Some of you may recall well-known film critic Roger Ebert famously claiming, like five-years ago, that video games "aren't art". Not long ago, video game developer Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany (makers of flow and flower on PSN) appeared on TedTalks to give a presentation on why video games 'are' art. Ebert recently decided to revisit the topic in his blog after supposedly being "urged" by one of his readers. If you say so Ebert.

He starts off by saying, "I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say 'never'".  He then manages to go through his entire piece dissecting almost everything said by Ms. Santiago, criticising her appearant failure to provide a proper definition of art while calling her examples of games that cross the threshold of art, Waco Resurrection, Braid and Flower,  'pathetic', without giving so much as a hint of his own definition of what's art.

To me art is a creative expression. Just like artists and filmmakers express their creativity and ideas through their respective work, so do video game designers. A video game does not just pop out of thin air. It usually starts with an imaginative and creative vision that gets turned into a concept and eventually something tangible that its audience can experience.

In that sense a film is no more of an art than games like Shadow of the Colossus,  Ico, Bioshock, Okami, flower, Braid, Heavy Rain and so on that strive to tell a story and evoke different feelings and emotions in their audience. I'm not saying all games are art but neither is all art good art.

Ebert states, "I tend to think of art as usually the creation of one artist. Yet a cathedral is the work of many, and is it not art? One could think of it as countless individual works of art unified by a common purpose. Is not a tribal dance an artwork, yet the collaboration of a community? Yes, but but it reflects the work of individual choreographers."

When confronted on this point by one commenter in his blog, Mr. Ebert responded by saying, "I do not believe collaborative art cannot be art. I cite cathedrals and tribal dances as collaborative works of art. But they begin with an auteur with an original vision -- whether that be a king, an architect, or a choreographer. The film director usually has the original vision."

So what he's really saying is that because a film comes from the vision of an individual, like a film director, a collaborative work 'is' art. I think someone needs to inform Mr. Ebert that games have too have creators and directors who have the original vision for what the end product will look like. I mean Jesus! Even flower, one of Santiago's examples that Ebert dismissed as 'pathetc' comes from the vision of one man, Jenova Chen. Either Mr. Ebert is clueless about video games or he thinks the vision of a game director is inferior to that of a fim director

He then goes onto say, "Santiago might cite a immersive game without points or rules, but I would say then it ceases to be a game and becomes a representation of a story, a novel, a play, dance, a film."

And yet he states in response to another commenter, "I wouldn't define bad movies as art. Hardly any movies are art. Film is however an art form."

So film is an art form because it is a representation of a story but a game ceases to lose its identity if it tries to immerse the player and tell a good story? How very convenient.

"I allow Sangtiago the last word. Toward the end of her presentation, she shows a visual with six circles, which represent, I gather, the components now forming for her brave new world of video games as art. The circles are labeled: Development, Finance, Publishing, Marketing, Education, and Executive Management. I rest my case."

Here he is making fun of Ms. Santiago for showing what may look like a slide from a business presentation, and yet, those components she listed are ever more present in the film industry than anywhere else. If films with directors supported by a crew, executives, producers, writers, actors, marketing people and so on can be considered art, why the hell can't video games be considered art?

He ends the piece with the following paragraph on why gamers are so concerned that video games be considered art:

"Do they require validation? In defending their gaming against parents, spouses, children, partners, co-workers or other critics, do they want to be able to look up from the screen and explain, "I'm studying a great form of art?" Then let them say it, if it makes them happy."

This effectively sums up Ebert's condescending view of video games as a medium, like many other backward, narrow-minded individuals who look down upon video games as something for kids and mindless entertainment. This is not about validation. Gamers never needed validation to enjoy playing video games. This is about respect for a medium that has grown and evolved leaps and bounds to reach a vast and diverse audience in the last decade.

I doubt Roger Ebert has even played a video game in his life to be making such sweeping statements about whether or not video games can be considered art, no matter what the logic, when he is making so many equally illogical statements in his argument and thereby completely exposing his blatant bias towards film as some kind of superior medium.

Is video game an art form? May be it is, may be it isn't. But it sure as hell won't be decided by this man.

Just wanted to share this video with you guys. It shows a very easy way to do a 1000+ hit combo in God of War 3 to unlock the Hit Man trophy. It was also the last trophy I needed to unlock the Platinum trophy, my only 6th to date. Now I'm gonna take a much needed nap lol. Enjoy!

Hey guys,

I don't know how long these instructions will still work but hurry up and try-

1. Go to this link and register an account (make sure to use a valid email address)
   
   http://www.esl.eu/uk/
   
   
2. Go to your inbox to activate your account



3. Now go to this link and sign up for the beta
   
   http://www.esl.eu/de/bfbc2/beta
   
   
4. You'll be instantly shown your beta key. Write it down. It will also get sent to your email address.
   
   

However, once you get your key, you'll need an EU PSN account to redeem it so if you don't have one already, just make one. It's FREE.

Once you've downloaded the beta, sign in using your US PSN account to start playing.

Good luck.

Most of you are aware that not long ago Mr. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, threatened to stop supporting the PS3 if Sony doesn't drop the price. Recently after dropping the bomb on UK gamers with the prospect of shelling out a whopping £54.99 RRP (that's about $90) for Modern Warfare 2, Mr. Kotick went as far as say if it was up to him he would "raise the prices even further".

 It is difficult enough as it is that we UK gamers pay more than our US counterparts on top of facing delays. Now Activision is going to slap us with a £55 RRP for a game using the economic situation an as excuse. Perhaps Mr. Kotick doesn't realise the economic situation of average gamers when he's enjoying a salary of $15 million a year.

Even though retailers like Amazon and GAME are offering the game at a preorder pricepoint of £45, in principle I cannot be part of a consumer base that sets a trend for insane price hikes like this and rationalises people like Bobby Kotick. This is why I will not be purchasing Modern Warfare 2 on its release until it reaches the standard £40 pricepoint we are used to paying.

You may have already heard that a film adaptation based on Naughty Dog's hit franchise Uncharted is in the works. Naughty Dog themselves have confirmed on the Playstation Blog that the news is indeed true.

Now I am no fan of game to movie adaptations or vice-verse because they always turn out to be shit. However, I do see potential for a great Uncharted movie since the games themselves are designed to be very cinematic and hollywood-inspired. I think given the right budget, cast and people working behind it this movie has potential.

Now the big important question is, who should play as Nathan Drake?

Here are my 3 top choices -


Nathan Fillion

This guy is probably one of the most popular choices to play as Drake and with good reason. Nathan Fillion, if you remember from Firefly not only looks the part but is also a great actor. I'd even go on to say Drake's character is vaguely inspired by Fillion's character in Firefly. He is the most logical choice to play as Drake. I just hope the people making the film feel the same way.


Joe Flanigan

You may or may not know him, Joe Flanigan plays the role of Lt. Col. John Sheppard in one of my most favourite sci-fi shows, Stargate Atlantis. He's a brilliant actor, looks and sounds a lot like Drake and is very witty and charming too. The important thing to consider is that what makes Drake different than most video game protagonists is that he is a regular, 'everyman' hero. I think Joe Flanigan would be perfect for this role since he's relatively unknown to the mainstream audience. I definitely recommend checking out some clips of him acting to see why.


Nolan North

Who can play Drake's character better than the person who voices Drake and even looks a bit like him? Nolan's voice and wit plays a major part in what makes Drake's character so great. If he's as good an actor live as he is during the mo-cap sessions for the games, then I don't see why not.


Well these are my suggestions. Do you agree/disagree? Who do you think should play as Drake?