2. GAMES ARE INTERACTIVE
1. Interaction with a story through multiple options
2. Interaction with a closed data world which the
viewer can navigate
3. Interaction through body interfaces
4. Data structures subject to dynamic self-
development & influenced by interaction
5. Dialogue-based models
6. Exemplary viewer
7. Collective structures in the media realm
3. EBERT VS. SANTIAGO
no games are currently comparable to the great
works of art; Santiago says it will take time like
cave paintings needed to evolve.
4. TAVINOR & GAUT
TAVINOR
cluster theory of art
Aesthetics
Expressive
Intellectually challenging
Formal complexity & coherence
Complex meanings
Unique point of view
Creative imagination / originality
High degree of skill
Established art form
Intention to create art
5. “In a Japanese conception of the term ‘art’,
it’s thought that it might be something that’s
Born in Japan in 1970, he attended the -Fumito Ueda
Osaka University of Arts and after a
failed attempt to work as an artist he
entered the video games industry.
FUMITO UEDA
6. HIS DEFINITION
high art vs. low art
High art belongs in a gallery, more
traditional and less accessible. Games
qualify as low art: open for wide
audiences like movies or manga.
7. ICO (2001)
Guide an enigmatic princess through a labyrinthine
castle to escape imprisonment.
8. NOVEL INTERACTION
A body interface: the player must
physically hold the L1 button in
order for the character to hold
princess Yorda’s hand.
9. CLOSED WORLD TO NAVIGATE
There’s no user generated content nor is
there any way for the player to alter the
world. The player is free, however, to navigate
any room in any order and to go back to
previous areas at any time.
10. A STORY WITH
MULTIPLE OPTIONS
Although there’s only one or two opportunities to change
the story of the game in minor ways, players create their
flee, protect or abandon Yorda, and so forth.
11. TAVINOR & GAUT
cluster theory of art
Aesthetics
Expressive
Intellectually challenging
Formal complexity & coherence
Complex meanings
Unique point of view
Creative imagination / originality
High degree of skill
Established art form
Intention to create art [?]
13. SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
(2005)
16 monsters called colossi, in order to use
their energy to save the one you love.
14. NOVEL INTERACTION
A body interface: to make the character hold on to
the colossi while scaling it, the player must hold a
button on the controller. Since the triangle button
is the topmost, Ueda made it the jump button in
order to make players feel more anxious.
15. MIMESIS
Ground-breaking physics and animation
bring the player’s horse Agro to life,
creating an emotional connection that
enables meaningful plot elements.
16. A NON-LINEAR STORY
Think more John Cage - all 16 colossi are available
and waiting to be discovered when the game begins,
but they must be killed in order. A vast open world
mixed with an ordered series of events.
17. TAVINOR & GAUT
TAVINOR
cluster theory of art
Aesthetics
Aesthetics
Expressive
Expressive
Intellectually challenging
Intellectually challenging
Formal complexity & coherence
complexity & coherence
Complex meanings
Complex meanings
Unique point of view
Creative imagination originality
Creative imagination / / originality
High degree of skill
High degree of skill
Established art form [?]
Intention to create art
Intention to create art
18. ATYPICAL FOR
THE INDUSTRY
There’s almost no dialogue, only a few buttons, little
meaningless violence, no points system, innovative
use of audio, storytelling, and interaction.
good, friendship, love, death, and redemption.
Top 5 games in 2001:
Grand Theft Auto 3
MADDEN NFL 2002,
Pokèmon Crystal
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Super Mario Advance.
19. INTENTION
Even if Ueda didn’t intend them to be art,
his process of tight control and designing
for emotional experience creates beauty.
Money is the result of art, whereas many
games have art as the result of money.
22. REFERENCES
Daniels, D., & Frieling, R. (2000). Media Art Interaction,
The 1908s and 1990s in Germany. Vienna / New York:
Goethe-Institut Munchen / ZKM Karlsruhe.
Ebert, R. (2010, April 16). Video games can never be art.
Roger Ebert’s Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2012, from
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_
games_can_never_be_art.html
Grove, T. (2008, July 1). THE GAME DESIGNERS’ VIDEO GAME
QUIZ; How much do you know about the game
industry and its history? Game Developer, (Fall 2008), 103.
Kollar, P. (2011, March 5). Ueda: Games Are Products, Not High
Art. Gameinformer. Retrieved March 15, 2012, from
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/03/
05/ueda-games-are-products-not-art.aspx
Shuman, S. (2010, September 24). Team Ico Talks: Fumito Ueda
on The Last Guardian, Shadow of The Colossus. PlayStation
Blog. Retrieved March 15, 2012, from
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/09/24/team-ico-talks-
fumito-ueda-on-the-last-guardian-shadow-of-the-colossus/
Tavinor, G. (2009). The Art of Videogames. US: Wiley-Blackwell.
TEDxUSC - Kellee Santiago. (2009). Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9y6MYDSAww
