Roger Ebert famously argued that videogames are not art. In his article on the subject, Ebert never specifically defined what constitutes art, but only suggests that “[art] grows better the more it improves or alters nature through an passage through what we might call the artist’s soul, or vision.”  He goes on to discuss games and film in a way that suggests that it is not enough to simply improve or alter nature to create art, but that art is only achieved when one has improved or altered nature with such skill that the end product rises to the status of art.  His is a problematic definition to be sure (and I don’t agree with his analysis as applied to games), but it is an interesting concept to play with.

let no one accuse Nintendo Power of subtlety

It is interesting because it focusses the audience’s attention on how the artist is improving and altering reality through their work.  And when it comes to games, few mainstream game creators take their role as an improver of nature very seriously.

This flaw in our medium of choice was made painfully apparent during Microsoft’s recent E3 press conference in which they debuted Killer Instinct 3.  While two presenters (one male, one female) were demonstrating the game for the audience, the female presenter was losing to the male presenter who quipped “Here we go. Just let it happen. It’ll be over soon.”  An allusion to rape if ever there was one.  Why Microsoft allowed this to happen is beyond me, and what does it say about our community of choice when our figureheads choose to be openly sexist when hocking their wares?

This comment is all the more depressing when viewed through the lens of Ebert’s definition of art as something that alters nature.  By presenting fighting games as an arena in which men dominate women, Microsoft is choosing to alter nature according to their sexist vision of the world.

I know that men dominating women in fighting games is not the natural state of the world, not merely because of my belief in gender equality, but because I was thoroughly trounced by my wonderful partner, Yesenia, across multiple rounds of Killer Instinct Gold not a week after this announcement.

I believe she and I played about 4 rounds of the game, mainly in a team-based mode where each player picks three characters and then you fight each other until all characters are spent.  She beat me 3 matches to 1, and she blames her lone loss on picking a roster of all female characters, which she accuses of being inferior to the male avatars.

It is worth noting that she also outperformed me on the game’s single player mode.  Although we did play cooperatively there, trading the controller back and forth to try and beat the computer controlled characters (who are cheap jerks fond of spamming projectile attacks, we both agreed), she was much better at advancing up the tournament ladder.

Some discussion of the game itself.  I am no historian on the subject of Killer Instinct.  It is a fighting game. Each player chooses a combatant. Each combatant has a unique move list. Etc. I thought that I had played it once at a Fudruckers when I was a kid, but on closer reflection, the game I am remembering is Primal Rage (…which was and is a way better game because you got to fight as a velociraptor. I assure you that fighting as a velociraptor is an inherently compelling experience to a 6 year old, but I digress…) So maybe I had never played Killer Instinct before last week? Who knows.

My only three data points on the game are as follows.  First, the game is known for allowing near-unlimited, unbreakable combos.  Neither Yesenia nor I are anywhere near good enough at the game to experience this feature for ourselves, but I am willing to give this rumor credence based on my limited experience with the AI-controlled opponents (whose cheapness can only be explained by such shortcomings of design).

Second, today this is by far the most expensive N64 launch-window game to purchase.  It ran me somewhere around $16 while other games cost about $2-5 per cartridge.  So there is clearly nostalgia for the title, which I suppose justifies the creation of a third entry in the series.  If this third game allows for button mashing wins, then it will have at least one customer in my partner.

Third, it looks better on my low-end HDTV than any other N64 game I’ve played to date.  Maybe it is the large character models or something, but it looks right at home stretched out on my 16:9 screen. I don’t know why this is a relevant criterium for evaluating N64 games, but hey, the graphics hold up.

It would be disparaging if this new Killer Instinct embodies the attitude that was present at its unveiling.  An unveiling that enforced the stereotype that women are somehow inferior to men at fighting games and videogames in general.  There is no merit to that suggestion, and every developer needs to acknowledge their rejection of that notion not only publicly but in their work.  For Killer Instinct this means creating female avatars who are actually interesting to use in the game. It isn’t impossible, hasn’t Chun-Li been a favorite in the Steet Fighter community since the 90’s?

All videogame enthusiasts would do well to consider Ebert’s definition of art.  All art improves or alters the world.  Art worth consuming not only alters the world through the artist’s imagination, but inspires its audience to go out and improve the world further.  Poor art denigrates the world and should be ignored.  As an audience for videogames, we owe it to ourselves to focus our energies on the former category while resolutely chastising the latter.  I hope that the team working on Killer Instinct rise to this challenge.

Bonus Content:

Here is an amazing review of the comic book tie-ins to the game.

And for getting to the bottom of the review, here is gameplay footage of Primal Rage.