I live for stories. This doesn’t make me particularly unique – since humans stumbled into language, we have always used stories to describe and examine ourselves and the world around us. From myth and religion to the novel and cinema, we have constantly looked for new ways to describe what it is to be us. Stories mean a lot to us - they can entertain us, move us and fundamentally shape who we become.

Interactive and group storytelling have survived into the modern age - we use them every time we sit around with our friends and yabber about the world – but aside from a few cult sub-genres, interactivity in published storytelling has lain relatively dormant. That is, until the advent of the computer game.

Which brings me to my point: as a storytelling medium and as an art-form, videogames are finally coming out of nappies. Notable old farts like Roger Ebert have stated that they don’t think videogames will ever be art, and many people would probably agree, but remember that the same was said about the novel and Cubism. It’s nonsense. The first thing I remember learning in senior high school art class is that the meaning of art is constructed through an interaction between artwork and audience. To me this is obvious - art effects us in the ways it does as much because of who we are as because of the artist’s particular intentions. Most artists (writers, painters, musicians whatever) will say the same.

It is my contention that because of the unprecedented ability of videogames to allow their audience to immerse themselves in the artistic interaction, they have the potential to be, in certain respects, more powerful artistic works than novels, films or television. Which is not to say that they’re anywhere close to fulfilling that potential as of yet. But there are signs that they’re beginning to inch toward it.

The strongest sign is probably the burgeoning indie games scene that has grown up from nearly nothing in the last few years. Individuals and small teams have shown that with a bit of talent and imagination, they can create experiences every bit as engaging (and often much more original) than mainstream development teams. This is exciting. As an artist, this is something I want to be involved in.

So I’ve started trying to build on my very rudimentary programming and design skills. I’ve started investigating tools that could assist a novice game designer in his quest. But most of all, I’ve started playing lots of indie games! Over the coming weeks, expect design-critical reviews of a great variety of indie (and maybe a few non-indie) games, as well as updates on my progress at learning the zen of the game-maker.