What is gaming? What defines a game? According to the The Free Dictionary, a game is "an activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime". To me, that definition seems quite blunt, yet we are constantly being bombarded by the now-clichéd "are games art?" debate. For some time now I have sat, rather bemused, listening to and reading the words of opponents and proponents. Often I will laugh at the arguments put forward, but even more often I will enter into a small state of solitude and contemplate what has been put in front of me.

Before one can deliberate on this however, one must first have a clear idea of what 'art' truly is. According to the Free Dictionary, art is "human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature". Now, you may be thinking that is a clear confirmation that games are art. Before you do that, however, take a few moments to contemplate what art is to you, personally. A definition may give a clear meaning but it cannot gives us the true meaning, and the connotations that each individual person will have. If you took that definition literally, you would have to include trivial tasks such as mowing grass as art. For are you not altering the work of nature when you cut the grass?

Personally, I would not consider mowing the grass as art.

We have a problem. My whole argument is based on the definitions I provided, but I have also subsequently argued against one. Does that make all the definitions open to discussion? Could we not change the definition of art, or the definition of gaming, for that matter? That's often the problem with debates and discussions. One small, insignificant fact can topple your argument like a house of cards. I have seen this happen many times in the Games vs Art debate.


Mediterean Landscape by Pablo Picasso

Therefore, how does one decide whether games are art? That is a question to which I don't know the answer, probably never will. As far as I am aware it will take general consensus for games to be considered art but fortunately art does not rely on general consensus. Therefore, whether games are art is, in fact, a decision that you can only make as an individual.

Personally, I'm undecided as to whether games are art. I consider many things to be art, but I am on the fence when the term is applied to videogames. Look to other forms of expression and you'll see that not everything is considered art. George Orwell's 1984, for example, is considered to be a masterpiece by many, but the same could be said for the work of Steinback, Dickens, Tolkein, Austen, Dickinson, Yeats, Shakespeare or Wordsworth. Not everyone will consider their work art, but some will and do. There are also those who will vehemently oppose any notion of these being called art. The very same is seen in painting and sculpture. I love abstract art but there are many people who don't understand abstract art and will not count it as art.

As you may have noticed, a trend is appearing. Whenever someone has a piece of art, there is someone there to oppose any notion of it being art. To apply this to games and gaming in general, if I had to choose a game to be considered art, there are in fact very few that I would bestow with such a privilege. Games are still in their infancy and they're still trying to adjust and settle into their stride. The likes of Shadow of the Colossus, Portal, Heavy Rain, Bioshock and Uncharted are, perhaps, some that I would consider giving the term 'art' to. Why would I choose these few games? Fantastic graphics? Well-written story? Or is it more likely that they hold a mirror up to the world, and present us with something out of the ordinary, a triumph of human effort? I would very much prefer if it was the latter.


The Shadow of the Colossus: a modern masterpiece?

Are games art, or are they something completely different? I very much hope that you will go away and refuse to accept both ideas. What I do hope is that you go away feeling either amused or angry at my ramblings, but also open-minded in the future. I hope that you will look upon the 'Games vs Art' debate in future and know that both sides are right and wrong, as everyone has their own definition of what they consider to be art. Some might not consider games 'art' in its purest sense, but could concede that games are an art of some form.

I know there are some reading this that are getting ready to dissect my arguments and theories and argue passionately why games are not art and never will be art. I will do as before and remain on the fence, but I will not support anyone putting forward one theory as superior to the other. Art is like beauty: it is in the eye of the beholder.

Labels: 2011, Art, Bioshock 2, Cathal Geoghegan, Debate, Games, Games vs Art, Heavy Rain, Picasso, Portal, shadow of the colossus, Uncharted 2

2010: you were a jackass. Let's go over what the last year of days brought to the table:

- A papier-mâché worldwide economy
- The BP oil spill
- Bluetooth popularity
- The Last Airbender, Sex and the City 2, Jonah Hex
- More terrorism
- Justin Bieber's autobiography
- Final Fantasy XIV
- The Denver Broncos record
- Your peacock...cock..........cock
- No 'first contact'
- No zombies
- No fun

Yep, 2010 took in all our hopes and dreams, absorbed their precious nutrients, and laid an egg of sadness. I thought 2009 was bad, but then the next year burst in like a tornado of suck, demolishing all hopes of a better and brighter year. Thanks, buddy. Thanks a lot.

