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Author Topic: Citizen Kane of videogames  (Read 31646 times)
György Dudas

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« on: February 22, 2012, 02:54:20 PM »

Why is there no Citizen Kane of videogames? Because there is no Orson Welles of videogames. There is no Eisenstein or Griffith either. There is no Truffaut, no Goddard, no Hitchcock.

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Michaël Samyn

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« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2012, 03:01:01 PM »

We're still going for the Godard nomination! Grin But we probably lack the talent. Cry

Maybe we can settle for being the Akerman or Breillat of videogames. Though god knows I really want to be the Sofia Coppola!
« Last Edit: February 22, 2012, 03:02:55 PM by Michaël Samyn » Logged
Thomas

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« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2012, 04:17:25 PM »

I am more interested in Schindler's List of video games. A video game about a serious subjects which is meant to be engaging while not being fun and which is also a huge commercial hit.
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György Dudas

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« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2012, 04:30:21 PM »

You could argue that Schindler's List is entertainment in a perverse hollywood-esque way (unfortunately). I can't remember a commercial successful movie, which was not entertaining ("fun") at the same time. I know many not-entertaining, but serious movies which were not successful, though. But I understand what your point is... maybe looking for commercial success for serious work is too much to ask for...

Games are collaborative works, like movies. But still, why is there no Orson Welles? We have Will Wright, Miyamoto and Molyneux. I think they had very different goals...
« Last Edit: February 22, 2012, 04:40:55 PM by György Dudas » Logged
God at play

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« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2012, 08:34:44 PM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQCnrPr3qIA

"...where did you get the confidence from to make a film with such..."

"Ignorance! Ignorance! Sheer ignorance, you know, there's no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession, I think, that you're timid, or careful."
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György Dudas

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« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2012, 08:43:42 PM »

maybe the question should be why is there no Orson Welles in videogames? This brings back the discussion, that there are not good enough tools to make games for artists to use... coding is so tedious and inconvenient...
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Michaël Samyn

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« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2012, 11:05:21 PM »

The times are different too. I don't think things evolve as linearly any more as they did in the past. Plus the internet has fragmented the audience. Global massive success is not as important any more as it used to be. Maybe there will never be an Orson Welles of anything any more.
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ghostwheel

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« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2012, 11:13:56 PM »

I think this is the wrong question. You're assuming they don't already exist or that there is a problem with games. I don't think the problem is games, the problem is a failure of imagination for other uses of the technology. And again, the term "games" will continue to be a problem.

And you know, no one hyped Orson Welles' genius more than Welles himself.
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Irony is for cowards.
God at play

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« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2012, 04:39:58 PM »

Think about the situation in which Citizen Kane was developed:

A production crew of expert craftsmen eager to try out innovative new techniques teams up with an accomplished auteur and his skilled theatre company, both completely new to the medium of film. This group is given $16 million (2012 dollars) and 100% creative control. They won't even show the film to the funders at all until it is completely finished.

If you can recreate that situation, there's a chance.
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Michaël Samyn

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« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2012, 07:45:23 PM »

Sure. But who cares about Welles? Pasolini and Paradjanov are far more interesting as filmmakers and they had no money for their work.
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György Dudas

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« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2012, 07:59:47 PM »

also, where is the Bunuel of games when you need him??
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Bruno de Figueiredo

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« Reply #11 on: May 19, 2012, 10:25:07 PM »

I wonder if in the late 1930's, the likes of Welles, Mankiewicz and friends spent their spare time asking one another which was the "Beethoven's 9th" of cinema, or who was the Rubens of film directing.
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György Dudas

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« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2012, 12:54:11 AM »

Where is the Shakespeare of cinema you mean?
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Bruno de Figueiredo

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« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2012, 10:55:09 AM »

Where is the Shakespeare of cinema you mean?

Or the Homer of script writing. Or the Bernini of film editing. There are none. And it is even questionable whether "Citizen Kane" is the "Citizen Kane of Cinema". These parallels, as amusing as they may be to some, simply do not exist in a degree of accuracy that makes them worthy of being pursued. Each author's contribution is unique and derives from very specific circumstances which can never be repeated.

In addition, Cinema accomplished more as an artistic medium in the first few years of its history than games have in four decades as an entertainment business. As we know, "Citizen Kane" represented a sizable advancement in film, in story-telling, photography, and so many other aspects of art and human creation in a far broader sense. No single video game has ever - or, the way I see it, could ever - have a comparable cultural impact.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2012, 12:40:16 PM by Bruno de Figueiredo » Logged
Orihaus

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« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2012, 10:50:12 AM »

Quote
Think about the situation in which Citizen Kane was developed:

A production crew of expert craftsmen eager to try out innovative new techniques teams up with an accomplished auteur and his skilled theatre company, both completely new to the medium of film. This group is given $16 million (2012 dollars) and 100% creative control. They won't even show the film to the funders at all until it is completely finished.

If you can recreate that situation, there's a chance.

Sounds like exactly what happened to Warren Spector with Deus Ex: http://www.users.on.net/~hindes/spector.mp3. Heard Deus Ex called the Citizen Kane of video games quite a few times!
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