0:06 [Applause]
0:08 hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic guy
0:11 remember it so you don't have to the
0:13 last video game I've ever played all the
0:17 way through was Super Mario Brothers Wii
0:19 and before that it was Metroid Prime 2
0:21 on the GameCube that's an entire system
0:24 later that's not to say I don't dabble
0:26 in a little Mario Kart Marvel vs Capcom
0:29 3 or am I most embarrassing recording
0:31 myself playing the Michael Jackson
0:33 experience in my pajamas which you are
0:36 not going to see I bring this up to give
0:38 you some idea of where I'm coming from
0:39 that I did play a lot of video games
0:41 growing up but recently I've kind of
0:44 fallen out of touch and that I still try
0:46 to keep a little on top of things by
0:49 being a Casual Gamer here and there I
0:50 bring this up because it's important to
0:52 know my background when I ask a question
0:54 that's been circulating the past few
0:58 years are video games art now on the one
1:00 hand this is a stupid question as you
1:02 could easily say of course it's art
1:03 practically anything can be art just
1:05 look at the definition the expression or
1:07 application of human creative skill and
1:09 Imagination typically in a visual form
1:12 such as painting or sculpture or Works
1:14 produced by such skill and Imagination
1:16 so hell even the picture you did of a
1:17 horsey when you were 5 years old
1:19 technically counts as art but I think
1:20 what people really mean when they ask
1:23 this question is are video games High
1:26 art will they be remembered are they
1:28 Timeless do they say something relevant
1:29 about life or Humanity that will be
1:32 relevant years later that's what people
1:34 are really trying to get down to I must
1:35 admit I didn't really think too hard
1:37 about this subject matter until I played
1:40 the game Metroid Other M despite all the
1:41 hype being built around it the game
1:43 pissed off a great number of fans and
1:45 Gamers but not for the same reasons that
1:48 it would have 20 years ago the biggest
1:50 complaint was that samis the badass
1:51 Bounty Hunter and star of one of
1:54 Nintendo's biggest franchises has now
1:55 been reduced to an overly emotional
1:57 yapping drama queen with dialogue more
2:00 like a soap opera than a Space Opera to
2:01 say fans were pissed was an
2:03 understatement but when it came down to
2:06 the actual gameplay itself people didn't
2:08 seem to have that big a problem with it
2:10 of course some people didn't enjoy the
2:11 playing part but the focus of the
2:13 criticisms was how poorly they
2:16 represented the character and the story
2:18 when did this happen nobody used to
2:20 question the motivations of a plumber
2:22 going after a princess or the storyline
2:24 of two guys with guns stopping an alien
2:27 invasion but clearly much more is
2:29 expected now out of video games because
2:32 the medium itself has naturally evolved
2:33 but many critics out there still declare
2:37 that's just a modern updated version of
2:40 this in my opinion the best way to
2:42 understand the evolution of the craft is
2:44 by comparing it to another craft that
2:46 many people argued for years wasn't art
2:49 movies for a long time many art critics
2:51 declared film as just a means of escape
2:53 and entertainment and nothing else but
2:56 as the art form Advanced more and more
2:58 we saw filmmakers take chances by
2:59 challenging audiences with new ways of
3:02 of telling stories and expressing ideas
3:03 films could be disturbing
3:05 thought-provoking enlightening even
3:07 breaking the bonds of the 3A structure
3:10 and just expressing motion dreams or the
3:12 subconscious because of this it is very
3:14 hard nowadays to find people who don't
3:16 in some form or another see the
3:20 possibility of film making great art
3:22 regardless the question remains do video
3:24 games have the same capacity well many
3:26 would argue nowadays that video games
3:28 are just a cheap imitation of movies
3:30 that they're trying to cash in on a lot
3:32 of the unique elements of film without
3:34 actually making a film and in many
3:36 respects they're correct there's no
3:38 doubt movies make big money and the more
3:40 game makers can make their games look
3:41 similar to movies the more people will
3:43 get the impression that they're actually
3:44 playing a movie which is a very
3:46 attractive idea seeing how people are
3:48 attracted to movies already so does that
3:51 mean video games are just movies light
3:53 are they just Advanced versions of
3:55 dragon layer where footage tells you
3:57 where to go and if you don't follow you
3:59 just lose a turn there's no denying that
4:01 some if not many games are very much
4:03 like that so how can games be expected
4:05 to evolve as an art form if it's just a
4:08 watered down version of another art form
4:10 well games do have a very distinct
4:13 difference over movies music paintings
4:15 and other forms of Art and that
4:17 difference is choice for the most part
4:20 you can't decide where a movie a book or
4:22 a piece of music goes it's finished when
4:24 it's finished and You observe it from
4:26 there but video games by Design are
4:29 dependent on different outcomes and true
4:30 there are are some pieces of art and
4:32 literature where the choice of the
4:34 Observer plays a big part but in video
4:36 games that's not just a small part of
4:38 the process it's the majority of the
4:41 focus because of this we create a medium
4:42 where not only are they allowed to
4:44 experiment with choice but they're
4:46 actually expected to and when you're
4:48 expected to produce more possibilities
4:50 you're expected to experiment more take
4:52 risks more and generally find out how
4:55 many outcomes can be created sure most
4:57 of them are very simple as in avoid
4:59 getting hit by something or you'll die
5:01 but how about the games that create new
5:04 worlds to explore new stories to create
5:06 and not just from the Creator anymore
5:09 but from The Observer few would disagree
5:11 that much of art is about the creation
5:13 and this is one of the rare mediums that
5:16 allows the viewer to make just as much
5:18 great art as the artist who created it
5:20 does it isn't just the graphics and the
