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Thursday, January 30, 2020

Video Games and Art Essay Example for Free

Video Games and Art Essay â€Å"No video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an artform† â€Å"No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets, composers, painters and so on† â€Å"They will not evolve..† These are the arguments emphasized in Rogert Ebert’s article about video games which for me, are striking and disturbing. Appreciation of the video games as art depends on one’s own definition of what is art. Ebert said that the most articulate definition of art he has found is stated in Wikepedia. It goes, â€Å" Art is the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. Plato, on the other hand, spoke that â€Å"art should be defined as the imitation of nature. Roger Ebert, however, defined art as creation of one artist. This only implies that one interprets a certain medium or form depending on his/her own criteria and framework. Ebert is able to consider video games as not art because his own definition of art does not match with how video games are created, executed and manipulated. In Ebert’s article, he cited Wikepedia saying that â€Å"games are distinct from work.† Games are more concerned with the expression of ideas and its key components are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. He even mentioned and singled out the difference between art and games. Adding more to the description of games, he further cited that games have to be won. Games have rules, objectives and an outcome. Meanwhile, he uttered that art in the forms of story, novel, play, dance and film cannot involve the aspect of winning. You cannot win. Rather, you can only experience them. That’s the point. Ebert tried to see both aspects in their physicality or form, not in the way they are able to affect their audience, not really in a way how audiences experience them. Video Games are indeed art I can’t help but be amazed on how Michael Mirasol argued that video games can be or indeed art. His points were rich of supporting facts, details and insights that can really convince its readers. To him, a video game is not a meaningless form of mindless entertainment. He made it clear. Video games should be considered art. He pointed out how video games evolved through time. Video games started as monotone blocks or blips on Cathode Ray Tubes until it evolved into more advanced and complicated features. Before, video games were only created to facilitate competition but today, they are creatively made to give entertainment, pleasure and ofcourse, profit. Thanks to the leap to advanced technology that made way to its innovations and developments. I would love to exemplify Super Mario, as the first ever video game to incorporate a fairy tale story. This is what Michael Mirasol is saying. There is incorporation of the narrative, setting and characterization. Hence, audiences or games engage themselves to the game in a more intimate and exciting manner. There is emotional investment. This is the reason why video gamers get hooked to this kind of game. I would just like to quote what British author, journalist and critic, Steven Poole wrote, â€Å" A beautifully designed videogame invokes wonder as the fine arts do, only in a uniquely kinetic way. Because the videogame must move, it cannot offer the lapidary balance of composition that we value in painting; on the other hand, because it can move, it is a way to experience architecture, and more than that to create it, in a way which photographs or drawings can never compete. If architecture is frozen music, then a videogame is liquid architecture† Videogame is not merely a game. It is a medium, just like art. It conveys specific message and it forms an interaction with the gamer. The video game’s goals and the video gamer’s response complement each other. Michael Mirasol said that games are evaluated according to their components instead of the experience the video gamer is able to get from playing. Exactly. Video Game is a kind of modern art I would just like to get the idea, Mirasol cited from wikepedia. â€Å"Games are more concerned with the expression of ideas and its key components are  goals, rules, challenge, and interaction.† An art is no doubt, an expression of one’s thoughts, dreams or emotions. To me, an art is the freedom to express oneself through different forms and processes. An art indeed has goal. It is to convey message and meaning. It is to manifest talent and skill. It is to entertain, to inform, to liberate, to propagate, to persuade. Meanwhile, an art may create its own rule, depending on the creator. In terms of challenge, it is left in the hands of the reader whether he or she acccepts the challenge of going deeper into the meaning the art form conveys. Lastly, the interaction always takes place between the artform and the reader once the art is read and seen. The production of meaning is automatic. However, we cannot only leave the comparison by only comparing the similarity or di fferences of the two aspects in their components and aesthetic. Just like what I said, leave it to the experience or the overall impact the two bring. I am not really a video gamer but because of my brothers who are fond of playing video games, I also engaged myself not miss the fun and excitement. I used to play playsations with them in my elementary days. We have collections of video DVDs that contain a variety of games. There were sports, combats and alike. I remember playing Pacman, Street Fighter, Tennis, Car race, Lilo and Stitch, Resident Evil and many more. During those days, playstations were really hit. Our neighbors, playmates and cousins come over to our house everyday and play with us whole day. I only enjoyed playing video games whenever I played with them. There, I found satisfaction. When I win the game, I almost jump in joy. When I lose, it was an ordinary thing because my brothers were the masters of the video games. Then the computer came in. I was hooked with playing simcity where I build my own city, own houses and businesses and manage them. That was fantastic. I get to become the mayor of a city, virtually. And there are more decoration games, cooking games, fashion games that developed, really, my artistic and creative side. It was always a fulfillment to be able to make my own design or what I would consider, my artwork. I was even hooked to playing dress up games and cityville in computer. I really love those games. It does not matter to me whether someone says that video games cannot be art. That someone is only a small portion of the population which believes that video games are highly art. Even I,do not really eye on the label. What important to me is the feeling and the reward I get from valuing  video games as significant part of my life and as significant component of a rich culture. Nowadays, video games are no longer merely games. They mean some more else. I agree to the study about video gamers that Ma’am Eloi once mentioned. Video gamers are indeed people who can be considered wise because they know and develop strategies as the game progresses. They are able to design tactics and win battles. They are able to master their skills and sharpens their minds. They are able to squeez their creative and critical juices and come up with outputs in the end. They also get to socialize while playing the games. Thanks to the technology for the breakthrough in video games and for the convenient and more pleasurable way of playing them. More and more brilliant ideas are coming up and I will not wonder if someday, a different kind of video game is existing. Consequently, perspectives on video games will eventually change. I am certain that the evolution of video games is continuing. Someday, the mass audience will consider it an art or yet, something different and something more meaningful than labeling it as art.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Beowulf V. 13th Warrior :: compare contrast poem movie film

