William Huber, “Some Notes on Aesthetics in Japanese Videogames”

In Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell, eds., Videogames and art (Bristol, UK; Chicago: Intellect, 2007).

Wil Wright: games will follow the same trajectory as other art (realism, technique -> impressionism, aesthetic freedom)
When realism becomes trivial on a technical level, the next glorious phase begins
A powerful but problematic narrative
Japanese aesthetic tradition doesn't follow this trajectory at all
“When mimetic criteria are mobilized is is as a tactic”
Engagement between classical terms of Japanese aesthetics are the Western tradition (Huber acknowledges these are arbitrarily defined, and gloss over much historical dynamism)
Blurry boundaries
Classical Japanese aesthetics:
Mono no aware (pathos/feeling of things)
Yojo (surplus of meaning)
Yugen (transcendent beauty without representation)
Sabi (poetic loneliness)
These are mobilized self-consciously in contemporary practice (including games)
Contemporary Japanese aesthetic concepts:
Masks and faces (mimesis/charicature/abstraction)
“Superflatness” (adapt isometric/surface to current encounter with the West)
Aesthetics of manga, anime, otaku culture
Simulation as “representation of behaviour in a dynamic system”
Mimesis is “a different kind of problem in Japanese aesthetic discourse”
“A simulation-sensibility that is more supple in its treatment of the game-subject”
Static background-settings (Ozu?) - avatar moves through, but they remain
Gaze, masks and mirrors
Mimetic tradition in Japan does not pursue the essential meaning of the thing represented – always a “mask,” capture the “mask-action” as/in an act of mimesis
Simulate the act of representing
Gaze: “What sees itself as a self can only do so by knowing itself as a knowable by another”
Influence of Sartre?
“stylized language of affect, a repertoire of gestures and utterances”
Aesthetic performance integrated as a criterion for success (dance, music, karaoke games)
Collectible sets in RPGs as an aesthetic performance that is rewarded (very interesting)
Aesthetic field as an axis of play
Double nature of motion as operant and visible
Blurry distinction between natural and ritual movement
Play includes elements of aesthetic performance
Isometric landscapes + menu-driven combat/interactions/events
“Exploded view” that includes apparatus and labour that constructs/produces it (exposed apparata)
Resistance to absolute perspective
Flatness, embrace“contradictory boundaries” of mimesis (2D)
Parappa the Rapper – flatness extends into 3D space (3D technology affirms 2D aesthetics)
Synaesthesia in Rez – expressive performance (mask/face)
Reward improvisation over rote imitation
Dating sims – player is visible as well as being a viewer (stats, responses, etc. - under scrutiny)
Define ones own mask
Photorealistic backgrounds with 2D animated characters (spaces persist)
Baroque in Final Fantasy – mask/face
Aesthetics of apocalypse