Videogames+Art+PASSAGE

I would like to address the concept of videogames as an art form by first describing one in particular.

“Passage,” created by Jason Rohrer is an example of how a single artist on a computer with the tools of code in place of an easel might create something incredible. We get lost in the plethora of mega-games like “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” which overshadow other projects of worth.

Passage is minimalistic, designed for hand held devices and bought from app stores. It is simple and lateral and beautiful all at once. You are a man who walks across some scenery which slowly changes the longer you walk. There are small obstacles to move around as you progress. On the right side of the screen are all the future sceneries you will walk through, bunched together but slowly unraveling to become the one you are presently on. As you walk, the sceneries bunch up behind you, becoming small glimpses of the places you have visited. Your character ages as he walks through the various areas, moving around rocks and trees. Just walking. At some point you are joined by a lady and the two of you walk and explore and slowly see new things and slowly you both age. Eventually she dies and you continue to walk alone, or wait by her grave, or attempt to retrace your steps into the bunched up lands of the past...as if moving your 15 pixel character backwards could somehow return you to a thought now receded or return life to your lost companion. Eventually you die of your age as well and thus the game concludes.

There is no “goal” except for that which you make. You can stroll, meander, run, pause... it is a time to contemplate. The game is about 5 minutes long and is accompanied by a looped track of bit music. The music is simple as well; collection of 20 or less tones that fit the mood perfectly. One that is solemn but not depressed. It is a game that is happy and sad at the same time, simple yet thought-provoking as you live out a little life in a small frame of time.

Be it the hundred plus minds behind the largest block-buster games or an individual with his keyboard, art is being made. It is deviant as art should be and it is only natural for there to be a backlash and rejection. Games like “Grand Theft Auto,” where you play a member of a mob syndicate, almost single-handedly resulted in the passing of legislation for video game maturity ratings. The media loves to play up the social panic behind violence in video games even though violence surrounds us in many different forms.

There is also a different kind of social reprisal for the genre that is absent from other forms of art-entertainment. That of indifference. I think it is partially a simple matter of syntax that creates a disregard for the genre. The word “game” alone does not bring with it sentiments of seriousness and intellect. Games are for children, games are distractions. Couple that with a nondescript “video” and you are left with a category title that has little to grasp. Unlike “cinema” (movies), “literature” (books), or “composition” (music), “video game” has no distinguished alternative of expression that indicates a higher or more cultivated thought process. Even someone like myself, who has grown up with video games, sometimes experiences a nagging at the back of the mind. Something saying, “don't get that serious about such a silly topic.” I tell a friend that I'm writing a persuasive essay on the legitimacy of video games as art and do so with a unintentional hint of sheepishness.

But this will likely become a passing condition, as video games become more and more integrated into our lives and their qualities become judged for content rather than category. You can be moved by a game as by a film, you can be challenged to solve as you can by a riddle, you can be critical of a game narrative as you can be of a novel. Because art is a fusion of idea and craft; and video games are held to these very same laws. By the nature of the medium the threshold is already set high. Not just anyone can program, it is something you learn and practice and try to perfect. There are no Jackson Pollacks in the video game industry, no accidental spilling of paint on a canvas to call it a masterpiece. The game you play is representative of the people behind its development. Craft from the programmers, ideas from artists and writers. These ideas are crafted and presented to you, the user. And a good game will not allow you to be passive in your interaction. You will play a part and become a member of the artistic team: the activator and pursuer of the dream conceived.