I started making video games because I wanted to make money and play a game no one ever made before. When the money didn’t come, I found out the pursuit of the art form itself was better than anything money could buy me. Video games are the ultimate art form, using all artistic endeavors man has ever devised and coalescences them into an ultimate symphony. You need painting, drawings, sculpting, music composed, musical notes, writing plots, gripping emotion, architectural alignment, societies with government, presented in a way to impact the audience. On top of the classical respected arts, you have to know how the brain works to reward it cerebrally, animation, action paced reflex situations, puzzles, and more. No other art form demands of all the other art forms and then still needs more. One could say video games are the ultimate art form, case in point: Flappy Bird.
;)
I mused about my art form because it’s totally disrespected, yet is deeper than all that came before… This prompt came from my search from the one composer who said a quote I was looking for akin to,”I’m thrusting a spear into the void no one’s entered, not looking this way or that for inspiration.” If anyone knows that composer or quote, I’d be happy. I wanted to make a secondary quote off it something like,”I’m analyzing the thrown spears of all composers, feeling how close to the target I believe they got, and then averaging their finding where the target is.”
I ended up finding a inspirational quote list from famous composers and saw I have much in common with them just because I pour my heart and soul into my art: https://racheltaylorgeier.org/2017/04/15/75-inspirational-composer-quotes/
Quotes that resonated with me:
Georg Frideric Handel: “I should be sorry if I only entertained them. I wish to make them better.”
Musing: Shows like Rawhide/Rifleman/Cheyenne were not just cowboy shows, they taught a moral to do the right thing at the right time… So people who watched em were better. Today’s shows teach selfishness and exploitation of your fellow man so are trash.
Bela Bartok: “Competitions are for horses, not artists.”
Musing: Get by and get art done. The rat race is for rats.
Franz Liszt: “Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist.”
Musing: This really should be the destiny of all, but many pursuing the wrong thing catch it.
George Gershwin: “I frequently hear music in the heart of noise.”
Musing: In this bustling life, you can get see things you wouldn’t if not pressed into it.
Gustav Holst: “Music, being identical with heaven, isn’t a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It’s a condition of eternity.”
Musing: An artist mind is always creating, everywhere they go, they’re there, but their mind is not always also there.
Joseph Haydn: “There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.”
Musing: The hivemind is a terrible thing to mind. Do your own thing, and if you draw too much inspiration, you’ll end up tracing someone else’s work which leads us to the one everyone heard before: Igor Stravinsky: “Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.”
Frederick Delius: “There is only one real happiness in life and that is the happiness of creating.”
Musing: I explained this in my opener. I wanted to make video games for money. Now I make them for the sake of making them, money does come, but I’ve been ripped off by giant corporations more often than not. Doesn’t Google, Apple, Kongregate, MTV, Amazon, Twitch have enough money yet? Do they need to rip off small developers too?
“Well I didn’t get rich by writing a bunch of checks” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H27rfr59RiE
I’ll start to close with two quotes that basically say I should get back to crafting my art:
J.S. Bach: “I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.”
Johannes Brahms: “Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” (And with this, I’ll be industriously pushing my craft forward today)
And close with:
Toru Takemitsu: “Music is a form of prayer.”
Please pray for me. God bless, I’m gonna start my day,
Jim