And Now For Something Completely Different: The Marriage

[strangetomato]

Since I've started using Mr. Humble the NPC as a character in my story, I became more curious about the real Rod Humble. It didn't take me long to stumble across some reference to his own game, The Marriage. It's a bit of an experiment in using the videogame as a medium for conceptual art. It's something I was really interested in a while back (videogames can be more than just entertainment, I figured, since I was in art school at the time), and I was pretty curious to see how Mr. Humble handled this "artgame" (nice term, that).

As suspected, as art increases, fun goes down. :P It's conceptual art, no doubt about it. At best, it'll start a conversation, but it's probably more likely to make you want to punch things. But don't take my word for it (or my SO's words, which declared, "This game sucks"). Please, go here and download The Marriage. Play it and tell me what you think.

Comments

[imtheduck.livejournal.com]

I am goin to now.. and i got the first post of the round robin awesimsauce done xD

[will-o-whisper.livejournal.com]

Well, now. Isn't that a pretentious steaming pile of suck. :D Now, maybe I'm just not artsy enough, but...I don't get it. There doesn't seem to be any goal or purpose, no way to "win," as it were. And I guess I feel like a game needs that, which might seem ironic considering what the Sims is. Of course, I also scoffed at the idea of the Sims for a long time on the grounds that it wasn't a "real" game and in a lot of ways, I still sort of think that. I love it, but it's still more of a virtual doll house than a video game to me. :/ And, of course, the Sims has the added bonus of actually being entertaining.

I dunno. I think where Humble went wrong is here: "As such its certainly meant to be enjoyable but not entertaining--" which, no. Bad. Fail. Et cetera, etc. Games are entertainment, first and foremost.

I definitely agree that games can be MORE than entertainment, with a message and meaning, but the key word, "entertain," is still there. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is a game that was released in 1999, "Planescape Torment." It's a heavily story-driven RPG largely based around the concept of exploring the question "What is the nature of a man?" From all that I've read, and experienced myself while playing (but haven't finished-it's a long ass game, and I have no time D:), it's a game that makes players think. It's a video game, but it can be more than that.

It's also fun.

Mostly, I feel like meaningful games can't lose sight of the fact that they are still games and there is nothing wrong with that. Games are the sort of entertainment that can be artistic and meaningful, but it kinda seems like Humble got too caught up in the ~art~ and ~meaning~ that he forgot about the ~game~.

If any of that makes sense. :')

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

There doesn't seem to be any goal or purpose, no way to "win," as it were.

*ahem*

*points at title*

That's why it's called The Marriage. :P

[will-o-whisper.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. There would be some pretty Unfortunate Implications if there were a way to win. And that proves marriage is a crummy concept to base a whole game around. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to disagree with Mr. Humble. Either he's not married or he's in a pretty shite marriage. Mine's a lot more fun. ;)

I especially disagree with the concept that as one grows, the other suffers. If I were to make the same "artgame" it would involve the two squares, blue and pink, slowly becoming more purple and more alike overall, and slowly becoming more and more joined, until they're one single blob.

But, well, what do I know? :P

[will-o-whisper.livejournal.com]

According to his little intro to the game, he thought up the concept while on vacation with his wife. So...yeah.

Heehee, well that's good to hear. ;p

From what he wrote, it seems what Humble was trying to get at wasn't so much that one person in a relationship suffers as the other grows, but that men and women have different needs in a marriage that need to be kept in balance. Which, frankly, doesn't seem much better and I'd be curious to know Mr. Humble's thoughts on what those different needs are. It doesn't help that the blue square shrinks while the pink one grows when they "kiss." So...what, the male is hurt by affection with his loved one while the female needs it? What?

Or maybe I'm over thinking things and looking for a reason to be offended. :/

I like your idea much better. P:

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

"I especially disagree with the concept that as one grows, the other suffers."

But don't you know that MASCULINE and FEMININE are TOTAL OPPOSITES? It's a constant battle! One wants to watch football and drink beer while the other wants him to help her hang up the new curtains. And if he does he'll be a little less manly. It's just how it works!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Of course! What was I thinking? *smacks forehead*

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I'd be more willing to give it the benefit of doubt if there wasn't a blue "masculine" square and a pink "feminine" square. That's the kind of art you find in a toy store. At least he seems to realise it's pretentious.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

But if they aren't pink and blue, how will we know which is which? HOW?! *flails*

I disagree. The minute you realize you're being pretentious, you're supposed to pull your head out of your own ass and move on. XD That's what I did, anyway.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Hah. :D Yes, true. But he even admits he'll probably be accused of being pretentious. Maybe he should've stopped to wonder why. :p

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

Art and Games? I'M NOT ALONE!! In my art class, we have to pick Four Topics for our GCSE, Two are set, and Two are more loose. First was "Land Art" which was... Interesting, However, for our second topic we were given "A Personal Study." And what do I find personal, Meaningful, direct in natural occourence in Real life, exessivly Pin-pointed at me and OH YESS Entertaining?! Come on, It can't be that hard to worm out of you :D
So my topic is called "3D" and all my studies are created using sims which have been created from people around me - Sister, A friend from Drama, An Alien [Ok, This one.. Notsomuch, But I needed to get my Speckled skins in SOMEWHERE!] and my "Final piece" is one I'm doing with a mix of my RL face and my SelfSim. Fun Times :)
I have to discuss about the relevance of Games and Art, so if you have any info - artists who specialize in it, or famous stuffz - I'd really appreciate it, because there is actually very little on the Internet, and I felt like I was somehow the only one who put taking pictures of 3D sims and Drawing Portraits together XD

I'll check out MrRod's Game - I'll take your SO's word for it though, and not expect too much LOL - because I'm always open to new things! .....even IF there is no "goal" or general "Fun"!


BTW: on my "Catch Up" I'm on Chapter 14, And I regained from commenting on EVERY UPDATE because I know it's sure as hell annoying! It's funny, though, to see J, R, and O.. Before they were J/R/O :)

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

O_O

D:

I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. I FAIL!!!!!

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I can't figure it out. I get the blue screen with the squares and dots floating around but then that disappears if I click on it? And it restarts? Am I just supposed to watch it?

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

Do I even have to do anything, or do I just sit back and watch? It sort of reminds me of a lava lamp, in that way.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

LOL I feel as though it's like Tetris or something... but every time I click it restarts! :D

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

I think it says in the instructions to not click, but to move the cursor over the shapes.

But with that I'm still only lasting about a minute, and I'm not getting the results I think "winning" the game would generate. It's almost Sisyphian, except I'm in no way being forced to play, fortunately.

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

*sisyphean. Tried to look it up but I just went ahead with it before my computer actually responded.

[aeliaa.livejournal.com]

What amuses me here, is that I've seen that 'game' - twenty times over in highschool, during programming class. It was one of our assignments, we had to have x amount of elements, and each had to react differently when it touched a different element, and there had to be a certain amount of mouse or keyboard control.

Now if only I had known that it was art, and that I could have submitted it as such in my art class under the title 'Frustration, RAGE and a healthy dose of Fury' I would have been set :D

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

LOL! Just from reading the description, the game reeks of pretentiousness.

I wonder if I could come up with an equally hilarious one for Tetris, or my favorite old-school game, Bubble Bobble. I could say that the bubbles that the little dragons/dinosaur throw represent their desperate attempts to preserve (en-capsule?) their world and memories to save their species. Or some bullshit like that :P

I'm going to show this to my sister. I'm sure she'd love it! ;)

[olivethegreat.livejournal.com]

I've played it before and I agree that it sucks. I hardly see how this counts as art, really. It's pretty boring.