Gaming Under The Influence

Alex & Mike revisit the status of games as art. Recent conversations on the subject have evoked Ebert, who answered in the negative, citing a lack of worthwhile subject matter comparable to great works of other mediums & of authorial control resulting from player freedom. Meanwhile others have said video games are a “synthesis” of all the fine arts, as though a methodology, skillset or choice of expressive matter settled the question. We opine both are wrong & for the same reason: each describes only [a facet of] the matter of potential video game art and of art generally, failing to specify its essence formal element. Listen (or read on) for i) an explanation of art according to Maritain's Art & Scholasticism [in the tradition of Aristotle, Aquinas & the Thomists]; ii) to learn why, according to this definition, video games are the most advanced phase of artistic representation.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a casual discussion of Live A Live, The Ascent & Observer: System Redux. Touching on the history of Live Alive before its publication in the West circa 2022; the excellent cyberpunk worldbuilding of Neon Giant’s The Ascent; the cyberpunk pessimism of Bloober Team’s Observer: System Redux. Including a definition of cyberpunk fiction’s essential concern.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR to discuss the point of completing video games. Is the point of a game to see the end of its narrative? Is finishing a game necessary to “understanding” or appreciating it?

We argue that, since we engage with the sensible & narrative aspects of the work to penetrate its “creative concept”, these aspects are instruments to an end. If the concept has been comprehended (or worse, found wanting) further pursuit of the instruments of its expression is for no purpose relevant to artistic contemplation.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a discussion of the ‘political’ nature of video games. Must games exhibit political content? Is there such a thing as neutrality? Is it really about ‘politics’ or a deeper view held by the artist concerning reality & human nature (which politics derives from)? We propose that all art, since conceived from a human vantage, will necessarily convey the artist’s view of human nature & reality (& resultantly, politics); this not as a pamphlet containing a list of statements, but as a particular instantiating a universal.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a discussion of the evolution of Final Fantasy, as well as the end of V Rising.

Alex has finished the first Final Fantasy game from 1987; with his insight, the boys draw comparisons to more recent series entires. Mike relates his experiences with V Rising’s endgame, building systems & fiction.

Join Alex & Mike at GreenDragonCVR for a look back at weirdest, most interesting games of Summer Game Fest 2022. Highlights include Bear & Breakfast, Nightingale, Zenless Zone, Choo Choo Charles & Planet of Lana.

Mike & Alex were impressed by the recent Final Fantasy XVI trailer. Tune in this week for a discussion of how XVI returns well-known Final Fantasy ‘summons’ to a position of fictional prominence, as well as the XVI gameplay mechanics depicted in the trailer.

Another conversation this week on V Rising, including on Tencent’s involvement. Mike & Alex also discuss RPGs, Final Fantasy IX again, and the possibility of Final Fantasy XVI’s appearance at this week’s State of Play.

This week Mike & Alex discuss the media’s shifting opinions on Game Pass: a sacred cow has been torn down, with varied outlets lining up to take pot shots at what they had advertised for free months ago.

Also including a discussion of V Rising & the addictive nature of survival games: what is it that makes them such an engaging experience? Have the boys come to prefer them over sacred cows of their own (JRPGs & souslikes)?

Join us this week for a discussion of combat in video games: does it have to be in everything? Why are there so few games whose core loop consists of anything else? What is the perfect synthesis between depicted content and varied activity in a video game?