RSS Feeds‘Theft’ as an art form
1.
Genius in the service of nothing more than sensation and profit?
Picasso comes to mind.
I would argue that if you'd read interviews with any of the team of developers, you may form a different opinion. These are hardworking and talented people, and their aim is not simply mass gratification - they are actively working to push the boundaries of present technology and narrative in this emergent artform. The artist is already there - holding the controller.
2. Good grief. This sounds so old you could substitute the word "comic/s" for games and re-visit the nineteen fifties. But then it reads like someone sharing Hollywood's anxiety over revenue - you mean there's more than one way to enjoy a tentpole picture than sedately sit in a dark theatre and munch on corn syrup? Okay, it's a columnist's business to spread FUD, especially about the young, but calling for affirmation and values as the raison d'etre for popular entertainment ... Say what? What, like Petronius did in the Satyricon? The only cultural novelty here is an empowering capacity for interactivity. Get used to it and get over it.
3. To use your comparison of literature I will point out that GTA is the equivalent of a "dime store novel". While the artists who put it together may indeed be talented and skilled they are not, in this instance, attempting to create great art. They are simply creating something that will appeal to the masses. When the Beat poets were first writing you would not find their work on every bookstore shelf in the country. Few, if any, of these talented poets made much money within their own lifetimes. So too with games today.
4. Obnoxious violence? This really doesn't sound like a firsthand review. Did Rutten play the game at all, or just read other reviews? The first thing I did as Niko was take a pretty girl out to a bowling alley. After I dropped her off (without hanky panky), I picked up a few fares to help out my taxi-driving cousin. After a while I did end up throwing someone out of a window, but in all fairness, he was stabbing me at the time. Just because "obnoxious violence" is the only thing it would occur to YOU to do in a sandbox game doesn't mean that it's all the game has to offer, or that everyone's experience will be the same.
5. Profit from violence... as the gov does with: misinformation, ignorance, health, fear, God.
6. "... it's genius in the service of nothing more than sensation and profit." The game is much, much more than what it's portrayed as by opportunistic and attention-seeking critics like Jack Thompson, but... "With this game, the interactive video industry has turned an aesthetic corner and is now an art form in search of an artist." I agree , but it's no better or worse than a well-made summer blockbuster, with the unmatched benefit of deciding whether or not there will be endless explosions and car chases. Get the controller in your hand and walk around the city -- you'll be pleasantly surprised.
7. Sir, I doubt you have actually played the actual game. What you say is the half-baked, knee-jerk reaction of a delusional, morally squeamish individual. What of the wanton violence in other media? Are purveyors of other forms of entertainment which may contain violence and sex not also in the business of showing a profit?
8. It's early in video game chronology. They don't all have to be violent or riddled in sexy images but, until they gain a more elevated status as a viable art form, the most ruthless attention-getters will be a necessity for any company trying to pay top-notch developers.
9. This was hilarious ... such a combination of awareness of the ridiculousness of hating youth culture, and then going ahead and hating it. As a huge fan of Rockstar games, I always thought the popularity of GTA was because it pointed out so much hypocrisy of the "values" in this society... That the reason a man who murders somebody is wrong, while the president murdering 4000 in Iraq is ok, is simply because the president has the gang that's in power. I guess it's an appreciation that kids lose as they become adults and get absorbed into the system, and why the hippies said "never trust anyone over 30."
10. gta rocks specailly iv we all know not to do that stuff in real life so wats the problem?
Submitted by: brend_n
2. Good grief. This sounds so old you could substitute the word "comic/s" for games and re-visit the nineteen fifties. But then it reads like someone sharing Hollywood's anxiety over revenue - you mean there's more than one way to enjoy a tentpole picture than sedately sit in a dark theatre and munch on corn syrup? Okay, it's a columnist's business to spread FUD, especially about the young, but calling for affirmation and values as the raison d'etre for popular entertainment ... Say what? What, like Petronius did in the Satyricon? The only cultural novelty here is an empowering capacity for interactivity. Get used to it and get over it.
Submitted by: Pellicule
3. To use your comparison of literature I will point out that GTA is the equivalent of a "dime store novel". While the artists who put it together may indeed be talented and skilled they are not, in this instance, attempting to create great art. They are simply creating something that will appeal to the masses. When the Beat poets were first writing you would not find their work on every bookstore shelf in the country. Few, if any, of these talented poets made much money within their own lifetimes. So too with games today.
Submitted by: Helpless Kitten
4. Obnoxious violence? This really doesn't sound like a firsthand review. Did Rutten play the game at all, or just read other reviews? The first thing I did as Niko was take a pretty girl out to a bowling alley. After I dropped her off (without hanky panky), I picked up a few fares to help out my taxi-driving cousin. After a while I did end up throwing someone out of a window, but in all fairness, he was stabbing me at the time. Just because "obnoxious violence" is the only thing it would occur to YOU to do in a sandbox game doesn't mean that it's all the game has to offer, or that everyone's experience will be the same.
Submitted by: EAS
5. Profit from violence... as the gov does with: misinformation, ignorance, health, fear, God.
Submitted by: Rod Herz
6. "... it's genius in the service of nothing more than sensation and profit." The game is much, much more than what it's portrayed as by opportunistic and attention-seeking critics like Jack Thompson, but... "With this game, the interactive video industry has turned an aesthetic corner and is now an art form in search of an artist." I agree , but it's no better or worse than a well-made summer blockbuster, with the unmatched benefit of deciding whether or not there will be endless explosions and car chases. Get the controller in your hand and walk around the city -- you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Submitted by: Quentin Scorcese
7. Sir, I doubt you have actually played the actual game. What you say is the half-baked, knee-jerk reaction of a delusional, morally squeamish individual. What of the wanton violence in other media? Are purveyors of other forms of entertainment which may contain violence and sex not also in the business of showing a profit?
Submitted by: Mr. Incognito
8. It's early in video game chronology. They don't all have to be violent or riddled in sexy images but, until they gain a more elevated status as a viable art form, the most ruthless attention-getters will be a necessity for any company trying to pay top-notch developers.
Submitted by: john mckanna
9. This was hilarious ... such a combination of awareness of the ridiculousness of hating youth culture, and then going ahead and hating it. As a huge fan of Rockstar games, I always thought the popularity of GTA was because it pointed out so much hypocrisy of the "values" in this society... That the reason a man who murders somebody is wrong, while the president murdering 4000 in Iraq is ok, is simply because the president has the gang that's in power. I guess it's an appreciation that kids lose as they become adults and get absorbed into the system, and why the hippies said "never trust anyone over 30."
Submitted by: Mr. Biggs
10. gta rocks specailly iv we all know not to do that stuff in real life so wats the problem?
Submitted by: gta rocks
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