Predictions - Game Design Theory - page 157

machines than anything else. So I ask you: if developing a deeper under-
standing about what games even are isn't the way forward, then what is ?
Music during the Renaissance
What does a renaissance look like, exactly? This isn't some term I am
using carelessly. What we will experience will be a lot like the impact of
the Renaissance on music in the 15th century. Until then, Western music
had largely been the province of churches, used primarily as a vehicle for
various religious ceremonies and practices. Almost all development that
took place in music in the Middle Ages resulted directly from Church
commissions.
However, in the 15th century—a time of great cultural and techno-
logical change—things began to change. The rise of the new bourgeois
class, combined with the development of the printing press, meant that
for the first time music became somewhat self-sufficient Music was be-
ing produced and listened to for its own sake , not just as a means to an
end. By the time the Renaissance was over (roughly 1600), a system of
functional tonality that all music is based on had been established. (The
only exception is the somewhat limited instances of music in which a
conscious decision is made to reject functional tonality; examples in-
clude noise music, post-tonal modern composers, and other avant-garde
works).
In short, during the Renaissance we pretty much figured out the
basic functionality of music. And this is what's going to happen with
games. Right now, video games are still in the phase where games can't
really exist for their own sake—most often, they have to justify their ex-
istence with some sort of fantasy simulation. Just as this was not the case
for music made after the Renaissance, this won't be the case for games
made after the Ludic Renaissance.
Purpose
Because it wanted us to continue buying its hardware every few years,
the video-game industry has told us the same lie for years: newer is bet-
ter. Newer often took the form of bigger , more , or higher levels of technol-
ogy , but by now it should be clear that those things do not make better
games. Ironically, however, the mantra newer is better may actually be-
come somewhat true in the future.
If and when we reach a point of enlightenment about games, the
games we make are going to improve dramatically. Our games will be-
come much more coherent, interesting, and lasting than they ever have
been before. We'll no longer be shooting in the dark.