Game Art by Matt Sainsbury

Summary
"Game Art" is a collection of breathtaking art from 40 video games and interviews with their creators. Featuring major studios like Square Enix, Bioware, and Ubisoft as well as independents like Tale of Tales and E-Line Media, Game Art explores and celebrates the creative process that turns a video game into art.

Art from: Akaneiro: Demon Hunters Alice: Madness Returns American McGee's Alice Atelier Escha & Logy Atelier Meruru Atelier Rorona Atelier Shallie Atelier Totori Bientot l'ete Bladestorm: Nightmare Child of Light Contrast D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Dead or Alive 5 Deception IV Dragon Age: Inquisition Dynasty Warriors escapeVektor Fairy Fencer F Fatal Frame II Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn flowmo Gamebook Adventures The Graveyard Hyperdimension Neptunia KILLER IS DEAD LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW Luxuria Superbia Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox Monster Monpiece NaissanceE Never Alone Ninja Gaiden 3 The Path Samurai Warriors Shadows of the DAMNED Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God Spirit Hunters Inc Sunset Tengami

Interviews with: Peter Budziszewski and Tamara Schembri Amy Fredeen and Alan Gershenfeld Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn Yosuke Hayashi Keisuke Kikuchi Makoto Kitano Mike Laidlaw American McGee Naoko Mizuno and Tsunako Alex Norton Yoshito Okamura Jean-Francois Poirier Guillaume Provost Neil Rennison Jennifer Schneidereit Mavros Sedeno SUDA51 Hidetaka Suehiro Akihiro Suzuki and Hisashi Koinuma Nic Watt Naoki Yoshida"

Quote

Not only do video games provide a complete visual and audio experience that rivals any other form of art, they also put players at the center of the action with the ability to control what happens.

Larry Goldberg

Reactions
Strange and cool!

I know my introduction may be confusing but this book was not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking about a retrospective of the video games. Instead, I got the vision about gaming and how it would evolved from independant artists.
It was interesting and pretty cool to discover other stuff than the usual best sellers.

I'm not a gamer but I've always been attracted by animation and the art behind the programming. So this book was also a good way to have a glimpse into the gaming world without being too scary. ;-)

I've enjoyed the different perspectives about art, inside a game, given by the interviewers. Like Jennifer Schneidereit's vision of a game that should be more about details and beauty than a commercial story. I've also appreciated  her Japanese approach in "Tengami". It’s beautiful.

Like the title of "Purveyors of Beauty and Joy" or the way Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn describe themselves and their vision of a video game. The difficulty of joining art and programming and creating a game that will please the gamers and the non-gamer too. Frustrating for them as much as for the people outside the video industry.

So even if it was not what I was expected, it was a cool way to spend an afternoon in company of talented artists.

Have fun reading this book!

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.