We’ve come a long way in gaming. But not that long.

I don’t want to make another reference to Roger Ebert and his beaten-to-death statement that games will never be art, but I have to. One of the best lines that came from Ebert’s diatribe was actually from a post on his blog about using the word “nigger” in Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. Ebert wrote he would “sacrifice every video game in existence rather than lose Huckleberry Finn”.

That line has stuck with me more than any criticism I’ve heard labeling video games as a pointless past-time. A lot of the backlash Ebert's received from the game community contains the argument that the video game industry and its fans shouldn’t waste their energy trying to please Ebert, who is far from knowledgeable when it comes to video games. That line of thinking burrows itself into a bitter and isolated hole, one that sacrifices the perspective of outsiders for the comfort of navel-gazing. Roger Ebert is not an idiot. His purview over the literary and cinematic worlds stretches farther than most of us will ever have the time to challenge.

I have trouble justifying an intense interest in video games. In video gaming, fun trumps all. It is paramount to story; more important than art design, more valued than communication. Many games will sacrifice logic and instead parade inanity, as long as it serves the gaming community's need for fun above all other things.

Our most celebrated and discussed works in video games are arguably the most irrelevant to regular people, and we’re fooling ourselves when we make arguments otherwise. Call of Duty is not a worthwhile war saga; it’s about shooting people in the face and feeling great afterwards. Bioshock is about creative killing. Mario is a giant playground. It may seem unfair to boil these games down so simply, but at their core gameplay, the distinguishing factor between games and other media, there is simple and crass heart.

Fun in video gaming is usually defined by rewards, which is why so many video games of today employ some sort of progressive reward system like that of Call of Duty’s multiplayer mode: everything you do is rewarded in some way. You shot someone in the head? Excellent! You got a kill from fifty yards? Awesome! You ran thirty feet? Incredible.

There's a parallel here to any artistic medium where there’s a challenge to gain an audience. Creation is all about communication of some idea, whether it be a story, an experience, or even just a feeling. But, at the end of it, if there's nothing to tell, then there's nothing to do. In video games, where gameplay is our conduit to the experience, the communication is usually engineered to make the player feel awesome, and the more awesome you feel, the more successful a game is. This often results in a struggle for the author(s) between including enough to keep people interested while not sacrificing the work's purpose, its communication to the world. In video games, we do so much to keep people interested that we don't even consider the idea of communicating an important theme or idea.

Of course, maybe all we want to communicate is a sense of fun. Playfulness is not something you typically find in other mediums, and video games do it well. But how long can we ride that wave? Ebert wrote of his idea of an “art” film, “They are not mechanical constructions of infinitesimal thrills. They depend on intelligence and empathy to be appreciated.” How many examples do we have in video games that fit that definition? I can think of less than five. Video games are not built on intelligence and empathy but instead reward and empowerment, where very little work is exchanged for maximum payoff. It’s escapism, and there’s nothing wrong with escapism, but if that’s all video games have to offer, how long can they possibly stay relevant?

I don’t really care whether or not Roger Ebert accepts gaming as something adult, much less as a legitimate past time. What sticks in my craw is that I know deep down that I myself would sacrifice every video game I’ve ever played in order to keep my favorite book, Catcher in the Rye. That said, when it comes to my relationship with video games, there’s no turning back - we’re in this together. They’ve been a part of my life for nearly twenty years now. I’ve grown up a lot since first playing Super Mario Bros.. But where are video games?

Technically, video games have grown exponentially. Technology has drastically changed the nature of what you see when you think of “video gaming”. Mario has grown from the simple coding language of an NES platformer to a complex, 3D, directionless world with wireless motion controls and analog sticks. The effort put into fine-tuning our ability to manipulate a virtual world is astounding, and it’s paid off into some of the most engrossing experiences.

Emotionally, video games have remained largely stagnant. For all the effort poured into the minutia of game design, its attention into the spectrum of human experience has remained meager. We’ve spent so much time pressing buttons in the name of fun that it’s hard to believe there’s room for much else. Being a gamer means always sniffing out the next high of excitement, searching for that same sense of empowerment wherever it can be found. It has rarely meant more in any substantial way.

When I fan out the experiences of my life, there’s only so much room for remembering the feeling of constant reward, constant empowerment. Humanity's palette is more diverse than this. Video games have fed us almost nothing but sweets our whole life, skirting the salty, the bitter, the sour and the savory and heading directly for dessert. There are tinges of other flavours sometimes, experiences that deviate from the norm and touch on wider or even universal appetites. But we don’t validate these deviations. They aren’t accepted by the community as “real” games. As a result, that community, and the rest of the world, end up missing something.

