Film director Guillermo del Toro, of Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy fame, is currently set to lend his artistic vision to a field that has long fought for its place in the artistic realm. The debate as to whether or not video games can be considered art was recently set ablaze when acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert blogged that “no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience [video games] as an art form”. While Ebert admits to having no desire to ever play a video game, hardly the same sentiment applies to del Toro, who previously stated that Flower is “like haiku poetry.” Almost a year later Ebert referred to the same game as “decorative interest on the level of a greeting card”. The two are definitely polar opposites when it comes to video games and art. However, with del Toro’s unique artistic direction poised to influence the gaming industry, can the opinionated Ebert change his anti-gaming ways? Or will del Toro’s gaming projects miss the mainstream mark like other filmmakers’ ventures into the gaming world?

In a recent interview with MTV, del Toro sat down to discuss (in so many words) his intention to create a slew of video game projects.
“One of the things we’re announcing in the next few weeks is a big deal with a big company. We’re going to do games that are going to be technically and narratively very interesting. It’s not a development deal. We’re going to do it. We’re doing them. And we’re going to announce it soon enough,” stated del Toro during the interview.

As of now, both del Toro’s “big deal” and “big company” are veiled in mystery by threat of physical harm. “[They] would probably shoot me in the head,” jokes Guillermo in reference to divulging this information. Until more details are released, we can only speculate what kind of titles del Toro intends to produce. Will they be of unique subject matter that drives the artistic argument of video games past the breaking point? One can only hope for them to be completely original thoughts, and not based on a movie project, such as “The Hobbit” for example. A film that del Toro recently pulled out from due to conflicts in scheduling.

Del Toro reassured fans of his commitment to the development of these future titles by stating: “We’re going to do it. We’re doing them. And we’re going to announce it soon enough”. With this said, expect del Toro and his unknown partnership to be revealed within the coming months (or weeks). With any luck, Roger Ebert will be eating his words when del Toro’s project materializes.