Do you consider video games art?

Player_EPlayer_E Member, PRO Posts: 604
edited November -1 in Miscellaneous
So I was on Twitter and came across this blog that give a pretty solid argument for why video games are in fact art.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/2011/04/video-games-are-art.html

I for one agree and have played games like Limbo, and Shadow of the Colossus and loved them both. I find that for me there are two types of games, ones I play to have fun and others I play for the story.

I'd have to admit and say that even though I spend more hours playing games that are fun I tend to recall and spend more time thinking about the games I played for the story. I dont remember the last time I sat and thought about a match on COD, where as I think almost daily about some of the the awesome stories I have played through.

Yes I want to make games that are fun, but a bigger achievement for me would be to make a story that people remember and talk about for a long time. I know im not at that point yet, but one day I wish to be there.

One story that seems to have stuck with me over all these years is Final Fantasy 9. I was probably in 5th grade (almost 10 yrs ago) when my brother and I purchased this game. The moment I turned it on and started to play through it I was hooked. I loved when Final Fantasy went with the "mid evil" theme as opposed to the futuristic one like FF7, FF13, and some others, so FF9 fit perfectly.

I just loved the entire background of the game, From kidnapping the princess to befriending many and fighting for and with them. The minor story themes that each character brings are priceless and just seemed to draw me in even more.

I think the main reason why this game was so appealing to me was because of the main character Zidane. He was different from other FF main characters with the "woe is me" attitude (Cloud, Squall). He was upbeat and lively and being a young kid at the time I kinda saw a bit of myself in him. Even today I can look at that character and find many similarities behind his character and how I go about my daily life.

Well time to end this before it gets out of hand as you can see I could talk about that game for many hours, thats just a quick summary. I wish that one day I can make a story that would be able to have so many connections with people as this one game in particular did with me.

I'm open to hear any of you talk about if games should be considered art and what games really impacted you on the level that make them more than just a game to you.

Comments

  • CaptFinnCaptFinn Member Posts: 1,828
    Original games..... for certain. taking a temp and truely molding into something from your imagination..... sure. Copy and Pasted games... nah
  • SlickZeroSlickZero Houston, TexasMember, Sous Chef Posts: 2,870
    Games are total works of art. From the coding to the graphics and everything else in between. Games like Assassins Creed and Oblivion had me at the computer for hours at a time just from the beauty of the graphics, and the gameplay. I also consider gameplay a work of art because it's engaging, just like staring at a painting that appeals to you.

    Even World of Warcraft is a beautiful work of art. The graphic style may not appeal to some people because of it's lack of realism, but it's an incredible creation that will never be duplicated. And tshirts Zombie Drop is a great example of a work of art. It's graphics flow perfectly from the characters to the background. Nothing stands out by itself, because the art flows so smoothly. Sometimes you don't even notice the background because it's what your eyes expect to see, so it's not a distraction from the gameplay, where your focus is at. Air Supply is another good example.

    Games are like a live action sketch/painting/sculpture/poem.
  • DhondonDhondon Member Posts: 717
    I would rather compare video games to drugs than art:)
  • XpandemicXpandemic Member Posts: 157
    Imo any video game is art
  • hoodwinkedfoolhoodwinkedfool Member Posts: 30
    I read an interview a long time ago with Kojima where he said video games are like museums. They contain other works of art that you go through. He said if you considered a museum currator an artist, than video games are art.
    I'm kind of the opinion that the gameplay is where the art is. There is a reason why certain games draw us in and why others don't. I suggest everyone read Anna Antropy's blog www.auntiepixelante.com , especially the posts about level design such as this one http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=459 and you get a really great understanding of the "art" going on in some games.
  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    dhondon said:
    I would rather compare video games to drugs than art:)

    Haha good one! :)

    I absolutely consider video games art, especially games like Braid, Limbo, and many more!
  • XpandemicXpandemic Member Posts: 157
    I don't see why there's still a debate on this, video games ARE art.

    There's concept art, 3d artwork, music(art right?), 2d art there's lots of art put into these games; I really don't see why we still argue wither games are art or not.
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