I remember Maj and I were talking via IM and I asked something art related, specifically about colors. His response was basically that he didn't have an answer for me (understandable since I was so vague), and that he trusted my opinion because I was "the only artist out of all of us".
The more I think about it though, the more I believe that this statement isn't the whole picture. Personally, I believe we are all artists here.
Looking back at ZenFire's King and Haohmaru videos made me really realize this. You have to have some kind of strong artistic flare to make a video presentation the way that he has done in these videos. And let us not forget the witty and silly workings of Thongboy.
Furthermore, I remember [x] saying that in order to really level up you pretty much need some sort of "artistic" ability (not necessarily in the traditional sense, though). But, the ability to think outside the box and explore what is in front of you until you reach some kind of understanding. Basically like buying a contraption with a 2-inch thick manual then figuring it out yourself instead of needing a step by step spoon-feeding from the manual. Kind of like showing your woman how to work a remote, while in the meantime you learned how to use it just by playing with it. This is a skill that is practically a prerequisite for learning combos and strategy within a set environment.
Anyway, I've been thinking for a long time about these sorts of things and I have really started to believe certain things.
To be concise, I think that what we do in competition is a sport, and what we do in demonstration is an art. Though our medium is "video games", so that makes it virtual sports and digital art, respectively.
Random Scene Chatter
Random Scene Chatter
Looks like Jolly Ranchers & Baskin's Sherbet.
Re: Random Scene Chatter
Well yeah, every creative endeavor is art to some degree. If dance choreography is considered art, there's no way anyone can argue against combo videos belonging in the same category.
What matters is degree. Just cuz something is art doesn't make it good, or cool, or even okay. Hell even pornography is art insofar as it contains cinematography, theatrics, and a glimpse into some twisted fuck's head.
For me the real question is where something fits into the spectrum of art. You have high art, which helps humanity take a small step forward by contributing to social progress in some way. It doesn't have to be pretty and it's not as difficult as it sounds. Then you have a gigantic middle tier which is simply art for the sake of short-term entertainment. Most of pop culture falls into this category; including the majority of movies that win academy/festival awards. Finally you have art that actually harms its authors and followers. There are a lot of decent things people can get obsessed with which won't ruin their lives or their mental health, but extreme sex and violence are definitely two things most people are better off staying away from.
Obviously all of these forms have to be allowed to exist freely, because the last thing you want to do is give something dark the allure of being forbidden. At the end of the day, it's individual choices that determine who advances and who gets lost, but sometimes a little guideance doesn't hurt. Video games are quite firmly rooted in that middle category, cuz most of them aren't harmful apart from being too time-consuming. Sure some games have a message, which is a nice bonus, but how much of it doesn't look completely shallow when compared to classic literature or music?
Combo videos aren't particularly harmful, i don't think. And they're definitely thought-provoking in the sense that they ask people to question their assumptions and expand the boundaries they've built for themselves. Still, i can't imagine any of this mattering to humanity as a whole or even being around twenty years from now. Doesn't bother me cuz i've always made combo videos with a handful of people in mind. The rest of the audience is only a bonus, which i cater to in order to help promote the fighting game community. I mean i have fans, but i don't think anyone cares too much about me one way or the other and i am absolutely cool with that.
"Artist" or not, i still suck at graphic design.
What matters is degree. Just cuz something is art doesn't make it good, or cool, or even okay. Hell even pornography is art insofar as it contains cinematography, theatrics, and a glimpse into some twisted fuck's head.
For me the real question is where something fits into the spectrum of art. You have high art, which helps humanity take a small step forward by contributing to social progress in some way. It doesn't have to be pretty and it's not as difficult as it sounds. Then you have a gigantic middle tier which is simply art for the sake of short-term entertainment. Most of pop culture falls into this category; including the majority of movies that win academy/festival awards. Finally you have art that actually harms its authors and followers. There are a lot of decent things people can get obsessed with which won't ruin their lives or their mental health, but extreme sex and violence are definitely two things most people are better off staying away from.
