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Roger Ebert's latest column posits 'games can never be art'
In the "Games as art" debate that seems to never end, the number one opponent of our industry's medium of choice being considered art (at least "high art") has been renowned film critic Roger Ebert. Since he made his initial declaratory statements about video games many years ago, folks have piped up on both sides of the argument. Ebert's latest volley in the long-running discussion is a piece published on the Chicago Sun-Times website in response to thatgamecompany prez Kellee Santiago's TED talk at USC last summer. While he allows Santiago many pleasantries and compliments throughout the piece, he argues that, regardless of her various points, games "can never be art." At the very least, he says, "No video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form." He contests that games consist of "rules, points, objectives, and an outcome," which stands in contrast to his somewhat ambiguous definition of what, exactly, art is. In a moment of seeming clarity at the end of his piece, he asks: "Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art? Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan and Dick Butkus never said they thought their games were an art form." And while we might not agree with all of Mr. Ebert's points, we can certainly find common ground with his wondering why the debate over games as art is still such a topic of concern among gamers (ourselves included). [Thanks, Salvatore]
Flower soundtrack flies onto PlayStation Store this week, only $2.99
The PlayStation Store is continuing to expand its offering of game soundtracks. In addition to the recently released Heavy Rain soundtrack, the PlayStation Store will update with the soundtrack to Flower this week. Best of all, it's a steal -- $2.99/€1.99/£1.59. A key aspect of Flower's allure was it's interactivity, something that this pre-recorded soundtrack won't be able to offer. We do have a helpful alternative, though. Download the OST to your MP3 player, and then just start running through your neighbor's garden, ripping all the flower pedals you see. It'll feel just like the game.
GDC: The music and sound of Flower
On the last day of GDC, a little room in the back of the North Hall of San Francisco's Moscone Center was packed. Most of the audio design and sound creation panels in that part of the building weren't very well attended for most of the week. But on Saturday morning, it was standing room only for the panel hosted by a surprised Vincent Diamante and Steve Johnson, the respective composer and sound designer on thatgamecompany's downloadable gem, Flower. They started off by explaining a little bit about how thatgamecompany developed the game: It all started from the narrative, as co-founder Jenova Chen wanted to try and create a rise and fall story with no actual protagonist to speak of. Then, they loaded up the game itself, and played through most of the levels, talking about their designs as commentary over the gameplay itself.
GDC 2010: From student game to success
Believe it or not, many of the best games start out as student development projects. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, flOw and even Portal all began life as student projects. Speaking at a GDC panel, the developers of the games listed above gave their advice on how budding student game designers can see their own projects become a success. The panel included Kim Swift, designer of Portal and currently of Airtight Games, Matt Korba and Paul Bellezza of The Odd Gentlemen (P.B. Winterbottom), and Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany (flOw). The advice was wide-ranging, though all the panelists agreed that the best way to get a game noticed is to submit it to as many competitions and festivals as possible. Swift specifically noted that it's a good idea to literally drag people to come and play your game at festivals and shows like GDC. The game itself should "grab" players as well, with Korba saying that a festival showing of a game should be get players involved within five minutes.
GDC 2010 Microtalks: Big ideas, tiny speeches
The GDC 2010 Microtalks session was a frazzling experience in many ways. The format of the event essentially assures it. Ten lecturers -- all from different sectors of the game industry -- each spoke for five minutes and each were allowed to use 20 different slides. Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand set the stage for the speakers, announcing the theme of the talks as "come play with us." The goal of the microtalks, said Lemarchand, was to help game creators capture the "radicalizing exuberance" of games and give them the energy to "transform the world" through the power of play. The resulting cavalcade of images and ideas -- ranging from methods of play to behavioral economics -- is a bit difficult to distill. Thankfully, we were taking notes. There was too much at the event to condense here, but it was definitely a thought-provoking event. We've highlighted a few of the more interesting speeches after the break. %Gallery-88130%
Indie Fund created to help fund indies
A group of well-known independent studio vets has formed a new fund for other independent developers. Members of 2D Boy, Number None, thatgamecompany, Capy, Flashbang Studios and AppAbove Games have banded together to create the appropriately named Indie Fund, which they hope will become "a serious alternative to the traditional publisher funding model." The fund will ideally help independent studios "get financially independent and stay financially independent." The Indie Fund is already backing some unnamed projects, and the group plans to reveal more details about the fund at GDC next week. Specifically, 2D Boy's Ron Carmel will host a panel at the conference entitled "Indies and Publishers: Fixing a System That Never Worked." The panel will focus on the "adversarial" and "unhealthy" nature of the relationship between developers and publisher and, naturally, what could be done to improve it. Expect the panel to be included in Joystiq's GDC 2010 coverage, which begins next week. [Via GamePolitics]
Into the Pixel goes into the auction on eBay
Hey, you remember the Into the Pixel exhibit at last year's E3, right? Oh, no, that's right, they don't allow the plebes in. Had you been lucky enough to grace it with your stares, you'd have found a "jury-curated exhibition of video game art created by published video and computer game artists." And now that very same art can be found gracing the pages of eBay, as the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has opened up bidding on a smattering of pieces (starting yesterday and running through February 20). Featuring art from games like Flower and Fable 2, the proceeds will help to fund the AIAS' scholarship programs. The bidding has most certainly begun, though most pieces remain at their initial $100 opening bid as of publishing. If you're looking to snap up one of these snappy pieces, we'd suggest you get bidding sooner rather than later!
