines as interfaces for artwork.
   
  What I do feel is that game engines or interfaces offer the user/player/reader and entry point, 
  a familiar landscape. And given that much of digital art is either highly conceptual or experimental, that game interface invites the visitors to explore and play. So people that
  would never go to a gallery or read a book of poetry, suddenly find themselves 
  experiencing experimental artworks.
   
  And with game code now being available to anyone using flash or with basic javascript skills
  etc......users are starting to toy with creating small scale games. Even a perusal of
  http://www.newgrounds.com/game/ yields a surprising variety of artful and interesting games, hidden of course among all the typical fare.
   
   
  cheers, Jason
   
   

       
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