Obviously all of these forms have to be allowed to exist freely, because the last thing you want to do is give something dark the allure of being forbidden. At the end of the day, it's individual choices that determine who advances and who gets lost, but sometimes a little guideance doesn't hurt. Video games are quite firmly rooted in that middle category, cuz most of them aren't harmful apart from being too time-consuming. Sure some games have a message, which is a nice bonus, but how much of it doesn't look completely shallow when compared to classic literature or music?
Combo videos aren't particularly harmful, i don't think. And they're definitely thought-provoking in the sense that they ask people to question their assumptions and expand the boundaries they've built for themselves. Still, i can't imagine any of this mattering to humanity as a whole or even being around twenty years from now. Doesn't bother me cuz i've always made combo videos with a handful of people in mind. The rest of the audience is only a bonus, which i cater to in order to help promote the fighting game community. I mean i have fans, but i don't think anyone cares too much about me one way or the other and i am absolutely cool with that.
"Artist" or not, i still suck at graphic design.
Re: Random Scene Chatter
Heh, I'm looking at the KoF XII stuff.
http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/ ... index.html
Athena's legs are THICK and juicy. Delicious meaty thighs. Her face is really generic moe blob crap but the hair style is looking pretty oldschool, which I think is cool. And she put on some weight. Even her sprites make her look a bit chubby. I must say, it's about god damn time some one put a plump girl in a fighting game.
Also, everyone is on steroids apparently. If you think Ralf, Clark and Terry look silly-huge in their portrait art, wait until you see them in-game, they are like Zangief huge.
Ash looks even more like a woman in-game. That means there's three female characters so far, if you include Ash. If you don't, two.
Well, not really in his portraits though. I wouldn't consider Ash to be an ambiguous trap at all, just based on his portraits, since it's sorta easy to tell he's supposed to be male. But as far as his in-game sprites goes Ash could be either gender.
Looks like they also added hitstop to the game. That's pretty important.
Unrelated:
Heartnana procures SBO information from a blog: http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=170984
In particular, no SNK games and no MB:AC or MB:AA mentioned at all. A little strange, but it is just from a blog.
Personally I think they might announce MB:AA ver.A after ver.A is released, which is just before SBO. They probably just don't want to announce it before it's actually released in order to avoid having to retcon shit. Same with KoF XII, I assume. They probably want to wait until the game is finished to announce it. But I'll be really really shocked if absolutely zero SNK or MB games are represented this year.
http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/ ... index.html
Athena's legs are THICK and juicy. Delicious meaty thighs. Her face is really generic moe blob crap but the hair style is looking pretty oldschool, which I think is cool. And she put on some weight. Even her sprites make her look a bit chubby. I must say, it's about god damn time some one put a plump girl in a fighting game.
Also, everyone is on steroids apparently. If you think Ralf, Clark and Terry look silly-huge in their portrait art, wait until you see them in-game, they are like Zangief huge.
Ash looks even more like a woman in-game. That means there's three female characters so far, if you include Ash. If you don't, two.
Well, not really in his portraits though. I wouldn't consider Ash to be an ambiguous trap at all, just based on his portraits, since it's sorta easy to tell he's supposed to be male. But as far as his in-game sprites goes Ash could be either gender.
Looks like they also added hitstop to the game. That's pretty important.
Unrelated:
Heartnana procures SBO information from a blog: http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=170984
In particular, no SNK games and no MB:AC or MB:AA mentioned at all. A little strange, but it is just from a blog.
Personally I think they might announce MB:AA ver.A after ver.A is released, which is just before SBO. They probably just don't want to announce it before it's actually released in order to avoid having to retcon shit. Same with KoF XII, I assume. They probably want to wait until the game is finished to announce it. But I'll be really really shocked if absolutely zero SNK or MB games are represented this year.
Looks like Jolly Ranchers & Baskin's Sherbet.