|
games lab
What's so interesting about games?
Games have surpassed cinema as the fastest growing and highest earning form of entertainment. Victoria is the hub of the booming Australian games industry, and in Games Lab ACMI showcases the most interesting games and developments in game culture by local and international developers.
Games Lab will change the way you think about games. They are not necessarily violent or about winning. And it is not only teenage boys that play them - the average age of gamers is 28 and games attract ever-increasing numbers of female players. In Australia, every second home has a personal computer and one in five now has a dedicated games console.
The art and technology of making games
Games are developed by teams that include artists, animators, programmers, game designers, writers, musicians, actors and project managers. The demand for faster performance and more realistic graphics has driven the development of ever-faster computers, more sophisticated software and new hardware.
The influence of games on other cultural forms is pervasive - game aesthetics have inspired countless designers and pop music has long borrowed the electronic sounds of game soundtracks. Games characters such as Lara Croft and Super Mario Brothers are household names. Not only do blockbuster movies now include a game in their range of tie-in merchandise, games themselves have become a major inspiration for the form and subject matter of Hollywood cinema.
A brave new virtual world
Most games tell a story, but with their changing narratives and action-based roles, games are so profoundly different from traditional storytelling that it is difficult to compare them to film or literature. Games culture does however speak powerfully to human emotion. Whether across the room, or across the globe, the internet allows players to create complex virtual communities in the world of the game - sometimes with millions of participants.
back
|
