Video Games, Art, Technology

Site #1

“I broke a sweat for Wii Fit, but it called me names,” by Matt Harley, Globe and Mail on May 22, 2008, explains how technology is promoting an active lifestyle. Video games are usually thought of as inhibiting an inactive lifestyle but the Wii is making strides to counteract this stigma.
“With the Wii, Nintendo has flipped the video game world on its head. The revolutionary system expanded the gaming market beyond basement-dwelling teenage males with its motion-sensing controllers – called Wii Wands or “Wiimotes” – which allow gamers to play by physically mimicking the motion of swinging a racquet or hitting a baseball rather than mashing buttons,” says Harley.
I really enjoy that Nintendo has listened to the people and made a positive attempt to help the countries obesity epidemic rather than promoting this “super-size” lifestyle. Even though the Wii does not show results of a large amount of weight loss or muscle gain it does, however, calculate body mass index and moves a gamer from the couch to an active position.
“Nintendo isn't making any specific health claims about the Wii Fit. The company says the game encourages physical activity and hopes families will find it a useful tool for staying active, says Nintendo Canada spokesman Matt Ryan,” explains Harley.
As this class has discussed earlier, technology is beginning to change in new ways that which have never been understood before. Technology is finding its way into every aspect of our lives. Whether it be adopting a “pet,” incorporating new exercise routines or even training the military, technology and the use of concept art through video games has, in many ways, improved the way we go about activities.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080522.wgtwiifit0523/BNStory/Technology/home

Site #2

“James Cameron Will Make You Believe,” found on Empire magazine’s Web site, spotlights a new feature film that incorporates concept art in filmmaking.
The movie, “Avatar,” uses computer-generated characters alongside of real human actors. ”Making beings in a computer that remain completely convincing alongside live-action humans is something that has never been fully achieved in movies, although Peter Jackson has come closest and made enormous leaps. But Cameron believes he has the technology,” explains Empire.
This is a new up-and-coming way that technology has become art where virtual characters interact with characters played by real human beings. Without this technology art would not exist.
Cameron has been dedicating so much time to this new technology that the story of the film may not be as good, but it is still art.
“He goes so far as to say that he's been concentrating so hard on getting the technology right that "I don't know whether [this] will be [a] great film from a narrative and critical standpoint. The experience of Avatar will be an experience unlike any other movies,” says Empire.
As we have discussed in this class, art comes in many forms and has changed over time. When something changes over time, it does so with technology. New ways of doing something, like creating art, is technology. How can you fight technology when it has brought forth so many great forms of art? Roy Lichtenstein is a well-respected pop artist who used the technology of screen-printing to create beautiful pieces that are now on display in museums.
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22615