Video Games Are Art?

As we peel off the packaging of a new game, maybe it’s Pokemon or Bioshock, do we stop and appraise it? Looking at the careful design of the artwork and think: well this probably reflects post-cubism – or some other crap like that. Most likely not, I mean, neither do I. We just throw in the game and go on for the ride. Of course, I think with a video game we’re dealing with a complete package, so you really can’t have so many of those thoughts until you really see it for what it is and try the game out. So what does this have to do with anything? Well I’d like to point out a bit about two events related to this idea of video games as art, one of them involves the Smithsonian.

Stop Motion NES? Yes, please.

So with Dan enjoying the sun in Mexico, I figured it was about time I stepped up and actually contributed to our wonderful retro gaming website. Since I’ve been drowning in some of the newer side-scrolling adventure games available on STEAM, I needed to take a step back and think of the games that really made an impact on me as a kid.

What was the first game that came to mind, you ask? None other then Kirby’s Adventure for the NES. I looked up a few videos on that old game, just to reminice what I’ve been missing over the years, and I came across this fairly recent stop motion version of that game, and many other favorites from the early days of 8-bit gaming.

Enjoy!

The War of Mascots

Well it seems like reddit is playing host to a barrage of video game characters appearing all over the word on windows and walls in post it notes and chalk. Whether it’s Sonic or Mario, every post seems to be snowballing into yet another picture appearing. Leading to a few back and forth battles turning… musical?, and also inspiring an entire group of engineering students to post it an entire building face. I just wonder where this will go from here.