http://www.thexboxboys.com

All that aside, reading the forums has taken me on an interesting journey. Kind of ironic in a sense that Braid, for me, has opened a door in my mind probably not intended. To be clear, I’ve been thinking a lot about the indie game community and the discussion of video games as an art form. And my current thinking is that games as art is a slippery slope.

How do most people define the word game? Learner posted above that “Most people don’t recognize the seriousness of the word “game”. That’s because the word game isn’t about anything serious. A typical definition is:

1. something played for fun: an activity that people participate in, together or on their own, for fun

That in and of itself is causing me to be very conflicted about my thoughts. Just because I play games for fun, and competition, doesn’t mean everyone does, of course, but my experience leads me to believe that most people do.

There is the slippery slope for me. What is a game, really? Is it what most people think it should be, is that what defines it?

Video games as a form of art is an interesting topic, thanks for opening my eyes to it. I’ll honestly say it scares me a little to think about what might become of it, but I’ll certainly look at it differently.

Braid, intended or not, is certainly being talked about and has helped raise the awareness of what can be. I applaud that, and as a fellow computer scientist, I appreciate the dedication, devotion, and perseverance you demonstrated to get it into my hands.

Good luck with your future endeavors, and here’s to hoping some of them end up in my hands again!

However, I really want to know to what extent people are willing to boycott under the circumstances. What if the situation was a tad different? For example, what if it wasn’t about Columbine, but what if the game was about being a terrorist and trying to slam your airplanes into a couple of buildings (yikes!). What if the game was about being a slave master in colonial America? Or even worse, a game about being a Nazi regulating a concentration camp.

Nevertheless, I do agree that all games should be judged fairly. It’s just that the word “game” is taken so lightly these days. Most people don’t recognize the seriousness of the word “game”. I mean, even in everyday vernacular you hear now and then someone say that “life isn’t a game” or “[place something here] isn’t a game”. Comparing the Columbine incident to Mario Bros. can be very hurtful. It really depends under what context a game is being presented. And I think that’s where the confusion is being bred. Games should be taken more seriously, and people should remember that the word “game” has several connotations, and understand that.

All-in-all, I feel that there is a very big can of worms just waiting to burst from all this. Not that it’s bad. With the rise of serious games and big controversies like SCMRPG people will hopefully view games with a more serious outlook. Besides, cans of worms are meant to be open 🙂 I wonder what the future holds…