Game Journal 6 The school of criticism that made the most sense to me was by far the biographical critique. In my opinion the vast majority of the other critiques read as though the author was simply trying to find examples for that particular type of critique where there was probably very little intentioned meaning behind it. Some of the meaning behind the game that was analyzed seemed as though it was forced. The biographical critique, however, analyzes the author’s intent behind the game using quotes from the author himself. This lends more authority to the critique and prevented it from feeling as though meaningless aspects of the game were being critiqued. In the biographical critique for Katamari Damacy the critic uses the author’s own words to describe how the author intended the game to affect his audience. This is information straight from the source and thus allows for the game to be looked at in a new light. The author intended the game’s peaceful, fun, game that is almost devoid of conflict to brighten the lives of everyone that played it and thus make the world better. The critic in a more thorough analysis could then have described whether the game is successful in doing that, and if so by how much. The biographical critique provided the author’s motivations behind making the game. This is a strong basis on which to critique the game. Analyze the author’s intent behind making the game along with how well the game imparts the author’s message. By doing this the critic is able to understand the author’s message and thus is able to give a more thorough examination of the game itself in relation to how well it follows through on the message delivery. Because the biographical lens gives a broad spectrum of information from which the game can be critiqued, I would choose it to critique Katamari Damacy.
Through the biographical lens I can critique both the author’s intent with the game and how well the game lives up to the vision of its creator.