Second Scholarly
Post
By
Cortney Norton
Video
games have had an impact on cultures,
society, and individuals of their time periods. Just as certain art and art
movements have influenced pop culture and individuals in the past. It is easy
to get immersed in a video game, Just as it[JA1] is easy to get lost in a painting, video games can
cause emotion just as art can video[JA2] games can help one increase certain skills, just
as creating art can as well. The earliest art forms paved[JA3] the ways for new ideals and innovation in the
advancement of art, just as video games of the late eighties and early nineties
have for games today. Between the years 1983-1992 the video game industry
was at its[JA4] own stage of development, just beginning to break
away from the overall development of technology as a whole, and thus becoming its[JA5] own art form.
During a
games development stage, an entire creative team is needed. It’s
just another form of a creative process. It takes months, and even years to
fully develop a game. Why then is it still so difficult for some to consider
video games as an art form. “Video Games have there own distinctive features,
therefore as a form of art they should be treated on their own terms and not
simply seen as derivative forms of preexisting types of art.”1 Of the
many hard-core fandoms of video games were to argue, that of an avid early
Nintendo fan would aggressively come forth.
Today, a Nintendo fan is a dime a dozen, even those in the elder
generations who to this day continue to follow the franchises. The most iconic
franchises were those that had a heavy impact on many people’s
childhoods. Franchises such as: Metroid, The Legend Of Zelda, Final
Fantasy, etc. Although these franchises are big now, many Americans would not
even know of Nintendo’s existence if it weren’t
for one of Nintendo’s most basic games, and the down fall of Atari in
1983.
Nintendo didn’t stand a fighting chance in the U.S. during the
late 1970s, due to Atari’s peek in marketing. In fact the first NES was only
released in Japan, Nintendo’s home base. Atari had Americans hooked on it’s
innovative consoles, and 8-bit graphics.
Video game arcades were as common as convenient stores during the early
1980, [JA6] giving Nintendo the step it needed. Donkey Kong was
the game that set the stage for Nintendo’s success in the U.S., as it was the game that
allowed Nintendo to break into the American arcades. In 1981 Donkey Kong also
introduced the earliest version of Mario where he was featured as a carpenter named“Jumpman”.2(Which
may be viewed in the image to the right)
After keeping Nintendo away from the states for so long, Atari by this
time was struggling to stay afloat in it’s own industry. Thus after catching word of
Nintendo’s long overdue depute in the States, Atari attempted to latch on.
Atari’s CEO took it upon himself to partner up with the new celebrity in town.
The once fierce competitors were momentarily attempting to join together in
partnerships. Many factors led to this obviously not work out, however. The
artist’s of Nintendo’s success is all thanks to Donkey Kong, and Atari.2
1 Grant
Tavinor, The Art Of Videogames (Wiley-Blackwell publications,
Malden, MA 2009)
2 Steven
L. Kent, The Ultimate History Of Video Games (Three Rivers Press,
New York, New York, 2001)
I agree the the video game industry is becoming its own art form, but then what does that make playing video games? Because I definitely don't think that playing video games is an art form. I'm interested on what other people think.... Is it just a fun activity to do with your friends, something to do to waste time, or do you think playing video games actually improves your coordination and problem solving skills? It's a little off topic, but if anyone wants to share what they think that would be cool.
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