LudumData

The Redneck’s Manifesto

[raw] LD16MiniLD 28. Feb 2010 · 22:00 UTC · 79 days after compo start by Henry Mclaughlin · 0

I’ve decided to make my views on the subject of games as art known.

The text referred to in the title appears after the rant. It is a self-descriptive piece, and very ranty, but I personally think that it’s a perspective that needs to be addressed.

It’s no secret, I don’t think, that I’m not sophisticated. I’m not high-brow, I’m not much for fine art, and I don’t like conceptual… Well, anything.

I don’t drink fine wine, nor do I want to. I don’t go to art museums, and never will if I have my say. I enjoy the works of the former Blue Collar Comedy troupe. (Who talk about such heady subjects as the anaesthetics given during colonoscopies and mole-covered relatives)

I played Passage, but found it incredibly dull, and didn’t enjoy Gravitation much more. (Okay, I admit, Silent Conversations was pretty fun) I like Metal Slug, Urban Terror, and Custom Robo.

I am here to declare my place in the indie game developer community. I am here to defend storyless shooters, here to preserve stupid fun, and to be a champion of  chopping up generic monsters in a generic dungeon as a classic to be revered. I am here to speak against haughty elitism, stories that pretend to be games but aren’t, and a-priori work simply for the sake of appearing clever.

I’m a redneck, and I’m proud.

Thank you.

—MrDude

Comments

01. Mar 2010 · 14:04 UTC
Agreed. It’s like how some people just throw big blobs of paint at a canvas and pretend that’s art. There always will be some suckers to believe them and give them the attention (and money?) they want.
01. Mar 2010 · 16:16 UTC
I don’t get why people keep deciding they need to rant on art games so much. It’s perfectly okay not to like them and all, but why pick on art games in particular? Surely there are lots of other games you don’t like, too.
09. Mar 2010 · 14:38 UTC
Wow, speaking of Passage, I totally forgot about Jason Rohrer. We are totally on opposite sides of the artsy game divide. I went to school where he lived and read one of his books. I wonder if he still lives there?
01. Mar 2010 · 20:24 UTC
I just felt like it needed a counter-rant :)
03. Mar 2010 · 07:32 UTC
I can sympathize with this point of view (played Passage twice; thought that there have been much better treatments of the same subject). There are people who will verbally crucify you, condemn you as a philistine, etc. if you confess to not liking a game that is considered part of the Respected Canon of Art. It’s worth stating that this is a perfectly respectable point of view to hold.
03. Mar 2010 · 14:50 UTC
Taking pride in ignorance is silly and not a positive character trait at all.(Not about not liking art-games, more about self identifying as a red-neck and making the claim of not thinking)
XIX
03. Mar 2010 · 17:29 UTC
how to combat art games
09. Mar 2010 · 11:38 UTC
I don’t think anyone really hates ‘artsy games’ as such, even if they say so. It’s the same thing with art. You can hate specific pieces and styles, and that’s fine. Others (especially the artists whose work you’re demeriting is how they make a living) may say that you just don’t understand their work. That’s exactly it. There are different ways to appreciate art, and there’s no right way. Some people just can’t appreciate abstract art and think that everything should be as realistic as possible. Some people look at an abstract piece and say “I see what you did there” or “How did you do that?”. Some people like to buy paintings or games that encourage altered states of mind (if you catch my drift). Some people think owning/playing certain art makes them cool to their friends. All we can do is be supportive to game devs who make artsy games. If you don’t like it, then don’t play it. Then, if you ever come up with an artsy idea that intrigues you, you won’t feel lame for ranting about them previously. Just consider how nice Bob Ross was. Could you imagine him slamming Jackson Pollock? My point is to avoid comments which encourage infighting and don’t say things you might regret. Other than that, express away!
10. Mar 2010 · 10:25 UTC
Oh and one other thing that annoys me about those artsy games. Making your game have huge pixels doesn’t make it more artistic, it just makes it more pixelated.
11. Mar 2010 · 09:17 UTC
While some good pixel art certainly exists, 95% of the time it’s used as a justification for crappy graphics: “No, my programmer art isn’t bad. It’s retro!”