A whole genre dedicated to unplayable games

by Vladimir Cole { Dec 10th 2005 at 1:00AM }

Artificial.dk introduces the genre of game that are created for artistic or political reasons as art games. We've actually given kudos to many of these installations and projects in the past, but the concept deserves more exposure now that art games are being declared a genre.

There are some who'd say that all games are art and that an "art games" distinction doesn't make sense for that reason. Those people have obviously never played junk like Crime Life: Gang Wars.

There are others who'd say that most of these "art games" aren't even games in the usual sense of the word, as many are unplayable and lack an objective. In Cory Arcangel's Super Mario Clouds project, for instance, all that one sees is clouds from the original NES title scrolling by endlessly, and nothing else. If all you can do is watch a moving image, isn't it just a movie at that point?

Whatever you call it, the works are certainly cool and sometimes thought provoking. Go check it out.

[Image credit: from Ben Fry's Distellamap, drawings of code from old game carts.]

[Via we make money not art]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

yeah.. there's a line.

i had heard vaguely about the clouds game, but did not realize that you had no control in the process itself.

that is NOT game. it's an animation. big difference.

a game requires interactivity.

John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Rare Hare, there still may be ways to interact with a game of scrolling clouds. It may require some thinking outside of the box, but I'm sure you could find a variety of ways to interact with these seemingly non-interactive games.

As one who appreciates art in all forms, this looks like a really cool subgenre that I'll have to look into. Good post.

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

John, the guy took out all programming but the animations of scrolling clouds. there is no intereaction with it.

it's an art piece, i agree with that. it is not a game.

Indigo Prophecy, Killer 7, Katamari Damacy, Myst.. those are art games.

animations of scrolling clouds are not. neither is the one of F1 Racer in which all that's left is the scrolling road.

i'll say it again, games require interaction. that's something that those cart mods don't have. which is fine, jsut don't call them games.

btribble @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

IMO, the best example of an art game (that springs to mind anyway) is Electroplankton. There's no goal (well, you can make a flower appear but that's about it AFAIK), it's just made to be enjoyed by interfacing with (aka "playing") it until you decide to stop. Some other examples could be those programs that came with the old Sound Blaster card, Dr Sbaitso and the Talking Parrot.

So, since the games #3 mentioned have goals, I wouldn't label them "art games". Perhaps endless mode in Katamari, since there is no urgency or real goal in it. Not that a made-up label like this really matters... just enjoy 'em, I say.

drnk @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

well, i think that artificial.dk forgot some of the key post-contemporary developers of unplayable video games.
miltos manetas: abstact super mario
and tobias bernstrup: postradamer platz
read "copying video games are the art of our days" this describes the relationship with the person (gamer) and the game, or the cartoon.

exploring digital space is a symbiotic relationship

also read half-real: real rules and fake realities, jespar juul

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

ooo, good example there with electroplankton, btribble.

my deal with the super mario clouds thing is that there is NO internal control or interactivity. you can turn it on and watch it. not a game.

now, if you could manipulate the clouds and move them around as they scrolled or something similar, even with no goal at all but to move clouds around.. that would be a game.