I think I'm confusing both of your views. Or something. I see it both ways. I want to create things that you don't see and experience in your everyday life but can pull you in to make you feel like you are there. If that makes any sense.

Yes, to an extent. And I do agree, that the shorthand in film is very well developed now. Same with comics. They both have 80-100 years on games. Games may take a while to develop as sophisticated a language.

I have a number of problems with the entire article and assumptions on all sides. There seems to be an assumption that politics = depth. It assumes the Occupy Movement wasn't stupid or that the Arab Spring actually accomplished anything. The quote about young people being "spiritual" assumes that trait is a positive thing.

As for finding markets, we all have to make a living. The important issue is what you are willing to do to get your next meal; balancing quality of life, needs and wants.

The Painstation is a moronic idea.

No. Just, no.

That has nothing to do with games or notgames. More physicality is not more immersive. Immersion happens in the mind. That's why a quick press of a keyboard of controller button is far better than leaping around like an idiot in front of motion detection game. At least for me. I don't want to experience what it's really like to run half way across Tamriel and take a sword to the helmet. I don't want sand down my pants after sliding down a dune like in Journey. Or be chased by horrors in the dark like in Amnesia. No thanks.

If I wanted to get my heart rate up, sweat and all that bullshit, I'd go to the gym or go hiking.

Do you like the idea of having the freedom of going places and doing things in a non-linear fashion, and then play the game kind of linear somehow? Like do you do the missions city by city, theme by theme, or something, or just walk around wherever you may want to go that specific moment, ie do not have a system that you are aware of?

I just wander around. No system.

I've been spoiled by open worlds. Being led or herded annoys me greatly. I lose patience with that.

Nope. I want less linearity. That's why I like Bethesda games. I don't like the way Bioware does things.

I'm not sure one can draw a distinction between the tech and the medium. One depends on the other. The difference between canvas/paint and interactive computer art is that painting reached maturity both technologically and technique-wise nearly 200 years ago. Interactive computer art is still evolving with the computer and the end isn't in sight. The tech is being pushed further and further. I'm not sure "games" will ever reach the same sort of equilibrium.

I have a friend who was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 30. This person has two computer screens and used to play tetris on one of them, while watching movies on the other, to be able to focus better on the movie. I am a bit worried (mostly for myself) how I get affected by all the interactivity available to me. It's as if getting through longer linear texts is now harder for me, I get cravings to do some marking at least, which is why I either read a document where one can copy the text, or like to have marker pens when reading books, even novels. How is our attention span these days?

People seem to worry a lot about distractions of the internet or whatever. The thing is, we really aren't effective for more than 40 hours per week of work or 6-10 hours. The human brain and body really isn't made for more than that. It's a fact. So go ahead and be "distracted". Chances are, if you're already working at maximum capacity, you wouldn't get any more done anyway.

I think I have extrapolated your opinion, Michael it may explain why I have not yet ran off to friends with PS3's and demanded to play it.

The problem, I suppose, is that the term "Art" carries so many connotations, many of them negative. Art can mean pretention, hubris, exclusivity. The brilliance of Journey is the way in which it has got people to think about and engage with the experience as they would a work of art, without necessarilyhaving to be conscious that they're doing so. Journey is art without all the baggage; it is art without a gallery, art without a critical elite telling you what it means or where it fits in to their esoteric pantheon.

What a Philistine. Very painful to read that paragraph on many grounds.

I love that paragraph. Anyone surprised?

Did you try Knytt Stories or Saira?

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

I like it, but I did not have the time to finish it.

I played Knytt and loved it. It was incredibly inspiring and influential for me. It was simple and the focus was entirely on exploring. There were no enemies at all. It's a wonderful little game. Perfect even. I passed on Stories because it was focused on mods that turned Knytt into a "proper" challenging platformer. Saira looks nice but it's just too damn difficult. I tried, I really did but I couldn't get past the first planet I landed on. It was very disappointing.

Dys4ia is nice. I liked it. I actually hesitate calling it a notgame. It's more a storybook than anything. The whole lo-fi pixel graphics thing turns me off and I wish the indie crowd would stop it. There are lot's of other styles of art out there.

As for rules and goals - by their very nature, these realities have rules built in. But that's not what you're talking about. I would say that if someone could combine Bejeweled-style game-play with something more substantial, like a narrative (first thing that came to mind, I'm sure there are others) that would be awesome. I don't actually play Bejeweled to win or get a high score, I just like the clinking sounds and sparkly explosions. I find it very appealing and satisfying. I'm not sure how you could fit that into the context of a notgame approach but it sounds cool.

I recall there being some reason for them not doing so, but cannot really recall

They are rock stars now?

I'm not sure why €10 would seem unreasonable. People spend that for a 90 minute movie.

The way I interpret the quote is, that we should not try to replicate reality in a virtual way, but to create something which can't be taken/confused for reality. Don't you agree?

I do!