Where is our salesman desperately planting his garden? Where is our orgastic green light? Where do we find our mockingbird? Where are our princesses in another castle? We don’t need to please Roger Ebert, but we should be concerned that an increasingly larger number of people find the heart of gaming to be hollow.

We owe it to ourselves to reexamine the way we determine the worth of video games and the role they serve in people's lives. There are questions worth asking. Is it useful, in a larger sense, for us to pursue some constant high? Are we destined to be a derelict corner of escapism from that real world, or is there something more, a broader, cathartically diverse realm of interaction that we haven’t yet explored, just waiting for us? Until we start looking for it, we’re on a collision course for that day when we return from escape, only to find ourselves alone, hollow and unhappy.

Labels: 2011, Art, Bioshock 2, Call of Duty, Feature, Mario, New Features, Parker Scott Mortensen, Roger Ebert

Welcome to Gamer's Guide to Life.com, old and new friends alike; a comfortable place where all the latest and best gaming editorial is delivered to you by games journalists who not only care about their readers, but are primarily gamers themselves, well accustomed to the vast wastelands of gaming. It goes without saying that we want GGTL to be a place where all feel welcome, the site which you visit first in the morning and last before going to bed. Which is why we felt it necessary to redesign.

As you're reading this, look about the page a little. Notice the small differences to our previous design? If you don't, then I implore you to go for an eye-test, because GGTLv5 has finally launched with a new design, new features, new writers and a new way of working. I'm hoping this post will give you some idea of what's new, what's the same and what we're particularly proud of.

New navigation and search

The new navigation bar makes it ridiculously simple for you to find exactly what you want to read on Gamer's Guide to Life.com. The first links you'll see are the stalwarts which you'll see on most gaming sites, providing you with speedy access to our latest reviews, previews, features, analysis and more.

Not only that, but hover over the [...] at the end of the navbar and you'll be greeted with a dropdown menu which provides you with access to all our other articles by either a specific platform or writer. It's a big addition to the site which we hope will make the site much easier to navigate.

Featured articles

With GGTLv5, it's simple to find the best of what we publish at a glance. With our new featured articles section at the top of the homepage, you'll be greeted upon arrival with links and short descriptions of three of our latest and greatest pieces of content. Never miss an interesting, informative and entertaining read again with this new function.

From across the network

It's also simple with our new design to access the best and latest content from across the Gamer's Guide to Life Network. Take a glance at the 'From our other sites' module at the side of the featured articles and you'll be able to skim over and, should you want to, read the latest gaming news from our news arm, SystemLink, as well as all the other content from across the network.

The latest review scores

Get the lowdown on which games are hot and which are... well, not, with our at-a-glance 'Recent review scores' module. Our five most recent reviews will be listed, along with their respective scores out of ten. To get a more in-depth idea of what the game was like, click the title for our full written review. It's a simple and easy new way for you to know exactly what you want to about the latest games.

Top commenters

Whilst we love reading and responding to the comments you leave on our articles, we understand that commenting is usually a very unrewarding process. As such, we've installed a new 'top commenters' section which will display your name if you're one of our most regular commenters, giving you some reward for your comments.

Twitter integration

Now with added Twitteriness! Get the latest on everything that goes on in the lives of the GGTL team, the teams of all our networked sites and from some specially-selected friends of GGTL with our animated Twitter module in the sidebar. Look here for news on new and upcoming things on GGTL and the GGTL universe, and don't forget to follow us all!

Friends of GGTL

Some friends of Gamer's Guide to Life.com, who we believe will make your day of games reading just that little bit brighter. Specially chosen for their high-quality and entertaining content as well as their general friendliness, we'd urge you to visit as many of their sites as you possibly can, but remember to tell them that we sent you.

New writers

With our new design and era come new staff members, brought on-board to keep things fresh, exciting and vibrant. Look out for all new content from Andrew Whipple III, our new U.S. Region Editor. New contributors James Love and Jason Evangelho both bring invaluable experience in games journalism to the team and I'm sure that you'll be enjoying some fantastic original content from them soon. And, as ever, our regular writers and editors will be churning out content on everything from 3D in games, to the Taliban, to Danish children's toys. You'll understand when you read the utterly fantastic articles.


