Progmatism.com

Two software updates on this lovely day.

First, version 1.0 of Paragrasp has finally been completed. This will probably be the last version, unless I think of some much needed feature, or find some particularily heinous bug.

Secondly, I've posted a pet project I was hacking for a while. vbecl is an unholy combination of Visual Basic and Embeddable Common Lisp. The sample project is a small lisp interpreter, with a VB front-end, distributation and runable on Windows platforms in a mere three files. No installation, no nothing. Really just a proof of concept more than anything else, but I find it interesting.

Parish on "games vs. art, round 1, fight"

I'm glad Electroplankton has come along to put this ridiculous debate to rest. It's an authentic work of art, which means that games can be art, thanks. Here's my proof, derived from six long semesters of art history.

It's an... interesting take on it. I always figured games were art by the mere fact that life imitates them. There's so much voluntary reproduction and casual referencing done by our generation, that games have become more than just simple fandom, but an actual part of our cultural identity. Look at all the zelda tattoes, atari shirts, IRL recreations of mario levels, and you can clearly see how games have shaped our perceptions of the world. If not art, what else could have such an effect?

I'd say all games, to a degree, are art. Most of the time, very crappy art. But the best examples are the likes of Ninja Gaiden I, and Ikaruga; games that are art due to their mechanics, as apposed to games that aim to be art solely using their story, or their aesthetics.

Ok, sorry, I'm done now.

Paragrasp version 0.95 is up. Version 1 will be here soon, whenever I get around to it.