Buy your love a Flower for half price today
As if yesterday's free copy of flOw weren't enough for you, thatgamecompany has decided to extend its love to PSN users that much further today by dropping the price of Flower to $4.99. For the price of 1/20th of a rose (hey, it's Valentine's Day and those prices skyrocket!), you can give your love a flower that doesn't wither and die over the next week. In fact, we highly suggest you go with that route of explanation should he/she not take your digital gift as well as you hope -- simply explain that you wanted to give something more emblematic of your relationship! Maybe something like, "It's digital, so it'll never die, baby! Just like our love!" Yeah, that should do it. %Gallery-27943%
PSA: Download flOw for free until midnight EST
Listen, we know how hard Valentine's Day can be on some of you jilted lovers out there, so we went ahead and got you a little something to keep you occupied tomorrow: A copy of ThatGameCompany's microbiotic PS3 title, flOw. You can download it right now from the PSN for free, without having to deal with any cumbersome coupon codes. Our generosity only extends so far, however -- the free download will stop being offered at midnight EST tonight. Hurry up and grab it -- and don't say we never gave you nothin'! (Fine, we're not the party responsible for the game's free-ness. We suppose you can say we never gave you nothin' to your heart's content.) [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Best of the Rest: Andrew's Picks of 2009
Flower This year had a number of terrific downloadable games (this list is a testament to that), however no game -- retail or digital -- connected with me like Flower. Jenova Chen's flOw was an interesting experiment, but Flower is an actual game. In fact, Flower is one of the few experiences I can think of that show the true potential of games as a unique storytelling medium. No other non-interactive art form will ever be able to replicate what thatgamecompany has managed to create.
European gamers finally get flOw trophy update
While North American gamers have had the update for quite some time now, thatgamecompany has announced that European flOw fans are finally getting Trophy support for the moody, aquatic microorganism simulator. According to the dev's official blog, the Trophy update is now available to European and UK players. If you're looking for a leg-up on the additions, make sure to check Joystiq's own flOw Trophy list. %Gallery-15561%
VGA 2009: Flower developers amidst the explosions and hype
This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen from thatgamecompany about Flower. Spike TV and the VGAs are all about naked women, shooters, and explosions. What's it like for Flower to be here? Kellee Santiago: It's a very surreal experience. I think it shows that what are sort of seen as "artsy" games aren't niche, they appeal at the most commercial mass level, and that's very exciting for us. Jenova Chen: We had Flower exhibit at the MOCA in Shanghai as an interactive art piece. It's quite interesting to see a video game stand next to these art installations. Being at these awards will hpefully give us even more exposure. The PlayStation Network had a sale during Thanksgiving, and a lot of people picked up Flower who had never heard of it before. Then we started to get a lot of emails thanking us for making the game. We know there are more people who haven't seen the game, and it would be great if they know what video games could be. What's next? Could there be a sequel to Flower? We're working on a third title for PlayStation Network right now, you'll see more soon. Hopefully you'll see something next year, but we don't know yet when it will come out.
Trophies: flOw
0 Platinum 1 Gold 3 Silver 10 Bronze Difficulty: Easy Online Trophies? No Time to Completion: 5 hours DLC Trophies? No View Trophy List Read More About the Game %Gallery-15561%
Original soundtrack to flOw coming soon
thatgamecompany's first PSN game, flOw, captivated players looking for a relaxing game experience. The soothing visuals and unique motion controls are certainly vital components of creating the feel of flOw, but the music is certainly driving force behind the game's soothing presentation. A recent PlayStation.Blog post has an interesting orchestral rearrangement of flOw's soundtrack, which you can watch after the break. Replacing the electronic sound of the original game with live instruments creates a totally different feel. After watching the performance, we wouldn't mind playing the game with a full choir cheering us on. Those inspired by the performance will be saddened to know that this orchestral rendition will not be available for download "for various contractual reasons," according to Austin Wintory, the composer of flOw's score. Wintory does appease fans, however, letting them know that "an original soundtrack is in the works featuring the actual music from the game." Hopefully, the flOw soundtrack follows the steps of the PixelJunk series, releasing on PlayStation Network sans DRM.
