Gamasutra - Letters to the Editor


				\|\|\|\|

Letters to the Editor

Letters To The Editor:Submit A Letter
View All Letters

03.27.2007

Soapbox: Why You Owe the Columbine RPG
I have not played SCMRPG myself and I cannot comment on it objectively, so I won’t. However something that has increasingly disturbed me throughout this industry is starkly evident in this article.

Artistic Expression does not remove the mantle of responsibility from the shoulders of even the most vaunted artist. Of course games are an art form. Many of them are wonders to behold. But why are we so afraid of condemning one of our own?

The creator of SCMRPG is not innocent, and neither is his creation. I could piss in a cup and put it on display at the Smithsonian calling it art, however that does not mean it is GOOD art, or that it deserves some kind of respect or protection.

We alone can maintain the purity of our chosen medium, and I saw nothing in that article assigning any real virtue to the game it seeks to protect.

There are simply too many games on the market today that are just that, Bad Art. I did not play the game, I will state again, and do not intend to, however I saw nothing in the article printed here about that game that lead me to believe it was in fact art.

So what if it got attention? Who cares if it tested limits? If people are so devoid of true talent that the only way they can bring attention to their art is by offending people then it is not art at all, and again I as a consumer am not tempted to respect games, quite the opposite in fact.

Gaming is an enormous industry now. We have gained a great deal of respect from the public at large. How much more would they respect us as designers and developers if when given reason we stood together and denounced those who would defile our public image?

I once saw an "Artistic Expression" that involved dipping live rats into resin, so that they would be frozen for all time in the throes of death. I gained enormous respect for the institution that kicked this young "artist" out reprimanding him for attempting to pass shock and horror off as art.

Why do we believe the public should hold us any less responsible for policing ourselves? For if we cannot police ourselves, and occasionally show restraint and respect to our customers, then very soon we will be policed by others, and that will simply prove to the world that we have not matured enough to be given serious thought.

-W. Dustin Norman