Roger Ebert, less wrong, more misunderstood?

Roger Ebert, of whom I am a huge fan, has taken a lot of heat for his "Video Games aren't art" stance.  Chris Anderson of Wired, who I am also a huge fan, has published a clarification, which if accurate goes a long way to soothing the pain of Ebert's betrayal of all I hold dear (kidding.)

Tasty Choices! Is the plate you construct art?

Chris Anderson's Clarification

The crux of the issue is how Ebert defines art. His definition centers on the intent of the artist more than the experience the person engaged with the piece.  I still disagree, but can respect his view now that I understand it better.  When I read his original article for whatever reason I missed this point entirely.  I may have been reading with emotional blinders on.

Ebert: I believe art is created by an artist. If you change it, you become the artist...Art seeks to lead you to an inevitable conclusion, not a smorgasbord of choices.

And there you go. The thing is, I still consider thought and emotion provoking games like Half Life 2 art, and I don't feel like I am the artist when I play them. Ebert may actually be giving games too much credit. Most allow choices, but the final results of the games are normally fixed, or a narrow set of fixed possibilities.  Games like Spore, where the player really does have a vast paint brush to play with, allow the player to be the artist, but the game itself is still, to my dismay, rather linear with a more or less inevitable conclusion.  Still art.

Adam!!!
http://gameguts.blogspot.com/

Free Content Model Examples

This time from Wired How-to Wiki

* '''CPM ads''' ("cost per thousand views"; banner ads online and regular ads in print, TV and radio)
* '''CPC ads''' ("cost per click"; think Google ads)
* '''CPT ads''' ("cost per transaction"; you pay only if the customer brought to you from a media sites becomes a paying customer. Here's [http://seekingalpha.com/article/12247-ebay-s-ad-network-ready-to-launch-ebay-goog an example].)
* '''Lead generation''' (you pay for qualified names of potential customers)
* '''Autoresponder Memberships''' (people pay for email; [http://FreeBusinessModel.com watch this free video])
* '''Subscription revenues'''
* '''Affiliate revenues''' (e.g., Amazon Associates, [http://imsimple.com/cb Products + Clickbank])
* '''Rental of subscriber lists'''
* '''Sale of information''' (selling data about users--aggregate/statistical or individual--to third parties)
* '''Licensing of brand''' (people pay to use a media brand as implied endorsement)
* '''Licensing of content''' (syndication)
* '''Getting the users to create something of value for free and applying any of the above to monetize it'''. (Like Digg or our own Reddit)
* '''Upgraded service/content''' (ed: aka "freemium")
* '''Alternate output''' (pdf; print/print-on-demand; customized Shared Book style; etc.)
* '''Custom services/feeds'''
* '''Live events'''
* '''"Souvenirs"/"Merchandise"'''
* '''Co-branded spinoff'''
* '''Cost Per Install''' (popular with top Facebook apps who can help others get installs)
* '''E-commerce''' (selling stuff directly on your website)
* '''Sponsorships''' (ads of some sort that are sold based on time, not on the number of impressions)
* '''Listings''' (paying a time based amount to list something like a job or real estate on your website)
* '''Paid Inclusion''' (a form of CPC advertising where an advertiser pays to be included in a search result)
* '''Streaming Audio Advertising''' (like radio advertising delivered in the audio stream after a certain amount of audio content has been delivered)
* '''Streaming Video Advertising''' (like streaming audio but in video)
* '''API Fees''' (charging third parties to access your API)

Honestly, I dislike most of the listed 'solutions'. I want a site where game designers can contribute to the site and profit directly from their contributions. A free model may not be appropriate. Some amount of free content will be essential, however.

-Adam