Clive Barker stands by games

Written by Joe Martin

June 27, 2007 | 14:03

Tags: #art #barker #clive #ebert #hellraiser #horror #jericho #roger #smack-talk #stephen-king #undying

Companies: #games

Clive Barker, apart from being one of our favourite authors of gross and creepy literature and the inspiration for one of our very favourite case mods, is also one of the most vocal supporters of games as an artform - giving us another reason to want to shake his hand.

You see, back in 2005, famous grumpy film critic Roger Ebert earned our disdain when he publicly stated that games aren't as good as films or books because they force players to make choices - something which Ebert has decided to vehemently oppose all on his own.

Stylishly late, Clive Barker has come back with his opinion at the Hollywood and Games Summit in L.A. and berates Ebert at the same time. What a guy!

He delivered the blistering remarks during part of a keynote speech about games as art:

"That's bullshit. This is a medium that's barely 2 decades old, and he (Ebert) is saying oh, there's no War And Peace yet — of course there isn't! ...You have to come at it with an open heart... Roger Ebert obviously had a narrow vision of what the medium is, or can be. It seems so high-handed. A lot of very very smart people, here in this room, are working to make these experiences extraordinary.

"...We can debate what art is, we can debate it forever. But if the experience moves you, some way or another, even if it just moves your bowels, I think it's worthy of some serious study... Games mean something to a lot of people... Games aren't about reviewers, they're about players."


Clive Barker is still hard at work writing and designing his new horror title for th Xbox 360, PS3 and PC; Clive Barker's Jericho which looks to be one of the grossest and creepiest games since Clive Barker's Undying a few years back.

Do you like the use of games as an artform, or is it all too arty-farty for you and you just prefer a decent shooter? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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