With so much to not be thankful for, it's good that we were offered such a wide array of quality games into which we could escape when things outside were ugly. Here are my five best digital alternatives to heroin presented in 2010.

5: Starcraft II

I'm torn here. On one hand, this game was terrific. The gameplay was great, the graphics made my computer wheeze with happy asthma, and Battle.net's sexy new makeover made it the prettiest girl at the prom. Everything was great in Starcraft town.

...except that its story was shorter than Daniel Radcliffe's post-Harry Potter career.

When I play a Starcraft, I want three chapters - one for each race - so that I can have a full dose of story. With more than just a Terran chapter, Starcraft II would be better ranked on this list.

4: Civilization V

Anyone who doubts that absolute power is addicting should watch a non-gamer sit down at a computer and play Civilization V for twelve hours straight. This game has a way with people... and that way involves gluing people to a computer screen for unhealthy hours without end despite the desperate pleas of their forgotten families.

Lost friends and loved ones aside, Civilization V was a perfect upgrade to the classic series. Less military units, a historically understandable social upgrade system, and shiny new graphics improved everything smoothly and effectively (except for maybe the AI). There are hundreds of strategies you can use to win, from combining a race with a certain social upgrade, to obsessively courting lesser city states or mixing science and diplomacy in order to keep large, militaristic opponents at bay.

Keep doing what you do, Sid.

3: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

What to say about Warcraft that hasn't been said a thousand thousand times... In every possible way, shape, and form, this game has been done to death. So why was Cataclysm better than Civilization or Starcraft II? Because after sporadically returning to Warcraft for over five years, I'm still not bored. Cataclysm's new low-level zones and dedication to story have kept it sexy through a long and often arduous marriage, causing me to come back to it despite numerous shallow affairs (City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, et cetera). Cataclysm is the latest outfit in a series of spicy, exciting costumes which WoW has donned in order to hold the attention of millions.

2: Heavy Rain

The best parenting game since Octodad.

Anyone who has skim-read two sentences of any of my articles knows that the value I place on a game's story is paramount. You can make the best damn game design in the history of time, but if it doesn't make me laugh, cry, or have an asthma attack in anticipation, then I couldn't care less. Games need to make me feel, or they're not worth my time.

Heavy Rain had more feelings than a pregnant woman watching Fried Green Tomatoes in a Ben and Jerry's factory. It takes modern game design, mates it with Choose Your Own Adventure novels, and makes something great.

If you fundamentally don't want to play a game that doesn't involve killing twelve-thousand Space Nazis with a spoon before ripping off your shirt and yelling your own name (in my own special way, I just attempted to describe Call of Duty), then avoid playing Heavy Rain tonight. You probably have a Klan meeting to attend anyway.

Otherwise, though, you have no excuse.

1: Red Dead Redemption

Without question the greatest game released in the last three or four years. You may disagree, saying that Red Dead is boring, overly violent; a juvenile portrayal of the American West. That's fine. Though I disagree with what you say, I'll fight to the death for your right to say it. But as I lay my head on the block for your inherent natural rights, my last words will follow thusly:

"You. Are. Wrong."

Red Dead Redemption brings all the ingredients of an amazing, memorable game to the table: great gameplay, a powerful emotive soundtrack, badass, well-developed characters, terrific voice acting, competitive online play, a treasure chest of endgame secrets, downloadable content, and endless replayability. But what does Red Dead Redemption do best? What is the aspect of it that makes it one of the greatest games of all time?

It creates a world.

Hundreds of game journalists have done reviews on Red Dead Redemption, and they all cite the feeling they experience while playing: the exhilaration that only comes when a person immerses themselves fully in a setting that is not their own.

