Indiecade 2011: Richard Lemarchand - Beauty and Risk: Why I Love IG

IndieCade 2011 Conference
Richard LeMarchand: Beauty and Risk: Why I Love Indie Games, October 7th, 2011.
Video shot by Ida Bendentto.
Conference Chairs: Colleen Macklin, John Sharp, Andy Nealen
Video Squad Producer: Scott Stephan

In my talk at IndieCade 2011, I'd like to tell you about some of the experiences I've had at Naughty Dog in my role as Lead Designer on the Uncharted series, and how profoundly the ideas about game design that I use every day have been affected by indie games. I love independent games, and I grew up playing them in the UK on the first generation of home computers. At that time, all games were indie games, in spirit at least. The 'bedroom programmers' of that generation were my first mentors when I joined the game industry, and I'll talk about that DIY spirit of creating something from nothing, and how vital it still is today. The visionary creators of the indie games of 2011 have used the game-making tools of this generation to do amazing things - to give expression to emotions barely seen in videogames before, to develop new styles of play and even new genres of game, and to explore subject matter considered untouchable by the mainstream. The world is changing at an incredible rate; both indie and AAA game creation is changing too. I have a lot of strong opinions about good and bad ways to make games, about the nature of human minds and of creativity. The title of my talk is about gameplay - the beauty of systems and the risk introduced by random or complex elements at play. It's also about creative risk-taking: so take a risk, and come to my talk!

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[MsBickle76]

He hit the nail on the head... If he is so smart, Why was Uncharted 3 a bad game?

Didn't the rest of the team cared about artistic merit? Uncharted 3 was horrible!

[indiecadebossbattle]

@MsBickle76 While Uncharted 3 may not fall under the banner of "art" gaming, it is a massive achievement. When we talk about "artistic merit", are we talking about things like mood and unique mechanics? Are we talking about visuals? Are we talking about systems?

On many levels, Uncharted 3 is much, much, much more than a shallow "action" game- It's a beautifully realized world. There may be merit in more ways that a game just being "different". What do you think?

[Instig8iveJournalism]

Somebody tell this man about Shattered Memories. That entire game was, as he enjoys putting it, "Experiential." I felt so pleased when both Shattered Memories and Uncharted 2 came out in 2009, because they felt like such perfect counterpoints to each other. Uncharted was full of action and enjoyment and straightforward fun, while Shattered Memories was, for the most part, a timidly probing stroll through the ragged leftovers of the life of a young woman. They were both so, so good.

[MsBickle76]

@gamegloss I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be a dick. I genuinely care to find out when in Uncharted 3 the fourth wall was broke... I don't remember anything of that sort happening or maybe I didn't get something or it just when over me. Could you tell me please? Did I miss something?

[MsBickle76]

@gamegloss Kay.

[gamegloss]

@MsBickle76 I strongly disagree. I suspect that years from now, when the art game dispute has been settled, when the medium is widely respected, and when developers have escaped the worst of gaming´s growing pains I will look back at the games that changed everything. And I fancy that I will say find that games like Braid, COD, Dark souls, Uncharted, SOTC, MGS, Amnesia, and Bioshock, to name a few, contributed in equal measure to legitimizing games as a valid artistic medium.

[MsBickle76]

@gamegloss And yet Braid, Dear Esther, The path and passage are and will be way more important to this medium than any Uncharted could ever be...

[MsBickle76]

@gamegloss Uncharted 3 is a better movie that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but a video game it aint!

When did it try to break the fourth wall? Could you tell me that? I don't remember it doing anything of that sort... some examples please?

[gamegloss]

@MsBickle76 More to the point, the self-righteous, sophomoric, nauseatingly pretentious attitude that only games like Braid, Dear Esther, The path, The passage etc.. etc...( Essentially Indie games with the financial freedom the experiment with new mechanics and story telling methods ) can be art is a trend that needs to be stomped out.

This medium is still young. The youngest, in fact, and artists and games are still getting to know each other. It took cinema half a century.

[gamegloss]

@MsBickle76 Uncharted 3 succeeds at almost everything it sets out to achieve, bringing together jaw dropping graphics, art design, and animation, visceral combat, decent puzzles, unmatched voice acting, and a cleverly written story that just about keeps you interested, and threatens to break the fourth wall at times.

The way I see it, some people had a vision. They made that vision a reality for others to enjoy, and it works. If that isn´t art, what is?

[Shippoyasha]

Great speech! Uncharted series may be WAY too big a commercial product to be anything near indie gaming, but I can appreciate the artistry behind it. Even something even bigger and even more commercialized like Call of Duty games, there's an inherent artistry behind it as well.

[TWOC2689]

Went to see the same talk at Game City 6. I thought it was very refreshing.