Hacker Cinema
The Stanley Parable
2013 · TV series · 720 min episodes · 1 season
Created by Davey Wreden
ComedyMysteryScience FictionFantasy
Stanley. Who's coexistent with a narrator in a world to sit at a desk, do nothing but click a button, is the story of his life. Until all his co-workers vanish of the face of the earth as he's left with an omnipotent narrator, who tries to tell the story of Stanley's life. He can choose to obey or disobey and secrets about the narrative is revealed in this epic meta-narrative work which gives challenging philosophical thought.
3 positive4 neutralfrom 7 commenters
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7 comments on Hacker News
"Backrooms" don't just come from videogames. They are meant to represent liminal spaces like "endless" cubical farms and conference rooms and the back offices of movie studios or any other modern business. (Even the idea that on the backside of the cool theme park structure that seems so otherworldly is just a couple of boring janitor's closets and hallways for staff/crew to navigate between shifts.) The videogames building "unused" rooms like this were in part trying for verisimilitude to these sort of "just around the corner" spaces that exist in so many buildings. Often as a joke. It was a part of the humor of Duke Nukem. It was a key part to the humor of Portal. It was the entire basis of The Stanley Parable.
I think we can argue that real world places that inspired our fantasy Dungeons were similar liminal spaces: the creepy basement hallways that connected staff/crew (servants) access to other parts of the building(s) above. The multi-use spaces below that are most remembered in pop culture for such uses as torture and imprisonment, but were also often staging grounds for much more boring household logistics tasks (storage), and even equivalents to conference rooms, janitor closets, and "offices".
"Simulation" doesn't necessarily entail stimulating interactivity and a pleasing aesthetic. As of writing, I don't know if there's a better term than "game" for what this is. (Maybe we can coin a new term, like "game-lite" -- somewhat akin to what "rogue-lite" is to the "rogue" genre).
See "walking simulators":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Parable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Flights_of_Loving
Plenty argue that these aren't games either (usual complaints involve lack of problem(s) to resolve, and no win-lose dynamic); but, then, what are these? The closest category I can think of would be "computer-animated film", but... these are interactive, and you can navigate and look in any direction you want, which yields a very different experience than watching a film like "Toy Story".
I never beat the original Stanley Parable but the baby ending is hilarious. It's far too tedious for me (you literally have to push a button for 4 hours to prevent a baby from crawling into flames) but it was still worth watching someone else do it: https://youtu.be/m7GAtSIy4-w
"The Stanley Parable" and even more so its followup, "The Beginner's Guide". Both are technically video games, but actually more like interactive movies.
There are many types of videogames with many different audiences, similar to movies. You can argue that videogames aren't art by pointing to Call of Duty, just as I can argue that movies aren't art by pointing to Suicide Squad. If you argue that movies are art by pointing to Citizen Kane, I'll point to Spec Ops: The Line or the Stanley Parable.
I also think you're conflating "art" and "visual design".
In The Stanley Parable <Spoilers>I spent soooo much time wandering around the virtual museum in one of the endings. It was so cool, and I wanted more things like that. I'm totally down for VR museums. </Spoilers>
I realized awhile back that a lot of the best 'sculptures' nowadays are being made in 3D programs, and not in real life, nowadays. I'd love if someone could create a virtual museum software that includes exhibits of some of the great 3D models that have been included in various games, movies, etc.
I think The Stanley Parable is a much better example of an artistic experience. The creator made another game called The Beginner's Guide which I thought was just as good.
Limbo, Papers Please, I Am Bread, Please Don't Touch Anything, are all good examples of games I would also consider art. These games are genuinely different and many of them are considered incredibly enjoyable by most people.
If you want something which really is just art and not much of a game, The Cat And The Coup is free on Steam. Frog Fractions 2 is also free and you can find it using Google (you have to play the whole game to understand).
For the most part I think gamers and developers are a bit sensitive about their medium, trying to argue it's "art" because it has a positive connotation. I think they should just enjoy it for what it is, as most games are designed to be fun instead of something else. That said, I think VR might try to change this. A friend of mine at Oculus mentioned how it's the very early stages, comparing VR to movies from ~100 years ago. Back then they just filmed plays, as they didn't realize what they could do with the medium. I'm sure VR will have lots of typical blockbusters following generic formulas, but I think indie developers (of which there are more every day) will build some pretty incredibly stuff in the coming years.