We gamers are a self conscious breed. So used are we to coming so close to mainstream acceptance before being snubbed, we are constantly and with varying degrees of eloquence leaping to defend the medium as a legitimate art form; which occasionally and sadly leads us to forget sometimes that games are supposed to entertain. We'll allow ourselves Marvel Versus Capcom 3, yeah, fine, as long as we go and get that Team Ico collection asap so we can atone, or try and get some kind of angle on how Dead Space 2 earnestly explores the human psyche. Must. Resist. Fun. Brown bread for main course, white for desert.

It's kind of sad in that regard that the early part of this year is loaded with some fun looking parodies of self serious genres that probably won't get the love they deserve. Bulletstorm looks great as does next month's WWE All Stars as a pallet cleanser from Killzone 3 and Smackdown, but in our earnestness, we must resist- regardless of whether the 'bro' shooter and the wrestling game (especially the wrestling game. But especially the 'bro' shooter)are in desperate need of a mickey taking or not. No, I predict a lukewarm reception for them both, as we huddle behind our realistic shooter glass houses to defend our hobby. There's a similar parallel here to the world of mixed martial arts, a sport that is itself constantly on the brink of widespread acceptance- on the announcement of 505 Games' Supremacy MMA, a title which seems to take a Blitz the League/ NBA Jam  approach to caged fighting, sports blog SB Nation got some press with their critique of the game, stating 'not all games are good for the sport' 

So, as quick as gamers are to leap to their hobby's defence, we are also the first to be overjoyed at gleaning some acceptance from the art community, eagerly lapping up the scraps from the artistic table like a mangy dog wearing a tweed jacket with hastily stitched on leather elbow patches. And smoking a pipe.

The Japan Media Arts Festival, now in its fourteenth year, has a history of giving videogames a somewhat even footing with other media, paying host to gaming submissions in the entertainment/interactive art category. Past winners have included the likes of Okami, Wii Sports and Ocarina of Time, and while having to fight for elbow room this year with corporate websites and non gaming iphone apps (including the genuinely disturbing Hour Face, which takes a picture of you then visually ages you to 100 years old, before regressing you to child like form in front of your very eyes), there was a fair bit of floor space for that sad mutt in me to catch the table scraps in. 

One thing that surprised was a lack of independent games, and a lack of narrative driven experiences being given nods. Yakuza 4 was given a jurors' honourable mention, with praise given to its writing, but then so was dross like Basara 3, which gave an impression that the 'jury recommends' label would be more aptly named 'games the jury has heard of'. The games field was limited to Japanese developed titles, and I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like had Minecraft or Sleep is Death been made on Oriental shores.

The lack of narrative focus in honoured games was accented by major nods being given to story-less projects. Receiving an Encouragement Prize from the jury was E-Sports Ground- a Kinect based mod that networked three Kinects hooked to PCs suspended from the ceiling, allowing six players the chance to play a game of trebles pong projected onto the floor. It's a far cry visually to what we're used to from Kinect based applications on 360, but the lines of families and couples eager to try it out and having a grand time when playing didn't seem to care. It's a lesson in casual gaming that not only should control inputs be simplified to target a wider audience, but mechanics and visuals can be stripped right down and people will come. Kinect may have a home in Japan yet, but I'd be willing to bet that home will be in the arcades and fitness centres, not the living room.

Playing the Excellence Prize runner up to the Grand Prize winner of the Twitter ID parade website was Echochrome 2. It seemed an apt decision after designer Jun Fujiki's Echochrome forerunner Incompatible Block was given the encouragement prize in 2005.The head scratching PS3 shadow manipulation puzzler certainly seems almost enough to make this writer want a Move, but, again, It was telling that experience driven games as opposed to narrative driven ones were what seemed to catch the jury's eye. Possibly it's the games championing nerd's job to get behind a clever- design- with- broader- appeal type experience to gain the attention of the art world rather than confusing non gamers with titles that have challengingly dense mechanics masking what may or may not be a strong story. Next year, with Last Guardian on the horizon, should be an interesting one; though it should be noted neither Ico nor Shadow of the Colossus, the art gamers' great hopes, earned an award at the JMAF on their respective releases.

Perhaps the most fascinating exhibit as it pertained to games and tech on display, however, wasn't a game at all. Receiving an Encouragement Prize for art was the incredible Eyewriter project.. Designed in conjunction with artist Tempt1, three webcams are used to track the pupils, allowing the physically disabled a low cost (the entire set up on display in Tokyo, proclaimed designers, cost 20,000 Yen- just over the two hundred Dollar mark) opportunity to design, draw and communicate. Attendees were given the chance to try out the system, navigating uncannily Kinect like interfaces of tracking motion and hovering over items to select them, before doing some drawing and even playing a quick game of Breakout. With disabled gamers' rights coming to the forefront this week , it's not hard to see pupil tracking becoming a solution for disabled gamers, and just maybe a new way for the rest of us to interact with games. Could eye tracking be to handhelds what motion sensing has been to consoles?

Time will tell if art imitates life. Imitating art. Imitating science. Whatever happens though, remember to have fun, won't you?