Video Games — The Artform that lost its Art

But not all art is lost

I’ve been thinking lately…

About my own path in this career. About a bunch of media I’ve been experiencing lately. About how things have been feeling same-y for a while now.

And I’ve caught myself, quite often, combing through entire feeds of new media. Just looking for something that catches my eye, something that makes me feel something, anything, besides boredom.

Why is it that media feels this soulless these days?

Why is it that my own work has taken a dive?

A couple days ago, I finished binge-watching “Blue Period”. An anime about a student that one day discovers his love for art by chance, and afterwards decides he wants to become an artist.

The opening scenes have him looking at this incredible painting of an angel, and he gets completely captivated by it.

Later on, he struggles and struggles, as he fights his own weaknesses and lack of skill in the arts; until he finally manages to reach his goal and join the Tokyo University of Arts.

But before then… there’s this scene where, after having managed to get some recognition for his art, he then proceeds to create a painting that was essentially a rehash of his previous work.

He had just imitated himself, and the painting turned out soulless.

Can you tell which is the imitation?

How often do we find ourselves stuck in limbo, and just end up imitating someone, or even worse… our “past selves”, just to keep the ball rolling?

I feel like I’ve been this way for a while now.

After facing failure after failure, I started to get myself obsessed with skill. Simply getting better at this craft, just for the sake of being better at the craft. Not because I wanted to do anything with it.

I’ve lost my voice. I’ve lost my path.

I’ve gotten myself to the point where I can finally earn money with my skill, yes. But is the world a better place for it?

My games are just toys now.

Some are fun, yes. But most don’t speak.

Art is wordless speech.

Therefore, since my games don’t speak… They are just toys, they aren’t art.

A screenshot from a game I’m currently working on — A game I had give up on, and was simply going through the motions to finish and publish. With renewed purpose, I intend now to hopefully say something with it again.

This isn’t anything unique to myself. Whole media industries are going through this.

The focus on maximising earnings and retention, have resulted in an industry that churns out wave after wave of soulless, trend-following, pieces of media. Whose only purpose is to cash in on fads, and imitate previous success.

And as consumers of such media, we’re all worse off for it…

It has become so hard to comb through the noise, that services such as Netflix, that present us with media curated especially for us have turned into such a god-send.

This won’t change anytime soon.

And, if anything, with the advent of AI-powered technologies, these problems might just become so much more pronounced as the bar for game development and other artforms keeps getting lower.

So, if you’re a creator like me… Please, do remember to check yourself from time to time. Lest we lose ourselves entirely to the pull of art turned commodity.

And with that said…

Come! Let us make some art again!

If my words spoke to you… Come, join me!
This journey is no longer just mine to bear. It is ours.

Feel free to follow me in this search for meaning through the art of game development & game design.