GameCity, the annual video game festival in the UK, has launched an award which it hopes will become the "Turner Prize" for games. Festival director, Iain Simons, started the event in 2006 and created the award to celebrate the cultural impact of video games.
I'm bored of the debate of whether games are 'art' or not -- the question isn't 'if' they're interesting, but 'how' and 'why'... The GameCity Prize is about video games gaining cultural confidence and expressing their value in something other than financial terms.
The finalists, including Portal 2, Limbo and Minecraft, will be judged by a group of specialists who aren't part of the industry. Judges include Dave Rowntree from Blur and comedian Charlie Higson. The award ceremony will take place on October 29, at the end of the festival.
While it's always good to see video games getting recognition, this award seems to be more about their artistic merit. It's a very narrow way of looking at what is a diverse and vibrant industry. However, one of the jurors, Frances Barber admits to not being a gamer, but rather an artist who is "interested in all forms of cultural expression," so it might make sense that she wouldn't be as interested in a game's mechanics, for instance.
GameCity launches "Turner Prize" of industry awards [GamesIndustry.biz]
Contest:
8:30 PM on 09.16.2011 | 
You guys talk about art and mechanics/ability to engage as if they are mutually exclusive. They should be the same thing. When they're separate, we get crap like Dragon Age 2 and the like. When they're the same thing we get Half-Life.
Like, I like Jim Sterling and I'm not looking to start a flame war or anything. In fact I'm on the Destructoid side. I just think we need to realize that all video games are art because it's an artistic medium, and that Anthony Burch and Jim Sterling were BOTH right. I'd say Half-Life 2 and Deus Ex are fantastic pieces of art, even if they are about shooting bad-guys in the head, because like District 9 and Casablanca for film, they use the mediums strengths to say something, do something, or let the player have fun. I think we also all need to accept that art and fun are not mutually exclusive. Fun or entertainment is simply one of many goals of art.
But yeah, what I'm saying is that while they're judging games based on their artistic merit, that damned well better include mechanics.
I don't see how you can have a problem with anyone discussing art and mechanics as seperate things and then go on to point out that in some games they are seperate. This news story doesn't really have anything to do with the "are video games art?" debate. Personally I think some are and some are not, just like I think paintings are art but my painted walls in my flat aren't. But that really doesn't have anything to do with the article. I was merely highlighting a concern I had, where if you get a bunch of people who are more interested in art and culture than video games then they are going to be judging these games based on very specific merits, rather than the whole.
It's not that game mechanics and level design can't seamlessly blend with a game's art direction (although it doesn't always), the issue is that the judges might not understand these things since they are approaching it based on it's cultural achievements. I'd have exactly the same concerns if I was asked to judge a bunch of surrealist paintings and give one of them an award. Not having any experience with such things I wouldn't exactly be in a position to judge it.
Regardless of my concerns the judges could know more than I'm giving them credit for, and it's not like the finalists aren't deserving of recognition, they are superb games.
"so it makes sense that he wouldn't be as interested in a game's mechanics, for instance."
That was what I was addressing. In a video game, mechanics are the art. The two are the same. When they're separate thematically, then a video game is bad art (excuse the snobbishness, I'm talking relative to this conversation ;D). It's like a film's cinematography having nothing to do with its narrative. Perhaps I didn't word that well enough. For example in Thief the narrative and mechanics are intertwined, and it uses the video game form effectively. Gears of War may be fun (and it is a lot of fun), and it may use its mechanics to convey that, which certainly make it good art by our standards, but its narrative is effectively useless because it has nothing to do with the video game mechanics. That's how an award show about video game artistry should be done (once more, there's a certain snobbishness here because I'm speaking relative to this conversation and giving examples. I swear I'm not this much of a cunt :D)
So what I'm saying is that if they are REALLY judging games by their artistry, then mechanics won't be excluded. I guess we're in agreement there, but then I disagree with the end of the article. Or at least take issue with how it was worded.
Thanks for the write-up and kind words much appreciated. Forgive me, but I just wanted to correct a couple of points as they might be misleading the discussion on here. The quote you give at the end of the piece which you attribute to me, is actually from one of the jurors, Frances Barber. She's someone who hasn't really gamed before, but is approaching doing as as part of the jury with an open mind. Being someone new to gaming, she's about to discover the world of it - artistic, systemic, mechanical - all of that and more - and bring her background to it.
That's really what we're trying to do with the whole project - kick off some new discussions, bring some new smart people into videogame culture and start some more mainstream conversations.
Hope that makes sense- and please forgive the correction, just didn't want D'toid readers to get the wrong idea about what we're trying to do :)
Cheers
That's a bit clearer. But I was merely saying that it would make sense, not that it would be the inevitable outcome.
@Iain
I'll correct that now, thanks for letting me know. I'm glad to hear that the jury will be looking at all aspects of the games and I look forward to finding out which game wins in the end. It's a hard one to call.
Good luck with this year's festival!