Analyzing Video Games on the Basis of Film and Literary Criticism (Part 1 of 2)

Analyzing Video Games on the Basis of Film and Literary Criticism (Part 1 of 2)
Upon beginning to write responses to individual comments, I decided my opinions would better be served in the form of another full-length post, dealing mostly with John Flush’s initial question, “A problem with the industry gaining such respect is how do you declare what is meaningful out of games beyond the [storytelling] aspect?”  This, I’m sure, is a question that game critics will battle throughout the existence of the medium.  Since movies contain a visual component in addition to story and character development, perhaps it would be more telling to first analyze what makes a noteworthy film, or rather, a film that critics believe is impactful.

In Roger Ebert’s review of the movie 8 ½ in the book The Great Movies, Volume I, he says:

The critic Alan Stone, writing in the Boston Review, deplores Fellini’s ‘stylistic tendency to emphasize images over ideas.’  I celebrate it.  A filmmaker who prefers ideas to images will never advance above the second rank, because he is fighting the nature of his art.  The printed work is ideal for ideas; film is made for images, and images are best when they are free to evoke many associations and are not linked to narrowly defined purposes.

In that frame of thought, it would follow that video games include ideas, yes, but just as film is “made for images,” video games are made for gameplay.  After all, your brain isn’t merely absorbing ideas from games, and your eyes aren’t merely feasting themselves upon imagery – your fingers are busy working through levels and designated segments of the game all the way through until the game’s conclusion.  This theory for video games as art is contingent upon each art form realizing their full potential within what it is that sets the medium apart from other mediums.  However, this all depends on personal opinion and the particular aspects that set a game apart as a “good game.”
In the future, there will likely be a host of various theories (just as there are in the fields of literature and film).  These theories may include (but not be limited to) games as art on the basis of storytelling; games as art on the basis of excellence in graphics; games as art on the basis of ingenuity of gameplay; games as art on the basis of collaboration and overall cohesiveness of each of these elements – storytelling, graphics, and gameplay.  While there are other components to video games, these particular elements are cited most often by game reviewers, critics, and fans as the main modes by which to classify a game as “good” or “bad.”  Other components such as character development, voice acting, and music arguably serve as agents for the immersion of players further into the game’s world.

It seems as though video game fans have already created for themselves a canon of sorts (a body of games that represent the highest quality of games within the field), as the older games most often cited for their ingenuity include the series of Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, and World of Warcraft.  These are the series by which gamers and critics measure other games.  (These are also the games that even those outside the “gamer bubble” have likely heard of due to their importance within the gaming industry.)
The Mario games lack story (revolving mainly around the rescuing of a princess from an evil villain whose plans are to take over the kingdom, with the game consisting of very little dialogue or character development), but what Mario games lack in story, they make up for in gameplay.  Zelda also contains a relatively simple story in which Link bravely fights to win back Princess Zelda from Ganon but also to reclaim pieces of the Triforce, a symbol of the world’s goddesses – Power, Wisdom, and Courage – and a channel by which an individual’s wish can be manifested into the world.  (In fact, The Legend of Zelda was the first video game to be inducted into Spike TV’s Video Game Hall of Fame in 2011.)  The Final Fantasy series includes installments rooted in storytelling and an ever-evolving battle system that currently strives to make battle systems unique for new games, with older games containing outdated graphics and newer ones more impressive graphics.  World of Warcraft contains somewhat customizable and widespread methods for gameplay with limited story provided by quest givers.  Yet, the main focus of the game is gameplay, as stated by the author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, Jane McGonigal – after spending hundreds of hours grinding and leveling up, this is where “the real fun begins” – citing the raids that accompany the overarching story of good vs. evil in the never-ending conflict between the Alliance and Horde.