"With Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar succeeds in creating one of the most impressive open worlds I've ever seen in a game, and it's telling that — even after playing for over 30 hours — all I want to do is get back on my horse and gallop back into the wilderness."
- Will Tuttle, GameSpy

"Red Dead Redemption is a must-play game. Rockstar has taken the Western to new heights and created one of the deepest, most fun, and most gorgeous games around. You can expect the occasional bug or visual hiccup, but you can also expect a fantastic game that offers the Western experience we've all been waiting for."
- Erik Brudvig, IGN

"The leading edge of interactive media has a new face. [...] In the more than 1,100 articles I have written for this newspaper since 1996, I have never before called anything a tour de force. Yet there is no more succinct and appropriate way to describe Red Dead Redemption."
- Seth Schiesel, New York Times

My critic colleagues and I agree: Red Dead Redemption is one of the best games ever made.

Labels: 2011, Cataclysm, Civilization, Civilization 5, Games of 2010, Greg Mengel, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Game Information


Basic information
Heavy Rain
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released: February 2010

Platforms
PlayStation 3

Genres
Interactive Story (IS)

Certification
BBFC: 15
CERO: D
ESRB: M
PEGI: 18
USK: 16

The tyres slid as Ethan Mars slowed his car to a halt; the road he drove was slick due to a downpour of almost torrential rain. He was now parked in the middle of an overpass, alone. Below him ran a highway, busy with the sights and sounds of dozens of speeding cars. He jumped when the GPS on the dashboard began to speak. "You have reached your destination. Are you ready to show your courage in order to save your son? Listen carefully. Take the highway and drive against the traffic for five miles. If you haven't reached your destination in five minutes, you will have failed." It cut off. Ethan shook his head. I don't want to die. Not here. Not like this. I'd kill a bunch of innocent people! What gives me the right to play God, even to save my son?! Looking at the highway running under the overpass, Ethan felt his his heart pounding like a drum. I've got to do it. For Shaun's sake. He held his eyes shut. The rain continued to land pitter-patter on his windshield. I have no choice. Opening his eyes, Ethan put the car into gear and drove down the off ramp, placing himself directly in the path of the waves of traffic below.

This is just one of many memorable scenes found in the much-anticipated interactive adventure title from Quantic Dream, Heavy Rain; a game built on a foundation of story and human psychology rather than on action alone. It's a game about people, and their reactions to a series of events that unfurl when they are thrust into the web of intrigue surrounding the elusive Origami Killer.

If it could be about one thing and one thing only, Heavy Rain would be a game about good, solid plot. At its heart, that's what it is - a game that tells a story about how different human beings react to a single series of events. The stage is set like this: four characters find themselves caught up in the case of the Origami Killer, a serial murderer causing fear and panic in an unnamed city on the east coast of the United States. Nobody knows his motives, but the killer's method of murder is clear - four days after being kidnapped, boys between the ages of nine and thirteen are found drowned, their bodies abandoned next to railroad tracks at various points around the city. Each victim is found with a piece of origami clenched in their right hand, and an orchid placed on their chest. After months of searching, the police are far from finding a suspect when a new victim disappears - Shaun Mars. As they race against the clock, each of the four main characters in Heavy Rain are emotionally, physically, and psychologically tested as they attempt to find the Origami Killer and save Shaun before it is too late.

As stated above, Heavy Rain revolves around the events witnessed by its four main characters: Ethan Mars, Scott Shelby, Norman Jayden, and Madison Paige, all of whom find themselves intimately involved in the events surrounding the case of the Origami Killer. Each of them has their own unique back story. Ethan is a divorced architect who lost his oldest son, Jason, two years prior to the events of the main plot, and has had major psychological trouble recovering from that loss. Though he struggles to answer whether or not he is to blame for the death of Jason, he tries desperately to be a good father for Shaun, his second son. Scott is a retired police officer who now works as a private detective in his spare time. An affectionate and likable man, he has been hired by the families of the Origami Killer's victims to bring the murderer to justice. Norman is an FBI agent, sent to aid the local police office by his superiors in Washington. He is completely dedicated to discovering the killer's identity. One of Norman's gadgets obtained from the FBI gives him an advantage investigating the case: a pair of glasses that allow him to see the "augmented reality" of a crime scene through an "Added Reality Interface," commonly referred to as ARI. Unfortunately, Norman suffers from a debilitating addiction to the fictional drug triptocaine, which comes in a small blue vial and is snorted similarly to cocaine. Lastly, Madison Paige is a successful photojournalist who finds herself caught up in the events following Shaun's kidnapping. She suffers from acute insomnia, and, when she does sleep, often has the kind of nightmares that make insomnia look appealing. As the story unfolds, each player delves deeply into the conspiracy of the Origami Killer, compiling evidence and undergoing experiences that will ultimately decide whether or not Shaun lives and the culprit is found.

