Computer games a form of art: designer
 Awards should recognise artistic merit

By Dene Mackenzie

International Hobo computer game designer Ernest Adams could never be accused of being stuck in his ways.

Although he is paid by large computer-games companies to design the latest "shoot-em-up" games, Mr Adams has a "blue skies" vision, where computer games are regarded as a form of art and are commented on by critics rather than reviewed by people who have a vocabulary limited to "rocks" or "sucks".

Speaking at the New Zealand Game Developers Conference being held at the University of Otago, Mr Adams lamented the lack of innovation being shown by many games designers.

Part of the problem was the five-year cycle for the development of new gaming consoles.

"When they come out, everybody tries to get the most they can out of the new hardware, and innovation and game-play development drops to the floor.

"Then, innovation increases before the new console comes along."

A new, improved gaming console was two to three years away, he said.

The main message pushed by Mr Adams during his address was that games designers had to start seeing interactive media as an art form and think how they could get people to take designers seriously.

"Most of what we do is not art - it's pop culture. But the fact that most of what we do is pop culture doesn't preclude it from being an art form."

The problem with many games was that an outcome where someone was a winner suggested someone lost. A game needed to involve emotions, he said.

"No-one designs art in the prospect of selling T-shirts or lunch boxes. It is about what you want to say as an artist. Art entertainment is not generally about fun. It is about me and what experience I'm having. The trouble is that the games industry has concentrated on fun for so long it has forgotten there are other ways of entertainment."

Most games were like theme parks but not many adults spent a lot of time in theme parks. Adults were looking for deeper levels of entertainment.

Great art challenged the minds of the viewer and Mr Adams urged the 140 people attending his address to start believing they were designing an art form.

Designers had to look at the way the story elements in the game worked together and there should also be challenges for those playing the game.

"Who knows more about posing challenges than we do? That's why people come to us: for challenges. We are capable of challenging players in new ways."

The industry's awards should be changed to recognise artistic merit rather than technological skill and there needed to be recognition of the people who developed the games, even if that meant developing a cult around the developers, he said, while admitting he had a vested interest in the last statement.

In a later interview with the Otago Daily Times , Mr Adams said there were always a few people who told him he was talking garbage.

"In fact, if I can get inside the heads of 10% to 15% of the audience, that's worth it for me. I can't expect to change the world the way an evangelical preacher does."

The conference, which is part of the New Zealand Innovation Festival, ends tomorrow.

Monday, 28-June 2004