I do hope that everything with GGTLv5 is to your liking, and that you'll enjoy your time here more than you ever did. We're constantly working solidly behind-the-scenes to make GGTL the best it can be, and we appreciate our readership's constant support, loyalty and comments (however insulting or NSFW they may be). As ever, you can contact any of the team via their email addresses, which can be found in the 'GGTL Team' module on the side of the site.

Labels: Gamer's Guide to Life, GGTL5, Linford Butler, New Features, New Layout, Writer's note

The people at Naughty Dog are really making their upcoming sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Theives, look even more impressive. A recently released video has revealed a previously unknown-of feature of the online mode, the Mulitplayer Camera Tool. The video, released on GameTrailers, shows a recorded match which is played back for all the players to watch. You may think this sounds a bit old, but heres the interesting bit: editing software.

Each recorded match can be easily edited using a veriety of tools including chase cam, free roam and slow mo. This system is an exiting prospect, especially if you're going to be able to save it to your hard drive and make an epic movie to post on *Enter favourite video site here*. I can't wait to pause a perfect shot, zoom in on my detruction and ultimately increase my bragging rights.

I'll leave you with another video from Naughty Dog's latest, showing off some of the single player campaign.

Jacques

Labels: Jacques Hulme, New Features, Uncharted 2

Well, I'm proud to officially announce the launch of our new GGTL layout! There's still a few bugs to iron out, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem for you. Enjoy, and keep us posted if you find anything that's niggly via the comments form on this post.

Linford

Labels: New colours, New Features, New Layout

New logo: The more observant amongst you will have noticed the new GGTL logo. It's based on the old one in layout, but the style is completely different. The font is Hand of Sean, and is freely available from Dafont.com.

Comments: We at GGTL like it when people comment on our posts. Which is why we've made it easier for you to comment on a post you like. At the bottom of each post on the main page, you'll see a little link which says 'Add a comment... # so far'. Click it to add a comment.

Related Posts: At the bottom of any post page, you'll see a 'related posts' section with links to posts we think you might like based on the ones you're reading. You won't see this feature on the main page, though. You can find it by clicking on the post title on the main homepage.

Twitter: Gamer's Guide to Life is now on Twitter! The Twitter page is automatically updated whenever there's a new post added to the site, plus there's occasional updates from the GGTL team. Follow us for the very latest from GGTL, at http://www.twitter.com/ggtl. Me, Matt and Grimmy have also got personal Twitter profiles which you can use to get closer to the team - you'l find links on the sidebar.

Linford

Labels: New Features

GGTL has been evolving a bit lately, with us adding more features to make your surfing experience on GGTL that little bit easier and more fun. So, here's a general run-through of the changes, just so you know what features you have at your disposal.

• Sidebar: The sidebars have been updated to make all our new regular columns, such as NewsBites and Geeky But Cool, as well as special articles such as Game of the Year, easily accessible via just one click.

• Followers: If you have a Blogger account or a Google account, you can follow GGTL and get all the latest articles directly to your Blogger Dashboard or Google Reader as they go live. You'll never miss a thing again.

• Commenting: Ever wanted to get involved in a discussion, but didn't want to go to the hastle of navigating multiple pages to post a comment? You don't have to any more - we've added a form at the bottom of every post page to make commenting easier and quicker. It's also a direct line to the editors at GGTL, so please get involved and we hope to speak to you soon.

• New banner images: New banner images have been created for our regulars, so they're now instantly recognisable. Particularly like Grimmy's Geeky But Cool posts? Just look for the blue gradient banner. It's that simple, and works the same way for all our other regulars.

• Reactions: We've actually included this Blogger feature on the blog for a while now, but I thought I'd point it out just in case you hadn't noticed it. Reactions enables you to voice your opinion on a post without having to comment. It takes just one click, and you don't even have to reload a page. You can find Reactions at the bottom of every post; just click 'good', 'bad' or 'okay'.

• Backlinks: If you own a blog powered by Blogger and read a GGTL post, why not blog it? By just clicking on the 'Links to this post' link at the bottom of a post, you can link to any GGTL post on your blog. Be careful only to include a link to the post on GGTL, though, as copying the entire post without prior consent from us is naughty and we'll get all huffy with you and ask you to take it down.

So, as you can see, we're always striving to make your time on GGTL more enjoyable and hastle-free, and we will continue to do so.

Linford

Labels: New Features