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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 403: Je Te Plumerai le Text

« on: October 28, 2014, 02:45:01 PM »

"I wish that we could get to a place in video games, where decisions like this are made purely for artistic reasons, there are no technical limitations."


-That's the exact quote, transcribed word for word, so I don't get in trouble for paraphrasing.


Greg Sewart over at Player One brought up another good example - Star Wars vs. Prequels. Freed from technical and financial limitations, George Lucas' artistic intent was kinda poop.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 403: Je Te Plumerai le Text

« on: October 28, 2014, 02:25:05 PM »

I usually just tweet cuz I'm lazy, but I guess I'll finally make an account. I tried to tweet once on this subject, but everything just comes out like caveman grunts when you try to express a complex thought. I have a very specific thing to respond to.


Jonny said something like he wished that artists didn't have technical limitations. I disagree, and here's why.
I think limitations are one of the most fascinating aspects of art, and perhaps organic ones are even moreso than those that are self-imposed. It's an interesting thing that The Artist filmed in black and white and silent. Those were choices that were made. They didn't have to do that. I think what's even more interesting is looking at actual silent films and how artists strained against those limitations they had no control over. There's something about that that gives art its character for me. The fact that putting black bars on the game was a concession to performance somehow just makes it more interesting. I have some of the same feelings about the look of Alan Wake, which had to nip and tuck in various ways in order to achieve their lighting and fog tech. The game has a very unique look because of that.
Now it's not always going to be the case that limitations enhance art. It's more about how you address them. Obviously the poor framerate in the original Shadow of the Colossus on PS2 is hard to love and even harder to miss, but I just think there is something lost to the artistic process if our imaginations just became unfettered and never had to go through the sometimes agonizing process of actually being manifested.