5:22 technology that's evolving it's the
5:24 unique interaction between the player
5:26 and the game and yes there are games
5:28 that try to serve as nothing but
5:29 mindless entertainment and there are
5:31 games that Tred to be complex and
5:33 interesting but instead come out as
5:35 predictable and boring but how is that
5:38 any different from bad art or bad movies
5:40 they're all trying to tap into something
5:42 that makes you understand or celebrate
5:44 The Human Condition even something like
5:46 Transformers yeah I know easy target but
5:48 nonetheless something as simple as
5:50 Transformers is trying to get across
5:53 what we value as good human ethics right
5:55 down to the very basic good versus evil
5:57 now does that make it something that's
5:58 going to be relevant and studied years
6:01 later probably not but at the same time
6:03 you don't call an entire artistic medium
6:05 a failure because some bad art is
6:08 popular now if the question is have
6:10 video games reach that level of high art
6:12 that's a little bit more debatable as a
6:14 Casual Gamer I don't know if I've seen
6:17 that landmark that's the game equivalent
6:20 of the seven seal or 2001 but I would
6:22 make the argument that some have come
6:24 close this may sounds strange but
6:26 something like the Sims as much as I
6:28 personally don't like playing it toils
6:30 with the idea of living your life in a
6:33 world almost identical to ours but once
6:34 again the choices you make in the
6:37 environment I think can say much about
6:38 how people live their lives in the real
6:41 world and in their fantasy world just
6:43 the experience in what you do and how
6:45 you play and how it contrast to how you
6:47 react in the real world that's a very
6:48 different and interesting form of
6:50 artistic expression whether you realize
6:53 you're doing it or not and again the
6:55 genuine art comes from the user not
6:57 necessarily the Creator I think the same
7:00 can be said for games like sky or World
7:02 of Warcraft or any of these games where
7:04 you're allowed not to just go on
7:06 adventures but live a life any way you
7:08 want to live it in a completely
7:10 different reality I think you could also
7:11 make the argument that games like
7:13 BioShock Infinite though not allowing as
7:16 much Choice as other games create some
7:18 very powerful commentary while also
7:20 being a visual Marvel but like I said as
7:22 a Casual Gamer I can't act like I'm the
7:25 biggest expert on the subject maybe that
7:27 big game changer is out there and I just
7:28 haven't seen it yet maybe it just hasn't
7:30 gotten the public attention that it
7:32 deserves or maybe the big game changer
7:34 is one of these games and the reveal of
7:36 time will slowly show that but what I do
7:39 know is the possibilities are there and
7:41 they're being experimented with day
7:43 after day as the medium continues to
7:45 grow it reminds me of when people used
7:48 to say that comic books weren't High art
7:50 and that they were nothing but childish
7:52 nonsense I'll admit I used to kind of be
7:54 on that boat too but then groundbreaking
7:56 works like mouse came out and Watchmen
7:58 and pepolis and a lot of other great
8:01 works that said hey we don't care what
8:03 you think we're going to prove that
8:05 there is a medium here that can be as
8:07 powerful thoughtful provoking and
8:09 emotionally stimulating as any other
8:11 great work of art and sure enough the
8:13 medium is much more respected now than
8:16 it was before an argument has even risen
8:18 that Comic Book Heroes are the new Greek
8:20 myths being written from so many
8:22 different points of view but still being
8:23 the center of value that popular culture
8:26 looks up to perhaps the reimagining of
8:28 video game characters with their Legends
8:30 and quests could be working its way up
8:33 to the same page so in answer to our
8:36 video games art or high art I would make
8:38 the argument that if people don't see
8:40 that the answer is
8:42 yes they
8:44 will if a game doesn't exist that'll
8:47 sway you over the possibilities that
8:49 continue to evolve with technology
8:51 inevitably have to and yes many great
8:54 people I admire like Roger Eber declared
8:56 they never have been and never will be
8:58 art and while I respectfully disagree I
9:00 don't see see him or anyone who thinks
9:02 similar any less intelligent or
9:05 influential I simply ask that people who
9:07 think it cannot evolve at the very least
9:09 keep their minds open to the roads that
9:12 can be traveled with the medium that if
9:14 you think video games are not high art
9:16 now be aware that they certainly have
9:19 the ability to be so in the future many
9:21 evolving artists and mediums have been
9:23 shunned in the past and much of their
9:25 progress came from not what they weren't
9:28 but what they could be and it's hard to
9:31 see how the evolution of this to this is
9:33 any different from the evolution of this
9:35 to this yes there will always be
9:37 mindless games for escapism in the same
9:39 way there will always be mindless movies
9:41 for escapism but if that is the full
9:43 extent of the possibilities you can see
9:47 in video games I humbly challenge you to
9:50 stop start over and play
9:52 again I'm the Nostalgia Critic guy
10:04 yeah You' burned [Music]
10:28 [Music] it
10:58 [Music] a
11:00 a
11:02 well we got a lot of people asking Hey
11:04 where's suburbanites and Kass on DVD
11:06 well now's your chance to pre-order the
11:08 reorder once again that's right shipping
11:11 will begin July 1st and on top of that
11:12 we have copies left of the Nostalgia
11:14 Critic reloaded DVD if you order in the
11:16 next 2 weeks I will personally sign them
11:18 for you but hell with that wouldn't you
11:20 like to know the DVDs you're buying are
11:22 going to a good cause well they are
11:23 we're going to use that money to help
11:26 fund our charity drive this summer the
11:28 charity is for the one step at a time
11:30 camp and you can help support us to make
11:32 this Charity Drive happen buying great
11:34 entertainment going to a great cause
11:37 what's not to like well okay you don't
11:40 have to like bees but they're not a part of
11:40 of [Music]
11:54 [Music] this
