Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Real Criticism of Real Games

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Water Cooler Games

Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Real Criticism of Real Games

by Ian Bogost February 27, 2004

categories: General

Mark Bernstein (chief scientist of Eastgate Systems, makers of hypertext authoring system Storyspace) has a piece called Conflicts and Interest in TEKKA (paid membership required) on "the remarkable failures of business games." Sez Mark:

Let's face is: game studies are going to stay stuck until we have lots of real criticism of real games. Not just box-office predictions, not just the gossip of industry crafts ("great special effect! amazing costumes! the best gaffer in the business!"), but sitting down to look at what games are trying to do, and where their means are not aligned with their ends.

Looking at what games are trying to do is the focus of this site, and of my research, so I'm happy to see this sentiment out there. Mark continues:

...[it's] not a question of adding money or game mechanics or a better game engine, it's a matter of getting the tone and timing exactly right. ... But, if we can't get a handle about this, then what exactly can we do with all those monographs about narrative and ludology and genre and gender?

This question has been an ongoing one in the academic/industry relationship. As someone who both writes about and makes games (even if not AAA console titles), I may have a distorted perspective (which I'm writing about in more detail elsewhere), but I'll share it briefly. I think that before research can be useful for developers, we need to see more inspiration in the business. We need people who have something they want to say, and who want to say it in the medium of the videogame.

(thanks to Andrew, again)