The most interesting aspect of Heavy Rain is how its rare breed of interactive gameplay works to engage its players psychologically and emotionally. In the prologue (which acts as a tutorial), the player has control over not only how Ethan wakes up, brushes his teeth, and goes through his normal morning routine, but also over more emotionally motivated choices, like whether or not he kisses his wife and tells her he loves her, or which son he decides to play with first in the yard. All four characters are given hundreds of actions with these kind of emotional implications to choose from, the majority of which the player can choose either to follow or ignore. That makes deciding on any action difficult, as most choices have consequences that could (and very often do) effect the long-term plot of the game. To make deciding on one of those choices more exciting, most decisions must be made in a fraction of a second before the option is taken away and the character makes a decision on his own, without player control. This can be maddening, but it will drive you to the edge of your seat.

This style of gameplay ends up working for two reasons: the emotional nature of decisions will make you care about your characters, and the need to constantly watch the screen to catch and make split-second choices will keep you on your toes. I found the latter to be especially true during particularly exciting scenes, like fights, escapes, and chases, when a half second was all the time I had to dodge the sweeping cut of a katana, leap over a railing before being tackled by twelve sprinting policemen, or weave through a barrage of incoming vehicles while driving against the grain in freeway traffic. Those scenes are made of the same style of thrilling fun that we've gotten used experiencing a century of movie magic (there were more than a few fight sequences that could have be pulled directly from old action movies like Die Hard or Indiana Jones).

From a production standpoint, Heavy Rain lived up to almost every expectation presented before it. Aesthetically, its setting is dark, beautiful, and, perhaps most importantly, entirely believable. Walking through the city, I felt like I had been transported to a place where the landmarks and culture of Boston met the never ending precipitation of Seattle, or any city in Britain. As those are all real locations that I'm over 99% sure exist in the world today (I'm giving one percent in case of some conspiracy like the one from the Truman Show), it was extremely easy to suspend my disbelief while exploring the make-believe city in Heavy Rain that borrowed heavily from all of them. Such a strongly believable setting made it easy to believe and get completely immersed in the game's plot.

As good as the game's visual and environmental aesthetics are, its soundtrack is even better. Composer Normand Corbeil combines traditional noir brass (that lonely sax, wailing in a damp alley on a full moon night), with the haunting scores of the Clint Mansell Orchestra (à la Requiem for a Dream), to create a sound that perfectly sums up Heavy Rain's dark, melancholic world. Take a minute to listen to these clips, and you'll get an idea of what I mean. Imagine those sounds mixed in with Heavy Rain's engaging gameplay and believable setting, and you may begin to get a sense of the overall feeling that Heavy Rain offers. The voice acting in the game is generally very good, though there are a few points where it gets unbelievable, and awkward (like during any scene with children).

A single playthrough of Heavy Rain should take you between seven and eight hours, after which you'll probably want to immediately go back to a previous parts of the story, just to see how the game would have played out if you had done something differently. Luckily for us, Quantic has made replaying an extremely easy affair by keeping track of every chapter of the game as if it were a checkpoint. That means that you can pick the game up from the beginning of any chapter in your first playthrough and start from there. Not only that, but you can also choose whether or not you want to save your progression from that checkpoint as you play it for the second time. If you decide you do want to save your progression, then all subsequent chapter checkpoints will be resaved as you reach them, so that they follow whatever new decisions you make. This may seem confusing to read, but it allows for players to see all of the different causes and effects of their actions without replaying the game from its beginning every time they want to see the effects of a single different choice.