thatgamecompany's third Sony project is 'something you've never experienced before'
thatgamecompany, aside from giving us a chance to start this paragraph off with a lowercase letter for once, is currently hard at work on its third contractual Sony project. At the Develop Conference in the UK this morning, tgc's Jenova Chen had a handful of artfully abstract information to drop on conference attendees regarding the upcoming game. He said the project "feels like a natural progression" from the company's other titles and will be "something you've never experienced before." So, Flowest confirmed? Not quite."In the future there's a lot of feelings that video games haven't explored that are open for us to find," Chen said -- he specifically cited God of War as "a really good game about hatred." As Eurogamer points out in its coverage of the conference, Chen repeatedly cited the iteration time necessary for a game concept to go into full production -- he says that the concept for Flower took about two years -- and as such, may very well not have any solid information to talk about regarding his company's next game. Have you considered the fourth dimension, Mr. Chen? Hmm? [Image]
Creator of flOw decries flOw-esque Aquatica iPhone game
You might be confused as to why we just posted a YouTube clip from the 2007 PSN hit flOw at the top of this very story. See, friends, that's not actually flOw -- it's an iPhone game from developer Ketara Software, titled Aquatica: The Underwater Adventure, and it's the biggest ripoff we've seen since the harrowing 2007 adventure title (and Game of the Year contender) Limbo of the Lost. Thatgamecompany's Jenova Chen, who released the code for the Flash version of flOw shortly after its release, responded to the app by tweeting, "I released flOw source for people to learn. I didn't expect to see it on iphone without quoting the creator." In the comments on the YouTube clip above, Ketara responded to Chen's claims by explaining, "actually, all the source code is completely, 100% written from scratch," informing him that, "in general, most games within each class are practically the same, just different graphics." (Psst -- your graphics aren't different, Ketara!) As more and more commenters harangued the small developer for apparently copying the PSN title, Ketara began damage control -- first by apologizing to Chen and the gaming community, by adding attribution to the video and app description, then ultimately by pulling the game off the App Store altogether. Ketara promises that "nothing like this" will happen again, so we probably won't be seeing Petals: The Flying Floral Adventure any time soon.
Boom Blox producer leaves EA, joins thatgamecompany
thatgamecompany, the studio behind flOw and Flower, has managed to sweep away former EA developer Robin Hunicke. Hunicke worked as the lead designer behind MySims, and produced the two Wii Boom Blox titles. In a statement to Kotaku, Hunicke explains that she wants "to reach new people, with new experiences, via the medium of games and the language of game design" in her new position. With both flOw and Flower completed, Hunicke says thatgamecompany is "at the forefront of the indie movement." It's currently unknown what position Hunicke will serve at thatgamecompany or what project she will be working on. The team is still contractually obligated to develop at least one more game for PlayStation Network.
You gotta believe Masaya Matsuura and Jenova Chen will speak at Develop Conference
Develop has just announced the addition of two speakers to the Develop Conference's 2009 lineup, both respected game designers whose works tend to be more than a little unconventional. Parappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura, whose last game was the Wii marching adventure Major Minor's Majestic March, will present "It's Time for Music Games 2.0," in which the developer will "map out unexplored gaming possibilities and reinvent our understanding of the genre." thatgamecompany's Jenova Chen will present a retrospective about flOw and Flower, and "explore the relationship between games, entertainment and art."The Develop Conference will be held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton from July 14th through July 16th. If you're flying there and the pilot looks like this guy, get off and wait for the next plane.
Flower remains best-selling PSN game in March
It appears thatgamecompany has yet another hit on its hands. Flower, the PSN-exclusive follow up to flOw, has remained atop the PSN sales charts for a second month in a row. We're glad to see gamers embrace the innovative downloadable game and its 200 thousand blades of grass. The full list: Flower Wheel of Fortune Noby Noby Boy Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty Mortal Kombat II Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix 3 on 3 NHL Arcade Red Baron Arcade Age of Booty Linger in Shadows Wheel of Fortune's brand name gave it a great debut (although the game itself is rubbish). Noby Noby Boy continues to confuse gamers, and Quest for Booty's discount price gave it a rather sizable sales boost. GamerBytes rightfully points out the absence of Watchmen: The End is Nigh from the list. Looks like poor reviews and a $20 price tag shunned gamers from the high-profile beat-em-up.
Flower's power exclusive to PS3: 200k grass blades and counting
We suppose grass might not be very exciting, but that doesn't mean it's any easier to put into games than anything else, especially considering the sheer amount of it needed in a game like Flower. In fact, Flower has coded 200,000 blades of grass to simultaneously move and sway in the wind, and co-founder / president of ThatGameCompany Kellee Santiago said this could only be possible on the PS3. "It really would be impossible to make it look the same on any other system," she said in an interview with Gamezine. The developers say rendering Flower's detailed and free-flowing grass "leverages the PS3" and makes good use of the system's advanced SPU. So, the next time someone disses Flower for being a sissy casual title, let them know how hardcore it really is. [Via CVG]
