14 replies to this topic

[Cyhort]

The "are video games art" debate has been going on for-freaking-ever it seems like, with people on both sides posting paragraph after paragraph on message board after message board passionately defending their point of view. But.....do you even care? If video games are recognized as a legit art form like painting or movies will that change how you enjoy them? At all?

Personally I think the whole argument is pointless. To me, games are about having fun and/or telling a good story. That's it. It didn't bother me when games were "stupid kids stuff" and it doesn't bother me that it's not art. But what about you guys?

[Krista]

Good games have artistic intentions within them.. scenery, story/plot, character designs, and the like. Is that the foremost intentions of video games? I don't think so, I mean a very artistic, visually appealing game can become very boring very fast with out the gaming aspect in there too.. The artistic intentions may not even be what you notice at first, but it should be something you DO notice if the intention is there.

There are a lot of genres that don't have artistic intentions, sport-based video games are more for the reality aspect.. trying the make the game and the functions of the game as realistic as possible.

Games like Dragonage and Halo and the like rely on art to add flavor... or they would all be the same.

[Sympathia]

Of course video games are art! We consider movies, books, paintings and music to be art so why would a product that merges all of that into one be something else?

The debate should be about the quality of the art not about wether or not a game is art...

[tomon]

I don't care whether games are officially recognised as art, but I personally consider them to be an art form (some, a hyrbid of many).

I play a lot of half novel/half puzzle games such as Last Window on the DS. The storytelling, character design and music in that game should prove to anyone that not all games are mindless timesinks for children/immature people. I think the more you read into game development and realise how many artists are involved, the less you consider there to be an argument, just an answer.

Looking at some of the bigger titles such as the Mass Effect series, they're actually made up of all the same components as a film, yet with even more components in there as well. For me, games aren't just an art form, but one of the deepest types.

[Phantom]

I agree with Sympathia in that video games are art. I see it this way, a video game is really an interactive story with moving pictures and original scores of music to accompany it. To me, we consider all of those to be art so why not consider a video game to be art as well?

[VictoryPanda]

While they are in my opinion Art, I couldn't care less. I don't care what its considered. If I like it, I like it. If a song is considered rap and I think its pop, does it really matter? No. I'm going to listen and sing along with it either way.

[Traveller_23]

I agree with Sympathia, mostly. But rather than games being pushed as an art form, I want them to just improve in quality generally.

Also, regarding Krista's comment. Art isn't just about the visually appealing - the gaming aspect is also art. I worry a tiny bit that if games as art moves into the mainstream, people will miss that fact. Although I think gaming itself is too well established to really let that happen...

[Sympathia]

The gameplay itself is way to important for a game to be ignored. People dont like bad UI's or confusing menus. I think consider the way all the aspects mentioned in the thread are merged into one to be the artform.

Take Mass Effect for example, there are unique characters all with their own set of beliefs, stories and goals. There's a complex universe with tons of dark little secrets and the looming threat of something unknown. There's a golden globe nominated composer adding tracks that made me tear up (the scene with Legion and Tali if you made peace between the races in ME3) and easy UI etc etc.

The progress through the game was awesome, it felt as if somebody had merged my favorite FPS with a first class RPG, spiced it with awesome music and tucked in all the little bits of curiosa (codex FTW!!!). That Ladies and Gentlemen is ART!

[W_L]

Video games are definitely art, the best video games have great stories, music, and scenery that combines the best of written, audio, and visual art into a higher form of interactive art.

The first game I associate with art is Homeworld:



Especially, this mission was the saddest thing I have played in any video game:

Edited by W_L, 23 June 2012 - 10:06 AM.

[AnimalMorph]

Um...It depends I guess...

If video games is going to be acknowledged as an 'art', would it make me more difficult to collect or own games that I like?
Is it possible that after people branded video game as an 'art', there will be some kind of new law that restrict us from fully enjoying the game itself? If it is, then the answer is.. Yes, I do care.

But if there's no change whatsoever when the video game is an considered art or not, then why should I care? LoL.
All I care is that I can still play and enjoy games that I like to the full extent.

[Autumn Dream]

I would already consider them art. They deal with music, writing, and sometimes beautiful representations of fictitious worlds and realities which can involve beautifully crafted sceneries - in my opinion, they're more of an art than cinema is, really.

Honestly though, I could care less if they were recognized as a real art form or not- it doesn't change the game! It doesn't suddenly make it ten times better! I would still enjoy it, regardless.

[clumber]

I would certainly consider video games to be art.

However, at the moment I would also consider them to be art in the same way that a 15 year olds romantic poetry is art. Its very, very bad art.


It hasn't always been like this - there have been a number of games which were very good, and I can remember people talking about how video games were maturing into a fully developed art, with games such as Homeworld, Fallout, Thief and Myst being prominent examples. Unfortunately, over the last few years (since maybe 2004-05 sort of period) it seems to have plunged rapidly downhill. Storytelling has become much more simplistic and visual design is massively underated in comparison to visual technology.

[Arkaven]

I reckon video games are an art form. Why not?

I don't mind what the consensus says on it personally, a rose by any other name... still pricks your fingers when you pick it.

Like any other kind of art, its value if measured by the one observing it.

Personally i think Picasso was a bit slap dash, but that doesn't mean that somebody else doesn't find him positively inspiring. I have no sense of value when it comes to painted artwork, i haven't seen how the painting was constructed; the levels of detail and texture and hours of time and love and patience that must have gone into it... all i see is a colorful canvas hanging in a museum and then 'Meh, i have seen it!'
But that is just me.

So i can understand that an art connoisseur might think that something cooked up by skilled teams of visionaries and graphic designers is repulsive... But that just means that video games aren't their type of art, not their idea of a good time, and that's fine... I am sure I would walk through the Louvre and wish i had spend my admission ticket on an extra croissant and a cup o'Joe.

To each their own, I say!

[Zachary McGinness]

Of course video games are art! We consider movies, books, paintings and music to be art so why would a product that merges all of that into one be something else?

The debate should be about the quality of the art not about wether or not a game is art...

True that. That reminds me of when in an English Literature class I had to fight with my teach to have my book report on a novelization of a certain TV show I LOVED. How that bitch could say it wasn't literature...I'll never know. It was a general English Lit class with no specific bent. Some people and their bloody biases shoving it down our throats...grr...

[Lawus]

In my opinion this is a very important topic and video games should be recognized as art. I'm an artist student, I'm studying to become a cartoon animator and designer, and I also had to make a lot of designs and everything for video games and it is not very different so I'm sure it should be recognized as art.
It wouldn't change how I'm enjoying playing with them and anything, but if a painting wouldn't be recognized as an artwork you would still enjoy it in the same way, so if video games are not art, then why paintings are recognized as artworks? I think I know what am I talking about, and I think it would be important but of course everyone have a different opinion