One feature of the game worth noting is its extras section. As you complete the game, your decisions can unlock bonuses which can be viewed from the main menu. These bonuses are images and videos that give players a glimpse of Heavy Rain's development, mostly in the form of concept art (some of the best I've ever seen) and documentaries. This is an amazing feature for anyone who is interested in game design, as it gives you a valuable, detailed inside look into the creation of the game that you just played that you don't have to look up online. You can just play a scene, then navigate on over to the extras section to see how they made it, all from the same couch. Along with bonuses, you can look at your collection of Heavy Rain trophies (which come in the form of different origami figures), and browse any available Heavy Rain downloadable content, which will come in the form of new scenes entitled Heavy Rain Chronicles, the first of which, The Taxidermist, is already available (as of March 4) for a small fee.

The one problem I had with Heavy Rain was its apparent love for crashing, freezing, unsynching its audio, and generally annoying the hell out of me with rampant bugs. These problems were all easy to fix (just eject the disk, give the tired, asthmatic console thirty seconds to breathe, clean and reinsert said disk, sacrifice a small animal to the god of Playstation karma, and enjoy), but not before they broke the flow of the game. In a game like this, flow is important. Still, these pestering annoyances were the only negative aspects that I noticed, and they were not nearly serious enough to make the game "bad" in any way. They just periodically made me want to throw my Playstation 3 out of a window at passing children.

Out of all adjectives, the one I think most suits this game is special. It is unlike any other blockbuster game currently on the market. If the gods of gaming are listening to my pleas, then they know that I'd like them to use the high acclaim of Heavy Rain as a jumping off point towards making the "interactive story" (IS) a popular genre in the gaming medium in general. I want to play many more games that use this style - good interactive story built on a foundation of the testing of emotional and psychological human responses. This IS style of game design could be especially fun for games with plots revolving around any influential historical figures or events. Imagine Heavy Rain's gameplay set in the time of Julius Caesar, adapted for a game in which the actions of your characters decide whether or not Caesar, and/or the Roman Republic, live or die. The history nerd in me is geeking out over just the thought of it. That's part of the beauty of Heavy Rain - not only is it immensely fun on its own, but its ingenuity also inspires people to think creatively about gaming (and that's a good thing).

Simply put, Heavy Rain is an experience that must be tried by anyone who loves games, film, or engaging stories in general, as it has the best of all three in one package. At seven hours of play time, it is (ironically) the perfect game for a rainy day. Its sights, sounds, and story have the power to transport you to a gripping, psychologically-engaging dark noir world for about the same amount of time it would take you to go to school or work. I strongly encourage anyone who is doubtful about Heavy Rain to give it a chance. Not only do I wager that you will find some personal meaning from its setting, art, and story - I'm also willing to bet that you'll have a lot of fun in the process.

And if that doesn't swing you, there's always the interactive sex scene. But don't buy the game for that. That would just be creepy.

10/10

Greg

Labels: Greg Mengel, Heavy Rain, PlayStation3, PS3, Quantic Dream, Review, Sony

Having lived in Britain since my birth, I’ve seen almost every possible sort of rain there is to see. I’ve seen rain which falls straight down, and rain which comes down at a slant. I’ve seen rain which looks like someone’s tipped the combined contents of the Lake District on top of the world. I’ve seen light showers, torrential downpours, acid rain. Rain which looks like snow, but isn’t. Rain which you’d be forgiven for thinking was actually hail, as it hurts so much when it hits you. I’m practically a professor on precipitation.

Last Thursday, however, I met my match in the face of a new and never-before-seen foe; a kind of rain which I had never seen before. Obtaining a key to Quantic Dream’s much-anticipated Heavy Rain, I took a step into the gaming unknown, about to experience a new type of game which most consider to be a turning point in the way we experience gaming and storylines.

Actually, to call Heavy Rain merely ‘anticipated’ would be verging on the brink of impertinence. Whether hyped for the game beyond belief, or sceptical of whether it really can pull all of the tricks out of its fantastic-looking sleeve, everyone is waiting, breath sufficiently baited, on Heavy Rain’s release to prove their point right and everyone else’s wrong. From the looks of things, though, the sceptics won’t have a huge amount to go on.

Loading up the demo, the first thing which initially hits you is the extremely dark, almost macabre atmosphere. On immediate bootup, the rain is present, and - as the title suggests - it is heavy and persistent throughout. The environments are creepy, too – the entirety of the demo seems to take place in environments which most would consider sleazy and questionable, and would avoid like a bullet. It’s a system which works well to immediately set the tone and the semblance of the experience; one which keeps the player on the edge of their seat, wondering what happens next, rather than allowing them to become at ease.

