Death of the Auteur?

Thanks to TerraNova, and specifically Timothy Burke, for the article entitled Death of the Auteur. In it, Burke examines the modern reality that games are no longer made by a single person and ponders the meaning of game authorship. "Who is the author of a game? How should we speak of authorship?" What kind of weight does a personal and public apology have when a games authorship is up in the air?

Comments

Nostalgia

[Spy der Mann]

I remember old games:

Mission Impossible (c64). Wonderful gameplay.
Project Firestart (c64). A survival horror classic.
Flashback (PC). Platform game with a great story.

Ah yes, those were the days... if you want to ask me, i preferred good 'ol written dialogues (Loom, PC - LucasArts). Graphics just required a good painter and a scanner.

But now, we require a good 3D engine, a whole team of artists, coordinating the voice actors, doing the 3D scanning of real live stunt doubles...

hey, i just wanna play, k? :( I miss the old days...

I'll go one step further...

[MiceHead]

I'd say that both individuals and entire development studios should grab more recognition for their creations. If you browse Mobygames, games are listed by publisher:

• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault by Electronic Arts
• Star Wars Battlefront by Lucasarts
• Asheron's Call by Microsoft
• Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay by Vivendi
• ...etc...

You have to dig to find out who actually developed a software title (2015, Pandemic, Turbine, and Starbreeze, above), which is the opposite of how it works in literature. One could argue that this is because entertainment software publishers often fund development of a title, but I think the same is true with books, in the form of royalty advances. Most people who have read Cryptonomicon will be able to tell you that it was written by Stephenson, (rather than by Avon Books). I think this makes a great deal of sense for the consumer; sharks aside, one of an author's works can serve as a recommendation for another. The same is not often true when you compare publishers. Burke puts this as follows:

What seems clear to me is that middlebrow games criticism cannot function without some reference to authors: a critic needs to know who to blame or praise, how to assign and imagine intentionality, how to accessibly discuss the intertextual relations between games.

The gaming public does, indeed, seem to care who's recognized for a title. Development studios should be lauded for their successes, just as book authors are. To wit, we'll be self-publishing our next title. I'll personally bear responsibility for the game, whether it unleashes a horrible plague upon the world, or becomes a hit.

I'm sorta hoping for the latter.

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