MONEY Today I was linked to a video entitled “So You Want To Work In The Video Game Industry”. In fact, click on the album cover so you can watch it for yourself so you’ll be caught up with what I’m about to talk about. The video bothers me. While immediate attention is intentionally made towards the naive cardboard box robot, to me personally, what’s wrong with the video (and to a larger extent, the game industry in question) is the yellow robot. Sure, the video is made to be a sort of “wake up call” for the wannabes and the yellow robot is being “realistic”. But for me, as an artist who sees video games as art, it was actually a glaring call to attention as to what’s wrong with how this industry is run and operates. The mentality that video games are merely products and not creative expressions is what is killing the industry and subsequently, preventing what we do from ever being considered “art” by our peers and the outside eyes looking in. You ever wonder why mom and pops always tell you to turn off those blasted vidja games because they aren’t good for you? It’s along those exact same lines; your parents never saw anything in games other than mindless “toys”, and now, the people who run these companies have the same viewpoint. The people who run this industry, the media, the developers, and now, sadly enough, the artists themselves are only viewing video games as entertainment, as products, and not art. Games have every right and every capacity to be on the same level (if not more) than movies and music, but with that aforementioned mentality, it’s never going to be viewed any other way other than just a silly little toy or mindless entertainment. I was once told by a PR representative of a game company “Enough playing games, let’s get down to business”. Wait, what? Really? I MAKE GAMES. GAMES ARE DESIGNED TO BE FUN. THAT’S THE INHERENT NATURE OF GAMES. WHY REMOVE FUN AND SUPPLANT IT WITH BUSINESS? I hate, hate, hate business. It does nothing but get in the way of what really counts as the end of the day: THE ART. THE ART OF MAKING GAMES. Of course by business, I do mean “money”. And that’s what all of this boils down to. It’s about the big bucks. This industry used to be inhabited by nerds, innovators, and people with passion. Now they’ve been replaced by corporate, capitalist, money-grubbing bastards. How else can you explain the transition from Ralph Baer, the man who created the original Brown Box and inspired Pong, single-handedly birthing this beautiful thing we call video games, all the way to Bobby Kotick, the devil CEO of Activision, who kills a salvageable franchise in Guitar Hero DESPITE the fact it made his company relevant again by becoming the first video game to reach $1 billion in revenue (Guitar Hero III). How did we go from three friends with computers in a garage making mods for fun to a international conglomerate in EA pumping out the same game year in and year out (Madden)? When you’ve answered those questions, you will have figured out the giant contradiction this industry has become. When you create a competitive playing field, you’ve essentially shaped a breeding ground for failure. That’s how it works, otherwise it wouldn’t be competitive. Someone has to win (preferably you) and someone has to lose (preferably your opponents). But why does it have to be that way? Why can’t it be cooperative instead of competitive? Bands, artists, and musicians feature other bands, artists, and musicians in their songs all the time; they’re not competing against one another and most of the time, it works out for the benefit of both parties. Why aren’t games that way? Games became industrialized far too early and far too quick. We’re only a 30-35 year old industry. When you take into account how long movies and music were around before the concept of the “summer blockbuster” and the “record label” became the norm, the video game industry would be considered INFANTILE. Around 30 years into motion picture history, Hollywood gave us Citizen Kane. Ask yourself, has video games had its Citizen Kane? In closing, in order to make it in this industry, you ironically have to adopt the same idealistic, dreamer mentality that cardboard box robot had. Obviously with more insight and knowledge as to what he was getting himself in, but I’m under the impression we all know what we’re getting ourselves into. We’re artists. What we make does, art, cannot exist when corporate, monetary investment is involved. Otherwise, it’s not art; it’s a product. Ask yourself what are you doing it for: because you love it? Because of money? Can you do what you do for little to no pay? If you can’t, then you’re in it to make money. A busker makes beautiful music for dimes and nickels. Why can’t you? At the end of the day, you have to know what you’re doing it for. Stop asking yourself “why?” and ask yourself “why not?”. Take risks. I know what I’m doing this for: I love games. I believe it is art. I’m passionate about creating characters and writing fantastical stories to place those characters in. I love it so much I am unemployed because I refuse to become a cog in the machine and settle with being a game tester. I sacrifice a paycheck so that I can make the art that I want, and not compromise myself or my talents and not be able to do what I was meant to do because of that paycheck. Go indie y’all! Get a good job with more pay and you’re okay -“Money” by Pink Floyd

MONEY

Today I was linked to a video entitled “So You Want To Work In The Video Game Industry”. In fact, click on the album cover so you can watch it for yourself so you’ll be caught up with what I’m about to talk about.

