Presentation on video games "as art"

1. Jonas Heide Smith (jonassmith.dk)
You call that... art? Askov Højskole, 31. august 2011
fredag den 2. september 2011

2. SPACEWAR, 1962
DEC PDP-1
fredag den 2. september 2011

3. “Reliably, at any nighttime moment
(i.e. non-business hours) in North
America hundreds of computer
technicians are effectively out of
their bodies, locked in life-or-Death
space combat computer-projected
onto cathode ray tube display
screens, for hours at a time, ruining
SPACEWAR, 1962 their eyes, numbing their fingers in
frenzied mashing of control buttons,
joyously slaying their friend and
wasting their employers' valuable
computer time.
Something basic is going on.”
- Stewart Brand, Rolling Stone Magazine,
december 1972
DEC PDP-1
fredag den 2. september 2011

4. SPACEWAR, 1962 SPACE INVADERS, 1978 PAC-MAN, 1980
GUN FIGHT, 1975
MISSILE COMMAND, 1980
fredag den 2. september 2011

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7. DEATH RACE (1976)
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8. DEATH RACE (1976)
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9. CARMAGEDDON (1997)
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10. MORTAL KOMBAT, 1992 NIGHT TRAP, 1992
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11. MORTAL KOMBAT, 1992 NIGHT TRAP, 1992
fredag den 2. september 2011

12. “These games
are not harmless
fun, as some
suggest...They
are, in fact,
digital poison.”
FORMER DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR THE VICE PRECIDENCY
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (1997)
fredag den 2. september 2011

13. “Children are playing a
game that encourages
them to have sex with
prostitutes and then
murder them...This is a
silent epidemic of media
desensitisation that
teaches kids it’s okay to
diss people because they
are a woman, they’re a
different colour or they’re
from a different place.”
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HILLARY CLINTON (2005)
fredag den 2. september 2011

14. “Of course it’s true that
young people buy their
way to excitement by
playing the machines.
But to my eye, that is a
fairly peaceful way,
compared to other
imaginable ways of
creating excitement.”
FORMER MINISTER OF JUSTICE
OLE ESPERSEN (1982)
fredag den 2. september 2011

15. DOOM II (1994)
fredag den 2. september 2011

16. “The problem with
DOOM is that it creates
an unconscious
emotional reaction
patter that you bring into
your everyday life and
which appears to linger
for a long time, until you
become conscious of it
through self-analysis
and stop playing.”
JAN ESMANN (1995)
fredag den 2. september 2011

17. “The children resemble
a group of scientist
who collaboratively
explore a new
universe, develop
hypotheses and test
them. [...] children
actually waste
incredible amounts of
time in the traditional
school system.”
CULTURE RESEARCHER
CARSTEN JESSEN (1994)
fredag den 2. september 2011

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19. MYST (1993)
fredag den 2. september 2011

20. BLACKOUT (1997)
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21. HEAVY RAIN (2010)
fredag den 2. september 2011

22. “I think the real
indicator [that
games have
become a
storytelling art form]
will be when
somebody
confesses that they
cried at level 17.”
STEVEN SPIELBERG (2006)
fredag den 2. september 2011

23. “Games differ from
funding-entitled art
forms, since they
are more about
movement and
action than about
language.” (in email)
FORMER SPOKESPERSON ON CULTURAL AFFAIRS (K)
CARINA CHRISTENSEN (2002)
fredag den 2. september 2011

24. UNCHARTED 2 (2009)
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32. SEGA MEGADRIVE (1989)
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33. PLAYSTATION
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36. FRONTIER: ELITE II (1993)
fredag den 2. september 2011

37. SID MEIER’S PIRATES (1987/2004)
FRONTIER: ELITE II (1993)
fredag den 2. september 2011

38. GRAND THEFT AUTO 3: VICE CITY (2002)
fredag den 2. september 2011

39. TETRIS (1984)
fredag den 2. september 2011

40. CANABALT (2009)
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41. THE JOY OF MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
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42. THE JOY OF MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
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43. THE JOY OF MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
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44. THE JOY OF MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
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45. THE JOY OF MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
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46. SPECTACLE
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47. CHOICE
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48. CHOICE
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49. CHOICE
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50. CHOICE
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51. THE GAME MAKER IS AN ARCHITECT
fredag den 2. september 2011

52. A GAME IS AN AMUSEMENT PARK WITH POINTS
fredag den 2. september 2011

53. “Well, I do think it is
important that we have
Danish game developers.
[...] Danish video game
developers will of course be
shaped by having grown up
in Danish culture. And that
cannot but shape their way
of working and so it gets
close to the children. And
you’re absolutely right, we
have to go where the
children are..”
MINISTER OF CULTURE
PER STIG MØLLER (2010)
fredag den 2. september 2011

54. “The Liberal Party does not
support that government
should fund video games.
Video games are an
obvious trade commodity
and I don’t think at all that
this is comparable to
funding movies. I have a
hard time seeing why
Danish games should be
particularly more
trustworthy and good than
other games.”
FORMER SPOKESPERSON ON POLICY (V)
JENS ROHDE (2004)
fredag den 2. september 2011

55. “Indeed, if I had my way,
a solid grounding in
economics would be
required of anyone
seeking to learn about
game design.”
- Greg Costikyan
@JONASSMITH
fredag den 2. september 2011

56. THANKS A LOT FOR
YOUR ATTENTION
jonas@autofire.dk
fredag den 2. september 2011