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Bonus Points: Ebert Relents, Miyazaki’s Ni no Kuni, PC Prodigy

I’d like to introduce Bonus Points, a round-up of noteworthy happenings in video games. Several interesting things have cropped up on my radar. Let’s take a look-see, shall we?

Roger Ebert Wraps Up “Video Games Aren’t Art” Debate

Earlier this year, Roger Ebert wrote that video games can never be art, a claim which obviously offended many gamers. In a post on his blog at the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert admits, “I should not have written that entry without being more familiar with the actual experience of video games.”

I won’t go into all the details of the debate here. What his post comes down to is that Ebert realizes that condemning video games to being less than art for the entire span of their existence was uncalled for, admits that he failed to produce a definition of art (and still can’t determine one which excludes video games in their present state), and confesses that his failure was trying to make an argument on theoretical grounds, having played no more than two video games himself as well as having no desire to play one now.

For me, this particular debate on the “video games as art” issue was never about whether Ebert had a valid argument. I’m satisfied at this point with his withdrawal from the issue by admitting he never should have gotten into the debate in the first place. I thought it was very classy of him to admit his mistakes.

Level 5 and Hayao Miyazaki’s Ni no Kuni: Queen of the Holy White Ash

Publisher Level 5 and the acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki have teamed up to produce one of the best looking PS3 games I’ve seen in a while, Ni no Kuni. Check out the trailer below:

Incredibly beautiful, no? Some looking around the Internet seems to show that they’re also working on a DS version. I’m interested to see if the creature summoning mechanic allows for various types.

[via Topless Robot - Link]

3-year-old has Faith, Thinks with Portals

3 year old plays Mirror’s Edge, Portal

This kid is pretty cool, if you ask me. Kotaku reader Callum sent in the video of his son playing Mirror’s Edge and Portal to the video game news site today. I can’t imagine what my childhood would have been like with access to games like these. I remember when I was about his age wanting the Gameboy so badly I had dreams about it. There was this vampire in the game and he came out of the screen, stalking towards this large castle where blobby monsters sat and bounced in the sconces….

Anyway.

[via Kotaku - Link]

That’s about it for the inaugural edition of Bonus Points. If I spot anything else that’s interesting out there, I’ll be sure to let you guys know.