The video bothers me. While immediate attention is intentionally made towards the naive cardboard box robot, to me personally, what’s wrong with the video (and to a larger extent, the game industry in question) is the yellow robot. Sure, the video is made to be a sort of “wake up call” for the wannabes and the yellow robot is being “realistic”. But for me, as an artist who sees video games as art, it was actually a glaring call to attention as to what’s wrong with how this industry is run and operates.

The mentality that video games are merely products and not creative expressions is what is killing the industry and subsequently, preventing what we do from ever being considered “art” by our peers and the outside eyes looking in. You ever wonder why mom and pops always tell you to turn off those blasted vidja games because they aren’t good for you? It’s along those exact same lines; your parents never saw anything in games other than mindless “toys”, and now, the people who run these companies have the same viewpoint.

The people who run this industry, the media, the developers, and now, sadly enough, the artists themselves are only viewing video games as entertainment, as products, and not art. Games have every right and every capacity to be on the same level (if not more) than movies and music, but with that aforementioned mentality, it’s never going to be viewed any other way other than just a silly little toy or mindless entertainment.

I was once told by a PR representative of a game company “Enough playing games, let’s get down to business”. Wait, what? Really? I MAKE GAMES. GAMES ARE DESIGNED TO BE FUN. THAT’S THE INHERENT NATURE OF GAMES. WHY REMOVE FUN AND SUPPLANT IT WITH BUSINESS? I hate, hate, hate business. It does nothing but get in the way of what really counts as the end of the day: THE ART. THE ART OF MAKING GAMES.

Of course by business, I do mean “money”. And that’s what all of this boils down to. It’s about the big bucks. This industry used to be inhabited by nerds, innovators, and people with passion. Now they’ve been replaced by corporate, capitalist, money-grubbing bastards. How else can you explain the transition from Ralph Baer, the man who created the original Brown Box and inspired Pong, single-handedly birthing this beautiful thing we call video games, all the way to Bobby Kotick, the devil CEO of Activision, who kills a salvageable franchise in Guitar Hero DESPITE the fact it made his company relevant again by becoming the first video game to reach $1 billion in revenue (Guitar Hero III). How did we go from three friends with computers in a garage making mods for fun to a international conglomerate in EA pumping out the same game year in and year out (Madden)? When you’ve answered those questions, you will have figured out the giant contradiction this industry has become.

When you create a competitive playing field, you’ve essentially shaped a breeding ground for failure. That’s how it works, otherwise it wouldn’t be competitive. Someone has to win (preferably you) and someone has to lose (preferably your opponents). But why does it have to be that way? Why can’t it be cooperative instead of competitive? Bands, artists, and musicians feature other bands, artists, and musicians in their songs all the time; they’re not competing against one another and most of the time, it works out for the benefit of both parties. Why aren’t games that way?

Games became industrialized far too early and far too quick. We’re only a 30-35 year old industry. When you take into account how long movies and music were around before the concept of the “summer blockbuster” and the “record label” became the norm, the video game industry would be considered INFANTILE. Around 30 years into motion picture history, Hollywood gave us Citizen Kane. Ask yourself, has video games had its Citizen Kane?

In closing, in order to make it in this industry, you ironically have to adopt the same idealistic, dreamer mentality that cardboard box robot had. Obviously with more insight and knowledge as to what he was getting himself in, but I’m under the impression we all know what we’re getting ourselves into. We’re artists. What we make does, art, cannot exist when corporate, monetary investment is involved. Otherwise, it’s not art; it’s a product. Ask yourself what are you doing it for: because you love it? Because of money? Can you do what you do for little to no pay? If you can’t, then you’re in it to make money. A busker makes beautiful music for dimes and nickels. Why can’t you?

At the end of the day, you have to know what you’re doing it for. Stop asking yourself “why?” and ask yourself “why not?”. Take risks. I know what I’m doing this for: I love games. I believe it is art. I’m passionate about creating characters and writing fantastical stories to place those characters in. I love it so much I am unemployed because I refuse to become a cog in the machine and settle with being a game tester. I sacrifice a paycheck so that I can make the art that I want, and not compromise myself or my talents and not be able to do what I was meant to do because of that paycheck.

Go indie y’all!

Get a good job with more pay and you’re okay

-“Money” by Pink Floyd

  • 03.15.11