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Microsoft Responds To Reports Of Xbox Live Account 'Jacking' I like Clive Barker. He’s sharp. Like when film critic Roger Ebert turned up his nose at video games, the multi-talented Barker jumped right in and stood up for the art form. While others disparage the medium, Barker is upbeat, saying:
I think it stems from a very old idea of high art and low art that we’ve had in this country and actually originates, I think, in England. Very snobby idea about the fact that it’s as much as anything about the people who produce the art as there is about the art form itself. The assumption is that the people who write comics are really people who simply can’t write novels… Those high arts feel a little threatened when this other stuff comes along. I believe eventually there’ll be a War and Peace of gaming. It’ll happen.
Can’t wait. You know, there are those who get things, and those who don’t. Barker not only understand gaming, but art itself. Click below to read the full interview. Barker Interview [Level Up]
I mentioned a week or so back that Playboy had an intriguing feature on their latest magazine that talks to a collection of game developers about some of the deeper issues involved in creating and expanding video games and play.
In the article, which is now on their mostly work-safe website, they talk to:
Kane & Lynch’s Jens Peter Kurup about making games for adults and creating unlikeable characters. Clive Barker about his love of gaming and why film is fascist. Sony Worldwide Studio Prez Phil Harrison about the expense of game development and death of the disc. Harmonix Co-Founder Alex Rigopoulos about creating an army of real drummers with Rock Band. David Jaffe about the shallow game design in God of War. Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions about the death of adventure games and the life-cycle of a critical acclaimed video game.
The monstrously long package is chock full of interesting insight into a bunch of designers who not only know their stuff, but are willing to talk frankly about the industry.
Geniuses at Play [Playboy]
Codemasters is slowly releasing this series of trailers for their upcoming squad based occult FPS, Clive Barker’s Jericho, that introduces each of the characters from your team. We’ve already met flame throwing Sgt. Frank Delgado, and now it’s time to meet the lady of telekinetic destruction, Lt. Abigail Black. Not only can she blast debris out of her way with a wave of her hand, but she can take out multiple enemies with a single mind-controlled bullet. Carrie White could take a few lessons from this gal.
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It might be a Clive Barker branded horror game, but this trailer for Jericho portrays it as the most generic army game ever created. “Drop the gun!” moment? Check. “Don’t you die on me!” moment? It’s in there. The gameplay that follows completely fails to pull me out of the hole the video digs with that inane, cookie-cutter dialogue. Trailers are not supposed to make me not want to buy the game, Codemasters!
