Tuesday 26 May 2009

Michael Samyn: 'Let Games Be Games'

Always a startling and provocative read, Michael Samyn of Tale of Tales (they of Graveyard and The Path) has published a railing opinion piece against, as I understand, what he percieves as the self-constraint and looming stagnation of 'interactive experiences'. 

"... we obsess about making ever more intricate little puzzles, with ever more clever little mechanics to make people feel ever so smart when all they did was follow rules and obey commands. It’s decadent! It’s wasteful! It’s negligent! It’s a shame!"
While I don't share his pessimism, I do understand his concerns. However, s0 long as people like Tale of Tales and Jason Rohrer keep making the experiences they have been making, and other artists join them, there will always be the avante garde and the truly creative in interactive experiences. They may be relegated to the metaphorical art-house theatres and back street art galleries of the internet, but they will exist.

More cinema goers watch Transformers than watch Amelie. More music listeners hear Lily Allen than... any given local band. But that does not mean those are all that exist.

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