We live in a bit of an echo chamber. We start out with these rather well-intentioned wishes, and then the reverb around them builds until we're espousing ideals, stating demands, without even really knowing what it is we're asking for.
The whole "Citizen Kane of video games" thing spiraled out of control a little bit, I think, so I wrote an editorial over at Gamasutra (with thoughts from Ian Bogost!). Excerpt:
If more internet commentators did a quick Wikipedia check before leaping into the debate, they'd see that the Citizen Kane issue is moot, anyway. Although its cinema technique helped movies fully come into their own, films were generally considered "artistically legitimate" right off the bat, so there's really no translatable parallel for games.
"The world doesn't work that way anymore," says Bogost. So as for raising Kane: "We should stop it."
Anyway, if you're interested in the issue, have a look!
I have been a little bit occupied today covering the fact that Interplay is still promising Bethesda it can make a $75 million Fallout MMO when in fact it seems like it's hard for it to keep the lights on right now, unfortunately.
Home »
My Articles
» Let The Kane Thing Go
