"Videogames are art" - Wrong

Are videogames art? An interesting (but very wrong) article from the Wolfire games blog after Roger Ebert caved in (no pun intended - just kidding, it was) to the masses of mindless gamers who insist videogames as an art form.  So when a developer can crank out three sequels a year and have hundereds of programmers, model makers, sound designers, or what have you, designing a game then it is a manufacturing process at that point. I'm not saying videogames CAN'T be art, there are definitely some good examples out there, but to imply all games as an art is absurd. The same could be said for movies.

The Organic Indie Preorder Pack

I gotta admit - I'm not hip to the 'Indie' games scene, the 'Indie' genre, or their dozens of stinky, sweaty, beardnecked fans, but one game company has certainly grabbed my attention.  I first heard of these guys when I was searching for information about Natural Selection 2, the sequel to the award winning Halflife mod.  A while ago Natural Selection 2 and Overgrowth were being sold as a pre-order bundle through Steam.  In addition to saving a significant amount, you get to preview and test early alpha builds (plus a special secret bonus for NS2 players.)  Both games use their own unique game engines.

What really grabbed my attention is how user friendly the interface for the level editor is for Overgrowth.  It's similar to Garry's mod, in that you can click an icon, place the model into the game world, and scale them easily to build set pieces, levels, buildings, etc.  As of right now, the alpha is mostly a ghost-town/desert landscape simulator, but the final product promises to be very mod-friendly.  Pre-ordering allows your money to go straight to the developers and keep development going