-- Ron Gilbert, creator of
Monkey Island, responds to
Roger Ebert on video games not being art
article:
Roger, Roger, Roger (the source is actually from Gilbert's own weblog)
backstory: Roger Ebert claimed, in his own estimation, that
video games can never be art. Even after much debate over his long-standing view on the matter, people were not satsified that he just left as nebulous and without explanation as he done so up 'til now. Up until he decided to participate in a
vis-à-vis amongst (against?) one particular spokesperson (whom might as well represent the whole of the video game community, as they are now voicing their opinions, like the following).
condensed response (via the article)
"
Here is my challenge to Roger: Why is Monkey Island not art, yet, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie is art?
I will hold the story and characters of Monkey Island up to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie any day. The story in Monkey Island 1 and 2 is as deep and complex and interesting as that of Pirates of the Caribbean. The characters are as living and real and developed as you’ll find in any film, I’d even argue more so since you can have conversations with them and explore the nooks and crannies of their stories in a way a movie or book cannot.
…
Roger also mentions in his essay “Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art?” I would ask: why are you so concerned that they are not? You’re the one that keeps bring this up, not us."
[
grumpygamer.]