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Death of the Auteur?

Posted by Zonk on from the who-makes-the-games-we-play? dept.

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?

2 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. There can be only one by torchdragon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There should still always be one person attached to the game. Design by committee has always had problems in timeline management and product quality control. A single vision is required to put out a solid product that performs strongly in what it's designed to do. "Group" projects tend to never see the light of day due to feature-creep, budget problems, and a general lack of quality. "Ownership" on the other hand is a different idea. Responsibility is another idea as well. Credit should be given where credit is due because yes, games are no longer developed by a single person.

    --
    "Don't feel bad for me child; I'm the monster that hides under your bed."
  2. Look at Film by DreadPiratePizz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Motion pictures parallel this. Back in the early 1900s and the late 1800s, they were made by one or two people, while now, hundreds of people work on a hollywood production. When you go and see a movie, most people realize that it's a collaborative effort, and that there is no one "author". The Director or DP contributes as much to the film as the scriptwriter, and the actors themselves bring their own take on the role.

    Now back to videogames. The author of the article seems to be confused as to who the "author" is of a game. Just like a film, it is the production company. Bungie, Blizzard, Bioware ARE the authors of the game. He wants to have somebody to give the blame. Well, look at the level designer in the credits. Email him about poor level design. Look for the AI programmer, and email him about bad pathfinding. Film critics havn't had any trouble blaming directors or actors or scriptwriters in the past. Why would it be so hard with videogames?