Mentor/s
Young, Prof. Sandra G. Stiltner, Prof. Brian E.
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
This project was made to observe video games through the lens of art by comparing and contrasting the centuries-old game Chess and the contemporary game series Pokémon. Chess has been around since it was first prototyped in India, to which it spread across the Old World before being finalized in Europe and becoming one of, if not the most well-known game of all time. It has a simple ruleset that allows for near infinite possibilities for each game, and in recent times has grown even larger thanks to the online world. Pokémon, on the other hand, was created in 1996 and first released as Red and Green versions for the Nintendo Game Boy, in which each version came with their own exclusive set of monsters to capture, trade, and battle with. The gameplay is not nearly as simple as Chess, yet allows for enough complexity that often gives it a similar feel to the ancient board game. Of course, while the games are very different, they are also synonymous with strategy and competition, and are arguably as relevant as one another, thus it may be wise to consider them examples of why video games should be considered an artform.
College and Major available
Game Design & Dev BS
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-28-2023 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-28-2023 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
It's Not Just a Game: A Comparison of Chess and Pokémon as Play, Strategy, and Art
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
This project was made to observe video games through the lens of art by comparing and contrasting the centuries-old game Chess and the contemporary game series Pokémon. Chess has been around since it was first prototyped in India, to which it spread across the Old World before being finalized in Europe and becoming one of, if not the most well-known game of all time. It has a simple ruleset that allows for near infinite possibilities for each game, and in recent times has grown even larger thanks to the online world. Pokémon, on the other hand, was created in 1996 and first released as Red and Green versions for the Nintendo Game Boy, in which each version came with their own exclusive set of monsters to capture, trade, and battle with. The gameplay is not nearly as simple as Chess, yet allows for enough complexity that often gives it a similar feel to the ancient board game. Of course, while the games are very different, they are also synonymous with strategy and competition, and are arguably as relevant as one another, thus it may be wise to consider them examples of why video games should be considered an artform.
Students' Information
Seth Silvestro, Game Design & Development, Honors student, Year of 2024