J Taylor: Research Statement
IDEATION
This was where I came up with some of the first ideas for what I’d be researching. I started off with 3 and a half ideas, the first one being talking about Illustration’s place in the world of Art (among Fine Art etc) and if there’s any stigma attached to being an illustrator as opposed to other definitions of “artist”. Second I thought of the ideas of personas, how artists operate under a persona, why they do this, how they do this, and how any of my own experience with a persona comes in to play and affects my practise. My third idea was like the first, however instead of talking about Illustration I’d be talking about video games. There’s a lot of conversation about video games as art, if they are art, why they aren’t art, the art in them, their impact in the world of art and such other things. I wanted to talk about something I’m interested in as I’ve tried writing and talking about something that I’m not interested in and it bored me to the point that the quality of what I was putting out was noticeably low. As this is an opportunity to talk about something I like, I’m choosing to talk about a subject I enjoy. I think I’ll produce better work by focusing on something I like. But it’s also not something I’m hugely interested in to the point where I’m not able to be critical, so I won’t spend the entire time writing a one-sided obsessing think piece on “I think this is good and this is why”. I had another idea where I examine the art in and of video games, specifically the art style used in video games and how it’s evolved as graphics technology has improved. How it’s become a sort of “style” of its own and how this style itself has influenced other art. If the idea I’m focusing on leads to a dead end (or rather, too much of an open end) then I think examining the journey of game graphics and art styles is a good alternative route to go down.
This can interest others because I think games are a very modern and contemporary medium that everyone’s aware of, and if someone isn’t aware of them they can learn about an up-and-coming yet very present form of media.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (with CRITIQUE AND EXPLANATION)
Going off the idea of art showcased in games, and games being an example of art,I started off by researching a whole bunch of talks about video games and art. What comes up first is a lot of Ted Talks so I watched and listened to those and absorbed as much information as I could. I’m aware that Ted Talks are mostly subjective and one single person’s opinions, but they’re always good food for thought. I’m still in the stage where I’m not entirely sure just what I’m talking about or the route I’m going to take for this research and anything to help point me in a direction will help.
I started with the working title, “Video Games: In, of and as Art” (or vice versa; art in/of/as video games) and so my focus was in the place of validating video games as an art form. I wanted to see what people had to say about video games and find examples of why they’re special in a hope to articulate just what it was I thought and felt about them.
I started with ‘Gaming for Understanding’(Romero, B. 2011) by Brenda Romero. This wasn’t talking about video games, but I still found it relevant and important. This talks about the various benefits of games and in this instance the idea that they can be used for education and bringing a greater understanding to difficult topics and issues. While also being fun and engaging for people that normally wouldn’t be reached by conventional methods of education. This was a good starting point, but I feel like talking about any games outside of just video games makes me lose focus and is far too broad, and games have historically been around immeasurably longer. So from here on I decide purely to focus on video games.
‘Video Games To Cope With Grief’(Green, 2017) by Amy Green tells a more sombre story of a game used for education and helping evoke a feeling while teaching how to deal with grief. It came about after the death of the creators’ child due to cancer, however was quite philosophical. It was an inspiring way of coping with loss, while spreading understanding. It’s an uncommon type of game, not simply about winning, but having an experience. In the conversation of games as art, this is an important example of the capabilities of games.
‘Are Games Better Than Life’(Perry, 2006) by David Perry was a talk given 10 years which optimistically talks about the potential future of games, the capabilities of graphics, the amazing graphics of the current (which have since been improved upon immensely) and the idea that games are an extension of our own lives. There is then talk of our ‘game’ selves and our real-life selves, how games are becoming like an alternative reality people can really lose themselves in. There aren’t many other forms of media that can achieve this, and I think it’s interesting to look at games’ place in the real world and how they affect the players.
‘Gaming Can Make A Better World’(McGonigal, 2010) by Jane McGonigal talks of the positive aspects of gaming and she brings up the concept of the ‘Epic Win’ which is the encouraging positive feeling you get from doing well in a video game and succeeding. Almost the rush of adrenaline and good feeling you get from winning, or conquering a challenge, and the confidence that comes about therein. She says more people should play video games because they’re good for people, video games can help people see the best in themselves and if more people played video games or implemented how they play games in the real world the world would be a better place. These are all good talking points for the validity of games.
‘The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years Of Life’(McGonigal, 2012) is another Jane McGonigal talk and has a similarly encouraging and optimistic outlook but this time uses one game as a specific example (a game called SuperBetter) and brings up the real life impact of games and doing well at them. These effects can sometimes be unique to games. There are ideas such as how having a quest and achieving it can manifest positively in our mind, improving our social skills or even our happiness and overall this can improve quality of life and even make us live longer, and she gives a couple examples where she then says she gives everyone in the room around 7 extra seconds of life. It’s philosophical, and encourages a positives be-good-t-yourself outlook, and all this in the context of games sounds like another good point gained for Games.
‘Video Games Turn Players Into Storytellers’(Cage, 2018) is a talk by David Cage, and outside of being a promotion for the new-at-the-time games Detroit: Become Human it’s an interesting talk on the narratives presented to us in video games. If I go down this route, it could end up being similar to the argument of why movies are art and what they had to go through in order to be considered an art form. This is something worth considering, and perhaps I could draw parallels between movies and games and the journeys each one has gone to be considered a form of art. Here, Cage talks about players being storytellers via choice-based narratives, so we get a unique tailor-made story.
