2D Boy: There’s never been a game masterpiece

Speaking at his MIGS 2010 keynote 2D Boy co-founder Ron Carmel has suggested that there has never been a masterpiece of the video gaming form.

In his session, titled ‘A Brief History of Indie’ Carmel said: "I don’t think we’ve seen yet a masterpiece of video gaming."

Pointing to television series The Wire as an example of ‘a symphony’ of storytelling, Carmel added: "Video games are 20 years behind television. Games have barely begun their climb towards their potential."

The co-creator of indie hit World of Goo then presented a case for building a new kind of studio model he called ‘design studios’, that balance the creatively risky approach of indies with the commercial resource of bigger companies.

Proposing the notion of ten-man outfits that function in the same way concept car teams do in the automotive industry, Carmel suggested that Sony’s Team Ico and That Game Company are already working in the model that he believes can help propel the video game medium towards its first masterpiece.

"When one of their next games comes out, that’s when I’ll buy a PS3," he said, adding "Shadow of the Colossus is as far as games have come in terms of something meaningful and important."