Topic: SPECIAL: Other Japanese Developers' GDC 2007 Presentations

[MegaByte]

Discuss the talks by Keiji Inafune, Koji Igarashi, and Goichi Suda here.  

[UltimatePartyBear]

That link right there is to the Koji Kondo coverage.

[Bloodworth]

fixed

[odifiend]

Games aren't art, they are product.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

[darknight06]

That was the best quote of the whole thing.

[MegaByte]

BTW, here's the whole quote:

"Perhaps I might get into trouble if I say this in front of people from the mass media. Games are not a work of art. It's actually a product. If we think of it as a work of art, then... when we think about Picasso and Van Gogh's paintings, the end result is beauty, so it doesn't matter if you sell it or not. However for games, it's a product. It is a commodity. The producer has to think about that." - Keiji Inafune

[IceCold]

That was when he was talking about Okami, right?

[MegaByte]

Yeah, and Clover in general.

[Djunknown]

Quote
He believes that even with a great director, without a great producer, the game will not sell, and that was Clover’s downfall.

He might as well called Inaba a bitch and punched him in the face, because that's what essentially he did with his words.

I don't believe the original Viewtiful Joe tanked that badly, if memory serves they sold out their inital batch. USA Today called it 2003's game of the year. That has to count for something...

Good on Iga for sticking with 2D. It'd be interesting to see an exclusive, from-the-ground-up 2d game for the Wii using 'waggle.'

Quote
Giving his presentation wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, Goichi Suda, better known as Suda 51, gave one of the final and most unique talks at GDC.

He should've worn a Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones, hell even Bad Religion, Operation Ivy, or Pennywise shirt to drive the point home. But we get the idea

Quote
He credits Killer 7 producer and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami for providing him with the necessary support and insight, allowing him to create what he wanted rather than what would do well in the gaming market.

I'd take a stab that the higher-ups trusted Shinji in what he was doing, thus letting Suda 'do his thing.' One thing's for certain: There's no developer alive today that can copy Suda's style. He truly is one-of-a-kind.

Its a shame they had poor translators. Maybe they should've borrowed Bill Trinen...

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: MegaByte
BTW, here's the whole quote:

"Perhaps I might get into trouble if I say this in front of people from the mass media. Games are not a work of art. It's actually a product. If we think of it as a work of art, then... when we think about Picasso and Van Gogh's paintings, the end result is beauty, so it doesn't matter if you sell it or not. However for games, it's a product. It is a commodity. The producer has to think about that." - Keiji Inafune

Failure analogy...What about the people that paint for their daily bread?  Does the fact that they sell their paintings make their "product" any less "art" than a painting that isn't made to be sold?

[KDR_11k]

Of course not but when people say they want art in their games that usually means having unconventional graphics tacked on and those don't sell well. Painters that sell their art make sure to paint what people will buy.

[Nephilim]

Great Roundup

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Of course not but when people say they want art in their games that usually means having unconventional graphics tacked on and those don't sell well. Painters that sell their art make sure to paint what people will buy.

Well I'm also not limiting the definition of "art" in games to solely be the graphical style...When looking at a piece of art, one doesn't just look at the kind of paint and strokes the artist used, but also the context of the painting and any symbolism within...Considering developers are creating environments and gameplay with their own hands, I think it would be wrong to leave those out...

[KDR_11k]

The problem is that too many developers don't make the game itself art but rather the other forms of media involved in the game. I.e. artistic graphics (paintings), FMVs (movies) and storylines (writing). They make art and ducktape it to the game.

[Bill Aurion]

Oh most definitely...When looking at art you look at how all the pieces tie in together to make the finished work...Just because someone might have done a good job on one piece of a painting doesn't mean it works together with the rest of the artwork...And as a result, just because it's art doesn't mean it has to be a masterpiece to be classified as such... ='D  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Games are not a work of art.  They're works of ARTISTS.

And being magical digital commodities designed to attract a paying audience, it's more important that they entertain (and thus sell) rather than be someone's medium for expression.

As for artists selling their art, well, the "art" part is good and done (the art is there and it's finished), the consequence is "economics" =P

[MegaByte]

Though I understood what he was trying to say, when I heard his statement, my immediate thought was that he was ignoring the more relevant movies and music, entertainment that can be both art and products.

[KDR_11k]

my immediate thought was that he was ignoring the more relevant movies and music

Most of those were either in the past or only played in "indie" cinemas. The current market situation is not very appreciative of art. The cartels want cheap, mass produced products and use the way they have pretty much total control over the radio and cinema (never mind the biggest advertising budgets) to prevent anything they don't make from getting big.

[ShyGuy]

Hasselhoff is a true artist.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Word.