Before I even start talking about this game, I need to get something off my chest: Deathspank is a fucking terrible name for a game. I know that it’s supposed to be all about “the funny”, but when you give a game a name like Deathspank you’re making it sound juvenile as all hell rather than giving off the idea that it’s actually funny, which is a shame because there are a number of situations within Deathspank *shudder* that are actually quite humourous. I’m going to try not to bring it up again, but seriously, DEATHSPANK? God damnit.
Alright, take two. *Ahem*. Deathspank is a downloadable action-rpg for the PS3 and Xbox 360 made by the up-and-coming development house “Hothead Games”, who were also responsible for the “Penny Arcade: On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness” series, an awesome series of cartoon games which hold a very special place in my heart. In addition to Hothead, however, famed developer Ron Gilbert (one of the creators of the popular “Monkey Island” series) had a hand in this game’s creation, and as a man known for bringing the funny there were a lot of high expectations held for this game.
(I mean really, though, Deathspank? Come on now…)
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The concept of “Video Games as Art” has been a hotly contested topic, with its origins coming into the mainstream only within the last decade. Many see gaming as nothing more than the puerile pursuit of young boys and bloodthirsty, mal-adjusted teenagers, and have been quickly dismissive of the “Games as art” belief. Roger Ebert himself wrote that he believes games could never be as artistically worthy as literature or cinema. Many others, myself included, beg to differ, and can attest that there are moments within video games that have struck us with such sadness, passion, or joy that no other word but art could possibly describe what we had been playing.
To be fair, the definition of “art” is a bit…murky, and depending who you ask could mean any number of things. And to be even MORE fair, there are an exceeding number of games out there which are most certainly NOT art… at least from my opinion. For every “Shadow of the Colossus” that gets released we get dozens upon dozens of forgettable first-person shooters. But the point of this article, as I fumble to get back on topic, is to display a couple of games, in no particular order, that I feel are unequivocally “art.” These are solely choices of my own opinion, and if you disagree with my opinions, or are absolutely horrified that I missed your favourite piece of gaming art, feel free to call me a moron.
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Just a friendly walk through the forest
Every year for the past couple there seems to come into the mainstream an “artistic” videogame; something which gamers can point to when they stand on their virtual soap boxes and say “My hobby has validation! We don’t just kill things, we participate in ART!” (For the record I’m neither for nor against this line of thinking; I believe video games can be an art form, I just smile when I read people foaming at the mouth over video gaming’s artistic merits). With Braid’s time-bending mind-rending puzzler in 2008, followed by 2009’s airborne flight sim “Flower”, it seems that every year has had its champion of electronic artistic integrity.
(Sidenote: Gaming IS actually just about killing things. You know this, I know this. Let’s just move on.)
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