Rise of the Videogame Zinesters Questions
Hello friends,
I have to say that I am quite excited for our journey to the Lightbox this evening. Somehow I’ve never seen a Brakhage film, and thus, I find myself eagerly anticipating this evening’s screening.
I also quite enjoyed this week’s reading. I truly found Anthropy’s argument compelling, as I felt like her intervention was more grounded in the circumstances that have most affected her as a game designer who may not conform to the traditional occupants of a game designing space. What follows is a list of quandaries I had from reading her piece.
1.) Throughout reading Rise of the Videogame Zinesters I found myself drawing multitudinous comparisons between the videogame industry and the cinematic one. A large number of the issues that Anthropy brings forward, particularly in the introductory stages of the book, reminded me of problematic elements found in mainstream cinematic production. To name a few: overly masculine spaces, decisions being made by corporate entities with little actual attachment to the production processes, overworked hands, among others. Those who have worked in cinematic industries in some capacity can attest to the long hours required at pretty much all of the levels of making a movie, from on set to the editing table.
In a semi-related consideration, I have seemed to notice a bit of a distaste for comparisons between video games and cinema amongst those who actively work with digital games on a day-to-day basis. Not unfairly I might add, as they seem to be drastically different mediums in many capacities. However, to what extent does similarities within production contexts lead to proliferation of this comparison? Is it possible that because cinema and digital games are produced in similar manners we have a tendency to evaluate them on similar terms?
1a.) Considering the above assertions, I am curious about the extent to which we consider video games in relation to cinema in the underground forms of digital games. I found myself very excited by the section heading “Crap Games,” on page 109, only to realize that the section was designed to propagate an argument for freedom to create without the weight of failure. I would therefore like to pose the following question: in what ways can we see similarities in relation to the gaming community’s reaction to “trash” art versions of video games, such as Air Control and QWOP and the cinematic elevation of films such as John Waters Pink Flamingos? In what ways is are reactions dissimilar.
2.) In the spirit of deeply interrogating arguments in what we read, I would like to discuss the concepts of moding as raised by Anthropy. While I wholeheartedly agree with Anthropy’s assertions that simple modifications have immense possibility of subversiveness, I also find myself wondering if it is possible that some modifications merely provide the illusion of subversiveness. To what extent should a modification challenge the initial premises to be considered truly subversive?
3.) From reading the many examples provided by Anthropy in Chapter Six, I was struck by a realization. Many of the truly subversive games that she mentions (the Box Making Game in particular) seemed to be based off pre-existing video games and game tropes. I personally had to look up what Sokoban was to get a better understanding of what the intended purpose. To what extent would the subversiveness of a game with a strong grounding video game traditions be lost on those with little prior knowledge of video games and their history? Likewise, to what extent would this limit the capacity of someone fully appreciate the art they’re interacting with in this situation?
4.) Anthropy’s piece seems to heavily advocate for the freedom to test one’s own limits within the creation of digital games. To what extent would you say that a rigorous following of her own step-by-step process outlined in Chapter 7 provide a burgeoning game designer with that freedom? To what extent would it possibly limit one’s ability to recognize their own game making potential?
Hope to see everyone this evening!