You know, it's kind of odd. I used to loathe writing these journal entries, and had to kind of force myself to write them as a sort of scrapbook. But later, I kind of started enjoying it! But no matter how much I hate or love writing these, I always seem to output a journal entry about every 20 days. Hmm...Well, lets get to things!

Senior Year

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Guess who started their senior year of high school today! Tons of people! Oh, and me. But I really don't feel like a senior. I'm still bossed around by seniors a bit and there are kids in way lower grades than I with like a kajillion times more charisma. It really makes you wonder...but I've never really been a glutton for attention, so I digress...

My senior year actually started about 2 weeks ago, in band camp! If you've been keeping up with my journals for the past 2 years, you'll know it's about this time every summer that I head down to my high school and march around in the simmering sun. Buuuut it's a lot more fun than it sounds, and I'm really glad I've stuck through band all of these years, as well as 3 different music teachers.

As for my teachers this year, I'm pretty happy with each of them. We have some new faces like my English teacher and coa— I MEAN History teacher (Really, what's up with coaches and history?), as well as some returning faces like my AP Calculus and Creative Writing teachers, both of whom I've known for quite a few years. But I'm especially excited about my physics teacher, as he seems like quite the fun guy. He was freakin' playing around with propane and matches when we came in the room on the first day! What a weird guy.

Music Composition

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My musical talent is slowly shaping up nicely. Just the other day I composed yet another song, entitled "Quatorian Climb". If you want to hear more thoughts on that, go ahead and check it out on my Soundcloud page. But what I have to say here is...I'm wondering what's in store for me in my musical future.

I went ahead and showed this song to , and he stated it sounded a lot like my other songs. This got me thinking...Am I running out of creativity? Did I have any to begin with? Is the growing linearity in my songs a result of my own callowness as a musician or a slowly emerging composition style? How good is my music? How does it hold up to other game music? I've got a lot of emerging questions as I slowly settle down into improving, and I've recently applied to become a member of the SNESMusic.org forums. I think there I'll get a few answers.

Videogames as Art

A lot has happened to me recently, game-wise. I've started playing Cube World a bit more, picked up Minecraft again, and I've been slowly chugging through my Python tutorials. I've done a lot of cool stuff in MC, like an Adventure map and really cool Hide-and-Seek map submission to The Hive! I do lots of artsy things in Minecraft, but it gets me thinking sometimes...and it really doesn't help that I stayed up until 1 A.M. last night reading THIS...So let me go ahead and dump this befuddling mess clouding my head so I can go and focus on more important things...like school...

You might think of me as silly, but I've been thinking for the past day over the subject of videogames as art...There are a lot of predicates for something to be art, but I have kind of my own definition that I've set myself. In order of importance, a piece of art must...

...Evoke emotion.
This is the most deep, primal component of art. ALL art evokes emotion in some way or form. A movie might excite you, a book might sadden you...An interpretive dance may freak you the heck out. EMOTION! But do video games elicit emotion? Can the foreboding organ symphony of Ganon excite you? Yes! Can the untimely death of Aeris sadden you? Yes! Can Mr. Prog from Chibi Robo freak you the heck out? VERY YES! So I am positive videogames have this one in the bag.

...Satisfy a need beyond necessity.
One of the things that separates man from animal is that they strive to do more than survive. I'm certainly positive that you, dear viewer, sitting all cozy in front of your computer, have the necessities of life. A nice roof over your head, 3 meals a day, at least a middling-average social life, the things that everyone needs. But one thing that people do not need, is art. It is completely superficial, not necessary for survival. And that is what makes art the appendix of our being. It lies there, deep inside all of us, but it serves no rigid purpose. And do video-games serve a purpose? Yes! One of the most important components of being a mentally healthy human being is recreation. This need could be fulfilled in many ways, from playing football to toying with a Rubik's Cube to playing Banjo-Kazooie. And NONE of these things are art. They are sports, they are toys, they are GAMES! And this is one thing that keeps games from being art. They serve a definable, needed human purpose. Emotionally, art fulfills a purpose that goes beyond that of the physical and mental.

...Be Subjective.
Think of a time when you saw the same movie, or heard the same song, or ate the same food as a friend. In most cases, both of you will draw different opinions of the same thing. One of you may have loved Inception, and thought it was a thrilling endeavor into the human psyche! Another one of you may have a strong distaste for the movie, calling it nothing more than a poorly-explained action flick. And that's a defining trait of art! It can be interpreted, dissected, critiqued, argued and much, much more! Let's take a look at "Street Cleaning Simulator", a game recently made by a German game-development company. All throughout the Gamespot forums, there have been ridiculous arguments surrounding this game. Some look it as a bland simulation game, doing nothing more than giving us a bland experience we could otherwise drop out of college and experience ourselves. Others look at it as a hilarious marvel, a true unorthodox demonstration of physics when modded and altered. Some hate the game, many absolutely love it, even if only for a passing moment. So are videogames subjective? Yes!

...Be Unwinnable.
I could argue endlessly with myself and present innumerable points, but I shall show one final one. When art is created, it is made to convey a point about human nature. To argue a point, to persuade us, to experience the same feelings as it's creator, to give us sympathy or empathy to a person, place, cause, effect or whatever! Art can do some of these or all of them at once! Art is also art in the fact that there are no goals involved! You watch a movie, observe a painting, read a book. There is no "winning" art. But what are the purpose of games? To be played. A High score, earned. A Final boss, beaten. An objective, finished! It is common logic that you cannot "win" art. You can interpret it and argue your points until you are blue-in-the-face, but there is never a rigorous, rules-defined, set-in-stone way to "win", art.

There are many, many more points I could make in my argument, but I have not the time nor the patience to explain them. You might say "What of games such as Journey, and Flower?!? They fulfill ALL of these predicates!" And I shall agree with you! As we progress into the 21st century, videogames are slowly progressing towards being an art form. Something you experience, without goals, rules, or bonds...crafted not for money or commercial purposes, but to display and argue a point...exactly like art! But this progression...it is a snake eating it's own tail. As videogames loose their purpose and become more art-oriented, they loose their definition and take on a new one! Once a "videogame" has achieved it's status as art, it is no longer a game! It is not a videogame! Videogames...are not art! And never will be! And never can be! Never! Ever!

And yet...they are still so amazing...

If it were not for videogames, I would not be here today, sitting here at my keyboard, pouring my thoughts onto this keyboard. I wouldn't have an account on this site. I WOULD NOT BE THE ARTIST I AM TODAY! And why? Because, videogames PROMOTE art! They encourage it! While not art itself, videogames have created a deep, nerdy culture that has spawned many new art forms, including chiptunes...pixel art...interactive novels...Look all around you, you are on the biggest fanart website on the internet! Many of you were brought here by games, and our shared passion for them. You have videogames to thank, so who cares if games will ever be art? No matter where the industry stands or what the critics say, they will always be imaginative and fun! Videogames are perfectly fine as games, and they will continue to grow all throughout this century as one of the most involved forms of recreation! Thank you, thank you, videogames!

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