Presentation case (Nail house demolition team battle)

Videogames, but are they art?

Whether a game could be recognized as an art form  or not, it should depends on the nature of the medium itself. In other words, it must has specific qualities that other art forms have. The game I chosen for analyzing is call 'Nail house demolition team battle'. The operating system of the game is the flash game channel of  17173 game site and the date of released is on August 22 in this year. It is a widely popular turret defense game in China network. The story is talking about nail house in order to protect their family with a variety of means to prevent demolition team's continued bombarment. According to the players, it seems impossible to win the game since so many crews swarm the building in the final level and the house will eventually be demolished. In the following, I would like to analyze whether the game is an art form or not mainly based on Adams and Leo Tolstoy's definition of art.

 - 'Art must have content', 'Art contains ideas' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From, Ernest W. Adams)

 "Nail house demolition team battle" is not just a game for entertainment, but also includes profound meanings behind. The game reflects the strong conflict between governmental power and the individaul's ownership of property in Mainland China. If we want to judge the game, we must understand the social background first. "Nail-house" are the last homes left standing in areas slated for clearance, so called because they stick out when all around them have been demolished. Owners resist because they do not want to move or the compensation is unfairly low, but demolition team often revenge with tactics ranging from cutting off  power and water to physical violence, just like the game display. There are some real cases in China, such as Tang Fuzhen, who killed herself last year after demolition team beat her family. Also three people in Fuzhou, set fire to themselves in order to protest the inadequate compensation few weeks ago. Therefore, we can see that the game has a tight connection with the society since it represents a serious social problem in order to arouse people's attention. 


  

 - 'Art should make you feel something.' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From, Ernest W. Adams)

 The game resonates so many people and lead us reflect on the social problems, such as property rights, governmental power, social conflicts and rapid urbanization. And here are some players' feelings on the sites.

 "Game is fun, but reality is cruel."
"This is our society. It is tiring. It is not easy to live. I don't know how many people are like the Ding family in real life. So sad."
"It tells us that the demolition team is not defeatabe. The only thing we can do is to wait and die."

 It is no doubt that the game can make people to feel and to consider. People worldwide express sympathy and pity for nail houses after playing the game. Almost people in China think that the powerful demolition team and battle results of the game just like the reality because the governmantal power is getting stronger and sronger, that they can never achieve victories. On the other hand, although they realize "reality is cruel" through the game, it can helps them to release the widespread angers to some extent.

 - 'The stronger the infection, the better is the art.' (What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy, 1986)

 I agree that arts should generate strong infections in the general public, and the nail house fulfills this quality. According to the game site 17173 staff, the nail house game ranked third among last month's top games since its launch two week ago. People love it not just for its game play, but more important for its message behind. There are more than ten thousand users discussing the game in their online diaries and the game also be mentioned on newspapers, television programmes and video-clips. Therefore, we can see how infectious and powerful the game is.

 - 'Art is that it is aesthetic, it has rules for determining beauty and ugliness.' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From, Ernest W. Adams)

 Game is different to painting, sculpture and music, but similar to film that we can judge its artistic values through the story, characters and appearance. About its story, it talks about the nail house to protect their building and prevent the attack from demoition team that entirely imitating the common situation in Mainland China, so the story is full of chinese features. Moreover, the characters inside reveal popular cultural reference. For example, "small mother", the most welcome character for the internet users, her nightdress, burning hair and angry action, are the same with the "female boss" style in the famous movie of "Kung Fu" directed by Stephen Chou. Furthermore, all elements of the game, including colours and sound, work together in harmony.


















 - 'Art does not involve merchandising.' (Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From, Ernest W. Adams)

 The game is uploaded on the game site, everyone can play it freely without any legal problems and nobody understand who is the developer of the game. So it is obvious that the creation of the game is not for salability, reputation or any commercial motivations, but just for expression.


Relevent wetsites:

http://flash.17173.com/
http://www.56.com/u29/v_NTQ5Mjc4NTg.html
http://www.56.com/u95/v_NTU5NDIwMzY.html
http://www.56.com/u58/v_NTU4OTY5NDM.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIfYQThpAE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDV4P2fLDg&feature=related

References:

Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art From, Ernest W. Adams What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy, 1986
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/china-game-family-fight-demolition
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/09/16/fighting-eviction-the-videogame/