A couple of unrelated events have happened over the past few weeks which culminate into a huge, thought provoking picture. The first was when Fargo made reference to his own coverage of the D.I.C.E. Summit 2005, where Tim Schafer, creator of Psychonauts and many other beloved classic games. He focused on the warning, "If the games industry doesn't create its own original IP... then we're just a tee-shirt sweat shop for the movie industry." For the most part, while the industry as a whole remains creative, there is little doubt that both the videogame and movie industries are hitting each other up for properties that they can convert into mediocre products. Instead of becoming true art forms, they instead become very expensive marketing tools for the others' product.

This leads me to some more recent and unrelated events. The first being the release of Silent Hill the movie and its subsequent review by Roger Ebert who has been caught up in a debate concerning whether videogames may be considered art in comparison to movies and literature. It seems that his position is that videogames don't quite measure up, and was not helped by the fact that it seemed to require strong knowledge of the game the movie was based on in order to understand it. Maybe someone should Ebay him a copy of Darkseed or Darkseed II, simply because they were illustrated by H.R. Giger. However, it's not fair to judge a game by its movie, just like it's unfair to judge things vice versa. Would The Matrix the movie have been regarded the same way if it were judged according to its games? The Matrix in particular seems like a very strange conundrum, since it's a high-grossing movie about people trapped in a computer generated world (essentially a videogame), yet it's a property that can't quite seem to catch a similarly big break when it comes to actual video games.

Further down the list of unrelated events, LucasArts recently announced that it was planning to reshape its image now that momentum from its Star Wars properties are starting to wind down. They are looking to go back to their innovative roots and develop fresh and original titles. While the Star Wars franchise has been very lucrative on many levels, they don't want to be known as the Star Wars game company. Then, finally, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 2 recently released the sequel to one of the most highly regarded adventure games of all time, continuing its breathtaking story and fantastic setting.

So, how does this all fit together? First of all, it's ironic that Tim Schafer used to work for LucasArts and developed some of the most well-known games for them, including Sam & Max Hit the Road and Day of the Tentacle. LucasArts, which has recently dedicated itself to producing a tremendous number of Star Wars titles to cash in on the wave of interest that the last trilogy left behind has finally taken upon themselves to heed Schafer's warning from 2005 and diversify itself with original content. This is the same company that cancelled development of new Sam & Max and Full Throttle (both original properties that Schafer originally worked on) because they claimed there wasn't enough interest in adventure games. A claim that later proved to be untrue, since people petitioned to have Sam & Max be put back on the road, prompting employees to break off and form their own company, Telltale Games. I guess their cancellations become even more bitter with LucasArt's announcement years after the fact. I guess it's better to realize a mistake late than never.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is regarding the artistic merits of the videogame industry, which circles back to Roger Ebert. It's important that videogames be seen as art, and in almost every respect, they are. Gorgeous graphics, moving musical scores, and well-crafted storytelling are the hallmarks of an excellent game. The fact that videogames are regarded as art makes it a protected form speech under the first amendment, shielding it from the strangling hands of censor-happy politicians. However, like movies, music, literature, and everything else - not all of it is high art, nor does it have to be.

Dreamfall and its predecessor have been hailed for their compelling stories and fantastic artistry. These titles are not alone, as games like Myst have stories so rich that they've inspired their own series of novels. Additionally, not only has Halo's epic storyline led to three novels, but it also has an upcoming movie. So with success on so many levels, it should be expected that the diversification of a genre should be found on all levels. Although the graphics and sound of Doom III were very good, the plot and gameplay were simplistic. The plot of Doom the movie was... well... we'll leave that one alone. However, even the low brow incidents should be held with some regard. After all, not every meal can be filet mignon. Every once in a while, people are entitled to a cheap, greasy burger. In defense of videogames, the genre has only been around for roughly twenty years, while the movie industry has been around for almost a hundred years. Movies have had decades to refine themselves into respectable art form. Like videogames, they weren't taken seriously when they first started either. I know this intimately because I was often reminded of this while playing The Movies.

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