Art House Games?

[milk is chillin]

Sorry if the idea of art house games sends you into a blind rage but I'm doing some research and could do with a bit of feedback.

1) How would you define an art house game

2) List examples of what you consider to be art house games.

I'll just assume that Ico is a given here so don't bother mentioning it. Any thoughts, pro or con would be appreciated. thanks.

[dataDave]

I hate 'art house' and 'noir' and all that pretentious riff-raff.

I would define an art house game as being something that concentrates more on aesthetic style to get its point across, unless it's Capcom we're on about.

PN.03 - Blocky futuristic minimalness.
Viewtiful Joe - Cel shaded comic blotchiness.
Killer 7 - Cel shaded noir.
Yoshi's Island - Crayola time, a big leap from the usual clean and crisp sprite standard.
Cosmic Smash - a bit like that bit on the Michael Jackson vid for 'scream' where he smashes vases with that futuristic tennis thing.
Rez - I don't know, but playing this makes me want to take drugs I wouldn't normally take, so that's art house to me.

There's tons more, Jet Set Radio would be another trend-setter.

[Magnakai]

I think that any game that has an overall conceptual aesthetic that's clearly meant to evoke an emotional response in the player has artistic merit to some degree.
I doubt many mainstream games really class as "art-house" in the strict sense, though some certainly touch upon it.
Killer 7, Rez and SoTC certainly come to mind, and I don't doubt that many other random games will be offered up.
Can I just veto anyone saying Halo or GTA?

[dataDave]

I guarantee in the year 2023 PD64 will be referred to as something spesh. There's something about the whole style of it that tells me they won't be that far away from the actual truth come that era.

I mean, you watch back to the Future 2 these days and it looks utter ****e, so bleeding 80's when it's meant to be 2015. Spielturd is crap it predicting the future - just look at Minority Report, 2048 or whenever? Yeah, right. More like 3048.

I guarantee we'll have sandstone marble, chrome and blue velvet in all our living rooms come 2023, and paper-thin screens too (which will probably still have f**king composite inputs). We'll probably never have flying cars after September 11th, even if we did have the technology.

(BTW: What the hell is SoTC??)

Wasn't someone pimping Manhunt as an arthouse game before? Lunatic!!

[Il Postino]

I hate 'art house' and 'noir' and all that pretentious riff-raff.

I would define an art house game as being something that concentrates more on aesthetic style to get its point across, unless it's Capcom we're on about.

PN.03 - Blocky futuristic minimalness.
Viewtiful Joe - Cel shaded comic blotchiness.
Killer 7 - Cel shaded noir.
Yoshi's Island - Crayola time, a big leap from the usual clean and crisp sprite standard.
Cosmic Smash - a bit like that bit on the Michael Jackson vid for 'scream' where he smashes vases with that futuristic tennis thing.
Rez - I don't know, but playing this makes me want to take drugs I wouldn't normally take, so that's art house to me.

There's tons more, Jet Set Radio would be another trend-setter.

No, no, no, no, no, no *thinks about Jet Set Radio for a moment* and no. Don't make me come over there Fallows, etc.

[dataDave]

No, no, no, no, no, no *thinks about Jet Set Radio for a moment* and no. Don't make me come over there Fallows, etc.

I don't like Jet Set either - I've always thought it was fist-chief, it did kick off a lot of arty-fartyness within the industry though dinnit?

[Il Postino]

Sorry if the idea of art house games sends you into a blind rage but I'm doing some research and could do with a bit of feedback.

1) How would you define an art house game

2) List examples of what you consider to be art house games.

I'll just assume that Ico is a given here so don't bother mentioning it. Any thoughts, pro or con would be appreciated. thanks.

Attempts his best Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back "I'm sorry..." impression

1: I'll take the fifth on that one, also, why do you want to know and what is the research for? Excuse me for being snoopy (not the cartoon dog) and all like.

2: Come on, it's Space Invaders and maybe Pac-Man

Originally posted by DavidFallows
I don't like Jet Set either - I've always thought it was fist-chief, it did kick off a lot of arty-fartyness within the industry though dinnit?

Hey, Mr Fallows, I was only kidding like, I think you're a good guy, keep it coming.

[peo]

(BTW: What the hell is SoTC??)

Shadow of The Colossus.

Which gets my vote as most art house game ever - its about the aesthetic and mood above all else IMHO.

[anephric]

If we take, filmically, Jean-Pierre Jeunet to be "art house" then surely most Ancel games must count (since they're the ludic equivalent)? Well, mainstream arthouse *cough*

[anephric]

And, might I indulge my bowels, how about Manhunt? It might wallow in the semiotics of the video nasty, but in terms of playing the game and the "fun" (i.e. not) involved in topping people repetitively, joylessly, miserably, it owes more to A Short Film About Killing or Haneke.

My bowels, they go-a crazy!

[EvilBoris]

Shadow of The Colossus.

Which gets my vote as most art house game ever - its about the aesthetic and mood above all else IMHO.

Shame they didn't concentrate on the frame rate and controls a bit more instead of putting so much effort into the aesthetics.

FIGHT!

[feelgoodwhale]

electroplankton!

although it's probably all art and no game

[112]

you could say art house is through aestics but i would also like to see it on a more cerebal level, but in the players interface and execution of it (if that makes sense). Where by the players interaction with it and there overall input creates the art.

Of course you could say peripheral games like samba, dance dance ar artistic in that you create the art of movement. But have you ever noticed how certain Vs fighting games look in the hands of a true gamer? im talking about Virtua fighter/street fighter how the style of the way someone plays makes it look artistic, wether it be busting out combos or making an overall bout look magical through shere mastery. More so in Devil May cry where the art is focused more in the fighting and style through the players interaction of the main character.

Lighting up the sky or screen ala Psyvaria is another example, although not entirly pretty to someone walking on the street, a true gamer will interpret it as art, to be able to manouvre around so many things on screen.

112

[peo]

Shame they didn't concentrate on the frame rate and controls a bit more instead of putting so much effort into the aesthetics.

FIGHT!

I'm not going to rise to that and take this thread off topic.....







oh, go on then - you're talking absolute balls!

[feelgoodwhale]

the camera was pretty awful too