You're forgetting

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Sunday, June 02, 2013, 13:15 (4202 days ago) @ Cody Miller

You're forgetting that nearly all of the creative works out there are products of the matrix. And like the people in Plato's cave who only see white when they look out the entrance, they can;t talk about what's outside without going there first. You're right that good art is hard to find, but I think it's rarer than you admit.

I've been tired of Matrix metaphors since late 1999, and I think this kind of talk diminishes who we are and what we're capable of. We could get into a philosophical debate about the nature of reality and experience, but I'm not sure that would be fruitful. We have always made up stories to entertain ourselves, but to assert that this is a problem because we can't distinguish the real either because we're over-saturated (Baudrillard) or we're ignorant (Jack Thompson) seems uncharitable, to say the least. I have some sympathy for the former view, but only to say that yes, you should take a walk and smell a flower now and then. I believe this is the core of our agreement.

This is why all great art has genesis in real experience.

Yes, but it isn't limited to that, which is the trap we fall into these days. Everyone is reduced to writing autobiographies.

This also makes me wonder why you even bother with video games at all if your standards are as high as you say, when they are the lowest of the low when it comes to exploring the human condition in a serious way. I know of 2 that provide original and meaningful insight. Both by the same guy. Both with lots of garbage mixed in. "But Cody, plenty of other games explore worthwhile themes!" I'll answer your objection with a question: "You think that's air you're breathing?"

I don't get your last comment, but to answer you, I own far more games than I've completed. They disappoint me regularly, but I do grade them on a curve because I think the form is relatively new. I'm fascinated by the form, despite this disappointment. You said you don't play as much. I probably have never played as much as you. Gaming is a somewhat guilty pleasure for me. When game developers aim high that does excite me, but we don't see that enough.

The reason why games fail should be obvious: most of the people making games never have any real experiences about the things they make games about. At best, they have the matrix to tell them.

You're being extremely condescending. I'm going to let Levi's answers stand on this one.