Slashdot Mirror
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?
It's essentially a synonym for "Artist," often used in cinematic circles.
Ceci n'est pas un post.
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."
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?
I remember old games:
:( I miss the old days...
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?
- 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.
____________________________
Inago Rage - Bound between rooftoops and create your own 3D arenas.
Give the Stress Test a go, and let us know if you enjoy it.
We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
Auteur is French for author. Back in the 60's, French film critics got into the idea that a film could be seen as a product of a single person, not a group of people, and that person was usually the director. Today, we talk about a Quentin Tarentino film or an Alfred Hitchcock film, but back then it was unusual to think of a single person influencing a film with a particular style. So the author of the linked article is using auteur to mean a single person who influences a game with their style, like Peter Molyneux.