artpress2 n°28: Jeux vidéo : surfaces et profondeurs

The February-March-April 2013 issue of artpress2, titled "Jeux vidéo : surfaces et profondeurs," features a critical essay by Erwan Higuinen, a journalist and video game critic for Libération. Higuinen argues that video game criticism requires the critic to be a player, as time is the medium's fundamental material, analogous to color in painting. He explores how games create parallel temporalities, citing examples like Chrono Trigger, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Braid, and Shadow of the Colossus. Higuinen notes that unlike film or music, game experiences are unrepeatable due to player interaction, making criticism challenging. He critiques the dominance of "tests" and scoring systems like Metacritic, which reduce games to quantifiable metrics, and reflects on the marginal status of video games as cultural objects. The essay also discusses the industry's scale, with the average player being a woman in 50% of cases and over 30 years old. Higuinen concludes by considering video games as potential "total cultural objects" that blend film, game, and music, citing developers like Hideo Kojima and David Cage.