Games as Art

There is a certain muddiness here between "narrative" components and "systems". Would I have loved Agro as much if he were a lizard? A featherless chicken? A square with four squares sticking out of it? Perhaps I would not have. At the same time the graphical (i.e. narrative) depiction of Agro as a horse serves to contextualize the system he presents and make the game's rules intelligible.

Here's the final piece of our interview with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany, creators of Flower and the upcoming Journey!

In this episode, we discuss not only their forthcoming and beautiful new game, but also the workings of their unique company and their relationship with Sony.

Thanks again for watching! We've a new blog up at stateofplayshow.com; and come back in January for our interview with Jonathan Blow!

The idea of a game world typically appears in the context of immersive games like Far Cry 2 or Grand Theft Auto IV. Games of this type use attractive graphics to imitate reality, making the idea of a virtual world a natural one.

Here's our second episode of State of Play with Brandon Bales!

In this episode, we discuss with Kellee Santiago more about thatgamecompany's "Big Idea," as well as pretty much everything there is to say about their last hit game, Flower.

And next week: we discuss their delicious upcoming PSN-exclusive, Journey!

Welcome to the first episode of State of Play.

This show is a new voice in the gaming journalism world. Our interviews are long-form, personal, and in-depth. You should check it out, as I don't think there's much like it on the web right now.

Our first interview is with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany, creators of the iconic Flow, Flower, and (the upcoming) Journey. In it, we discuss their company, their philosophies, and their first game, Cloud. If you like what you see, stay tuned: upcoming interviews will include Jonathan Blow and David Jaffe.

I am so super-excited to launch this show, as it's been a real labor of love.

Quantitatively speaking, I prefer Plants vs. Zombies to every game, ever. Plants vs. Zombies is not my favorite game. I'd say it's not even in the top 20. That honor belongs ICO, a game that typically lasts less than six hours and that I have played exactly four times, to net less than a fifth of the hours I have spent playing Plants vs. Zombies. ICO is my favorite game because of how it makes me feel.

For October, G4 hosted its very first "Epictober Film Festival". This festival afforded G4tv.com's Creative Director Joe Lynch the opportunity to work with three talented directors to create three unique and inventive video game-inspired horror films. The first film of the festival was Sam Balcomb's The Hunt, the second was Drew Daywalt's Kart Driver and the third was Gregg Bishop's The Birds of Anger.

The world of Portal seems to be as compelling a place for movie makers to lose themselves in as it is for gamers. This is the second Portal short film I've seen this year that could only be described as a jaw-dropping accomplishment. The other seems a bit more light-hearted, but both capture Portal superbly. This particular short film is even more extraordinary when you consider how it was made.

Artist Andreas Heikaus created this video as part of his Bachelor thesis at University. Combining CG with live-action footage, Heikaus takes the world of Super Mario Bros. and throws it onto the sidewalks of (presumably) Hannover, Germany. You don't have to look very long to see it how clever it is.

Now that E3 is a few weeks cold, I'd like to write a little about my personal game of the show, and the man behind it, Vander Caballero, who is inextricable from his pet project. I didn't go into the convention thinking about winners and losers, but Minority Inc.'s Papo & Yo was a definite winner for me, one that has stayed on my mind continuously since the show's end.