January 2006 Archives

Matthew and I have recently taken advantage of the Amazon feature which allows authors to post comments on their book pages.

A happy Burns Night to all, and may you all enjoy your haggis, neeps, and tatties!

Those of you who are (like me) fans of both Roger Ebert and videogames no doubt followed the debate ( part I; part II) that Ebert set off when he declared that videogames are not art.

My own take on it was--and is--that the video game is an artform, but it is one in its infancy. Yes, there is not yet a game as sublime as Bach's English Suites, but, then, it's only been 34 years since Pong. 35 years after the invention of music, I'm guessing we were still banging rocks against our cave walls. Videogames are evolving a lot faster, and I suspect the Bach of this art form will come along a lot more quickly than he did to music.

I'm revisiting this debate right now partly because of my recent PS2 purchase, of course, but mainly because Roger Ebert's colleague at the Chicago Sun-Times Jim Emmerson recently featured a quote from Japanese videogame designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the "Metal Gear Solid" series, which some of Ebert's readers cited as proof that videogames can indeed be art. Perhaps surprisingly, Kojima says he agrees with Ebert:

"I don't think they're art either, videogames," he said, referring to Roger Ebert's recent commentary on the same subject. "The thing is, art is something that radiates the artist, the person who creates that piece of art. If 100 people walk by and a single person is captivated by whatever that piece radiates, it's art. But videogames aren't trying to capture one person. A videogame should make sure that all 100 people that play that game should enjoy the service provided by that videogame. It's something of a service. It's not art. But I guess the way of providing service with that videogame is an artistic style, a form of art."

The funny thing is, even though Kojima seems to think he's agreeing with Ebert, he really isn't; under Kojima's definition, movies don't qualify as art, either. And Emerson doesn't quote one particularly significant paragraph from the interview (although he does provide a link to it):

While Kojima said that games as a whole aren't art, he did say that games do incorporate art. "Art is the stuff you find in the museum, whether it be a painting or a statue. What I'm doing, what videogame creators are doing, is running the museum--how do we light up things, where do we place things, how do we sell tickets? It's basically running the museum for those who come to the museum to look at the art. For better or worse, what I do, Hideo Kojima, myself, is run the museum and also create the art that's displayed in the museum."

I am pleased to announce that we have a new bundle of joy in our life, recently arrived.

I am referring, of course, to my new PS2.

This is the first gaming console I've owned since the Intellivision my family had back in the 80's. I held off that long because I work out of home, and I was afraid that the temptation of a dedicated videogame console would be more than I could withstand. Over the years, though, I have slowly come to realize that if I want to procrastinate, I am going to procrastinate. That's what the Internet is there for, after all.

I realize that I'm getting on the PS2 bandwagon just as it is becoming obsolete, but there is an advantage to being several years behind the curve: I haven't yet had to spend more than five quid on eBay per game.

I've just had a friendly chat with a BAFTA official who said that--while members certainly have the right to make up their own mind about the issue--the Academy is very careful to preserve the anonymity of the voting process from their end, and they'd prefer that voters protect it from our end, as well.

This is certainly fair enough, and out of respect for that preference, I've removed the entries where I discuss the specifics of my voting. Henceforth, when I talk about the BAFTAs or any other award, I'll be talking about the results in general, rather than my own votes. (And of course, it bears repeating that anything I say is my own opinion, and not the view of BAFTA, the WGA, or any other organization of which I'm a member. Except the Illuminati--I can definitely speak for them.)

Oscarwatch reports that, after some hemming and hawing, Universal is mailing out DVD screeners of Munich to BAFTA voters, but that they'll arrive too late for the voting deadline, which was noon today.

I made a point of making it to one of the screenings of the movie here in London, but it wasn't especially well-attended. If it was typical, then Munich won't be getting the consideration it deserves in the BAFTAs, which would be a pity.

Having spent the past two months staring at "For Your Consideration" ads, I'm now going to make one of my own...

Nominations for the Bloggies are now open. Yankee Fog is eligible for Best British Blog, Best Entertainment Weblog, Most Humorous Weblog, Best Writing of a Weblog, and Best-Kept Secret Weblog. And, for that matter, Weblog of the Year, if you are incredibly generous and/or don't actually read any other weblogs.