Developing realistic characters in games has been notoriously hard for developers over the years, with each different developer’s attempts yielding varying levels of success. Heavy Rain is certainly destined to join the hall of fame concerning character profiles; each character’s dialogue feels realistic and deep, and everything down to the facial expressions and body language seem true-to-life. Heavy Rain’s overall player experience is more like watching a well-acted, well-scripted movie than playing a game – it has the very same feel that you have an idea of what’ll happen at the beginning, but your thoughts can be proven wrong or destroyed through a huge plot twist. It’s very well done.

Heavy Rain is extremely adult – that’s immediately evident as soon as you start the game. The few situations which you play through during the demo are certain to leave concerned parents disputing the suitability of the game for younger players. Between visiting a prostitute and investigating the latest in a series of (apparently mindless) homicides, you’ll have a violent fight with a woman-beating, sex-buying thug; reduce a woman to tears; experience heavy language and look at someone’s cold, dead body. It certainly isn’t Cooking Mama.

Though much of Heavy Rain will shock you – though shock you in a way which makes you think ‘wow, this really is good’ - possibly the most impressive aspect of what you experience from the demo are the visuals. They really are startlingly wonderful. Doing a wonderful job of making the character’s astoundingly realistic, and making the environments immersive and believable, Heavy Rain’s graphical prowess makes up for what it might be slightly lacking in action-packed gameplay.

The gameplay, in fact, is far from action packed. The entire thing seems to be based purely upon quick-time events and multiple-choice sections. However, what the system does, it does extremely well. The different choices you make can have a quite decisive impact on the outcome of the situation you’re in; choosing one option instead of another could make the difference between having someone throw you out and having them offer a cup of tea and a custard cream. Though not entirely choc-a-block full of liveliness and combat-based engagement, the demo does include a little something in the way of action; taking control of private detective Scott Shelby, you visit a Lauren Winters, only to find her unhelpful and off-hand. However, after an aggressive-looking man enters Lauren’s room and screams ring out, you knock down the door, and a fist-fight ensues. This fist-fight takes the form of various button presses and quick-time-events, which if missed can mean a serious injury for Scott and game-over. Though exciting for a moment, Heavy Rain isn’t really an action game – the gist of it lends itself more to a slow-paced, search and investigate style of gameplay, instead of action.

In terms of what Heavy Rain sets out to do – that is, make a game based upon strong game writing and human emotion – it certainly meets the mark. Visually, Heavy Rain has impact and is stunning; and in terms of the way decisions change the outcome of set-pieces, it is impressive. However, whether Heavy Rain’s slow-paced, very different style of gameplay can sway a gaming generation tripping on gunning, bullet-time and ammunition crates is yet to be seen. However, from what I’ve played – I certainly think it has the potential.

Linford

Labels: First impressions, Heavy Rain, Linford Butler, PS3

• New PSP model - the 3000 - is announced. But....but I only just got my PSP Slim :(
• PSP 3000 will have better LCD quality, in built microphone an will launch on the 15th of October in Europe for €200
• 80GB model to be released in Europe for €399, special 160GB version will be also come out at €449 with €70 worth of downloadable content (by the way sorry about having to price this stuff in euros, but I don't want to get the UK/US/Canada price wrong)
• Play TV to launch in Europe on the 19th of September
• LittleBigPlanet to be released in Europe on the 29th of October
• New Sixaxis keyboard addition announced; will look something like this
• New EU music service called VidZones. On demand music streaming free of charge. Will be released in '09
• You can now put PS2 iterations of the Singstar franchise in your PS3 and all of the songs from them will be added to the PS3 version via a firmware update
• New Disney songs coming to Singstar
• PS3 pets game coming - compatible with PSEye
• Heavy Rain shown, seems impressive, all in real-time, exclusive to PS3, will arrive in 2009
• LittleBigPlanet will have trophy support and 50 pre-made levels

Matt

Labels: Heavy Rain, Leipzig, LittleBigPlanet, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Singstar, Sony