After reading the epic poem Beowulf and watching the movie The 13th Warrior, I find that the differences greatly outnumber the similarities. However, the theme of good versus evil reflects the values of the Anglo-Saxon people in both the poem and the movie. Numerous differences exist in the poem and the movie including the characters, the bloody battles, and the deaths of the heroes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many differences occur in the poem and movie. The difference in the heroes names becomes obvious. In the poem the heroes name is Beowulf. In the movie, Boulvine is the hero’s name. Another difference occurs in the monsters. In the poem the head monsters name is Grendle. In the movie though, the monster is called the leader of the Ven. Also, in the poem, Grendle is just one person. In the movies the Ven consist of a group of humans that act like animals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another difference in the poem and movie is the bloody battles. In the poem, Beowulf has supernatural powers when he is at battle. In the movie, Boulvine battles with human strengths and power. In the poem Beowulf fights all of his battles alone. In the movie Boulvine battles with several men. One of the famous warriors is the 13th warrior, played by Antonio Banderes. He helps Boulvine fight the Ven. In the poem Beowulf does not fight his third battle until 50 years later. In the movie Boulvine fights his third battle immediately after the second. The last difference that occurs is the difference in the deaths of the heroes. In the poem Beowulf dies form a slash to the throat from a dragon. In the movie Boulvine dies from poison. Beowulf dies as an old man in the poem. In the movie though, he dies as a young man. In the poem, Beowulf kills Grindle and then Grindles mother.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Knots in My Yo-yo String Essay

Knots in my Yo-yo string is an autobiography written by Jerry Spinelli. Jerry Spinelli describes his childhood in first person which allows the reader to feel like he or she is there. To describe the book, the author has written this book to be about his childhood. The community in which the author lived in had impacted his life from being an ordinary Pennsylvania boy to a Newbery Medalist Author. Even the people in his life have helped him reach his career as a writer. I think that the community that the author lived in had some changes on his life. Some of the people that helped affect some changes in the authors life was the authors friends. The authors friends helped him a lot by hoping for him to win the election for president in his school. I also think that his parents had a lot to do with affecting some of the things in the authors life. For example, the author probably would not have his bike that he got for Christmas if his parents did not sacrifice going to the movies or going bowling, so that they could make sure their kids had most of the things they wanted. This is how the authors community had an affect on the authors life. The fact that he was naturally talented gave him an advantage when becoming a writer. Some other reasons why he is such a good writer was because he was not the average kid, he was the kind of kid that paid attention in class, when all the other kids were fooling around. He was very dedicated to his school work. Further more he had a great imagination, and an even better writing ability to have the reader in suspense. Some similarities when writing a book and playing sports is that you always have to be focused.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Existentialism Of Isaiah Jackson - 918 Words

When I hear the word existentialist a few people pop into my mind. However, one of those people is someone I know personally and someone I respect as an individual. That person is Isaiah Jackson. Isaiah is a close friend who I met freshman year and have gotten to know him more and more each year. At this point I know how he thinks, why he thinks that way and what he thinks about. Knowing his mentality has allowed me to understand that he is an existentialist. An existentialist, in simple terms, is a person who does not care about life and goes with the flow. This term seems to define Meursault from â€Å"The stranger,† by Albert Camus and my fellow comrade Isaiah Jackson. To begin with, Isaiah has stated multiple times that he does not care†¦show more content†¦When asked about love, my good friend simply states the blatant truth, like Meursault, he states that love is something humans made up to explain the dopamine levels in our brain but that the dopamine will soon begin to fade away which is why we humans have many failed marriages. Another thing both guys have in common is trying to shut down people’s belief in something that they think is not real. The both are not religious and believe there is no God and it was just a construct of humans. When Meursault shouts to the magistrate judge he shuts down his beliefs and Isaiah likes to do the same with religion. With, Isaiah he likes to argue on religion and gets passionate about his opinion on it as if he was on the brink of death ,like Meursault. They believe both of those concepts were man made to help humans feel a sense of security about their lives. On the other hand both people greatly differ when it comes to caring about a select few number of people. Compared to Meursault, Isaiah choses to care for a few people in his life. Isaiah choses to not be an emotionless monster because he cares about his mom. His mom is of great importance in his life as she has raised from a young chil d to a bright young man and he appreciates her. He knows that he owes everything to his mom and he has a strong connection with his mom because of it. This is nothing like Meursault who did not even bother to see his mother one last time before she was buried mor did not