Mainstream games ask for and receive a very high level of time commitment, which can be very enjoyable but disappointing to me when I put down a game after several hours of play and realize that I have nothing important to think about about other than motions my avatar was performing and perhaps what I was killing. On the other hand, art typically has to be rapidly consumable, typically in just a few minutes or even seconds. My favorite art fits into that short amount of time so much story or concept that it gives me enough interesting things to think about and digest that it takes longer to do so than it took to experience the piece.
Wes “Window Cleaner” Wilson in an interview on gamescenes (via notgames)
Creating a context for short games is actually part of the vision for Picaro, something I plan to discuss more in the future. I don’t believe long, repetitive games are inherently flawed, even if they’re mostly about killing (see Far Cry 2 for a cerebral example of a faceshoot game) but I do think shortness can be a virtue.
(via notgames)