CRITIQUE AND EXPLANATION
I decide to further examine this point of players being turned into the storytellers.
Choice-based stories are simply one type of storytelling in games yet are the most presented example of “unique” stories possible only through games (and perhaps game books, interactive novels, and very recent watchable media such as Bandersnatch where you make choices as you’re watching to influence the story) – games have done this for a while. Examples I think of are David Cage games, Telltale Games, and some of DONTNOD’s games. There are decisions to make to further the narrative. But games have been doing this since even the 90s, telling you different stories and giving you different endings based on decisions presented to you throughout.
I believe this can sometimes be considered the illusion of a tailor-made narrative, as the experience isn’t wholly unique to you, and most of the time with games like this it all comes down to the same final choice anyway or you even get the same ending.
I don’t think different narratives being presented to us is the only way video games tell stories. I think we influence the story we are told by other less obvious factors whether it be the characters we select, the directions we take, the missions we do or the weapons we use.
Of course, there are some amazing stories told through games, with examples such as God of War, The Last of Us, Nier: Automata, Final Fantasy, Bioshock and Metal Gear Solid etc. and there are endless discussions on whether games tell these stories more effectively than other forms of media.
But I additionally argue that games can make you the storyteller without handing you a predetermined narrative.
I’m reminded of a video I saw in 2017 from GameSpot’s “Reboot” series of game-based video essays, it was about the then-new Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and it was ‘How PUBG Makes You The Storyteller’(Mahardy and Dekker, 2017), this game was an open-world competitive Battle Royale inspired game where you aim to be the last man standing in 20-30 minute sessions. There’s no narrative, no backstory, no ‘characters’, and yet people come away from this with a wealth of stories to tell after they’ve played it. No match is the same, and how you play and experience is your’s alone and it’s all about the story you’re telling. There are so many other games like this, where it’s all about the unique experience. Even games with narratives are capable of this. As are games meant just for fun, or games meant for telling your own stories (think along the lines of The Sims and such)
My point was: You don’t need to be told a story, to tell a story. (with video games)
But then I got to thinking, is this what makes them art? Is storytelling what I care about in games?
So I end up thinking about what’s important in games, is it the story told, or having an experience? Does this make it art.
It depends on the definition of art. I personally think games can be art if their intention is to make you feel something, but then some people such as Roger Ebert said (famously) that video games can never be art (Ebert, 2005).
Are games art?
Do I want to go down the route of validating games as art? This is a conversation that’s been had many times and is not something new. I don’t even know if I’d be able to contribute anything new to this discussion. So, instead, what more specifically can I talk about?
I adjust my focus, starting with the Chis Melissinos book “The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect” – there’s a quote on the blurb which reads “Video games: Where art, culture, reality, and emotion collide” (Melissinos, 2012), perhaps this is the focus I should have.
I could talk about the capabilities of games and the possibilities they have to invoke feeling, be unique, give a sense of reward and purpose while connecting, intriguing, and educating people.
Do I want to write an essay on simply Why Games Are Good though?
ACTION PLAN
More research. Play devil’s advocate and argue the case against games and see what negatives people have to say about games. Ask questions and get real opinions on games. Make comparisons (such as games vs movies) and also read some more books with intent to get inspiration on something to talk about. Find more direction.
Work on some case studies and focus on some specific examples of games that are important.
Consider a question as a starting point, such as “can video games make you cry?”, “can video games change your life?” or a statement such as “video games: the interactive art form” so there’s not so much an “is-it-or-isn’t-it” issue in the background of my subject.
There is also the possibility of changing my idea and scrapping this. So I will give further thought to my previous ideas and see if something happens to click, though I am very interested in this idea and think I’m at a good starting point. And I recognize I am only at the start, and am going to spend a long time researching and absorbing information, some of which I have only touched on here.
LIST OF REFERENCES
Cage, D. (2018). How video games turn players into storytellers. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_cage_how_video_games_turn_players_into_storytellers [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
Caoili, E. (2011). GameSetWatch Opinion: Brian Moriarty's Apology For Roger Ebert. [online] Gamesetwatch.com. Available at: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/03/opinion_brian_moriartys_apolog.php [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
Ebert, R. (2005). Why did the chicken cross the genders? | Roger Ebert. [online] Chicago Sun Times. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-genders [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019]. Green, A. (2017). A video game to cope with grief. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_green_a_video_game_to_cope_with_grief?language=en [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019]. Mahardy, M. and Dekker, J. (2017). Playerunknown's Battlegrounds Makes You The Storyteller. [online] GameSpot. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/videos/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-makes-you-the-storyte/2300-6439887/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017]. McGonigal, J. (2012). The game that can give you 10 extra years of life. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life?language=en [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
McGonigal, J. (2010). Gaming can make a better world. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?language=en [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
Perry, D. (2006). Are games better than life?. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_perry_on_videogames [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
Romero, B. (2011). Gaming for understanding. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/brenda_brathwaite_gaming_for_understanding?language=en [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
Santiago, K. (2010). Kellee Santiago: Are Video Games Art?. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GjKCnPQlSw&feature=youtu.be&list=WL [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
Stephens, L. (2018). The Last of Us Did Something Incredible. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuW56l-bY84 [Accessed 27 Sep. 2018].