I've been meaning to write something up here about a subject that's been on my mind for about 5 years now - games as an art form. It's a subject that raises almost as many questions as it answers, questions that I've spent a great deal of personal time in reflection considering and attempting to answer. There are so many different ways of looking at games, from a technical and philosophical position, and without having some ground rules, a discussion around such a (potentially) heated discussion can go horribly wrong.
What are your thoughts on games as an art form? Are there specific titles? Is there a unique standard that makes one game art and another game not? Do you agree with the general argument or disagree entirely with the premise? And perhaps the biggest one that needs tackled slightly before this goes on, what is art?
I want to write something of substance here, so your (serious) feedback is helpful. I've had the discussion with many friends, associates, and clients over the years, and it always changes depending on who you're talking to. Knowing your thoughts/beliefs/philosophies/criticisms helps the quality of the discussion overall.
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We've talked about this many a time and every time we go around in circles so "Good Luck."
ReplyDeleteSaying which game is art and which isn't is up to each individual person. Like that chick that peed in a jar and put a crucifix in it upside down and said it was art. Or that other loser that spread manure over a painting of Mary and said it was art. As much as I strongly disagree...someone else thinks it's art.
A game to be categorized as art raises several questions in my mind. Mainly can a game be art if it has all the content of art, but plays like garbage? Shadow of the Colossus comes to mind here. Or what if a game's story falls flat in the end? Bioshock comes to mind here.
I dunno bro. I think for me I don't care if the mass population (Roger Ebert) thinks video games are art or not. I care more about them being respected as a great form of entertainment that has some credibility like books and movies. I don't think we're there yet, but getting there.
Watching my dad play video games for the first real time in his life over the past 2 months has been incredibly interesting to me. He bought his own 360 and an XBOX LIVE GOLD account. He mainly bought it to play games with my bro in Indonesia. I will now sign on and see him playing Gears of War 2 and Modern Warfare 2 campaign on his own for fun. He has a blast. Says he can't believe how realistic and fun they are. Said MW2 is like being there. My dad use to bust my chops about playing games so much, but to see him come around like this after really experiencing them has been pretty awesome.
To me, it all depends on the title of the game, rather than a blanket statement that all games are a work of art. The same could be said about movies; I think that we can all agree that films are an art form. The original Star Wars trilogy (which I just finished for the first time) is a masterpiece of modern moviemaking. But I can't say the some for.. movies such as Meet the Spartans.
ReplyDeleteNow lets take this to the game world. Games like SotC, Flower, Half-Life 2.. all great candidates for games that can be considered art. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand? Probably not.
Maybe this needs to be broken down further. What exactly can be considered an art form? What IS art? A medium used to invoke an emotional response in others? That would probably be my best, personal definition. Although Hideo Kojima stated that he thinks video games are not an art form, he then said that the process of creating a game can be, which I suppose could be true. It was definitely inspiring to me, as I was playing Cave Story, to learn that only one man created something that teams of developers dared to achieve. Only one man created the sprites, music, code, and story for a game, which went on to become phenomenal indie game. It was impressive to say the least.
tl;dr: Some are, some aren't.
LMAO! I didn't know Nick was doing that... that's hilarious!
ReplyDeleteGames can be art just like any other form of creative expression - music, paintings, sketches, poetry, writing, movies, etc., etc... the Max Payne games come to mind... noir art story with a dark tale amidst a depressing city and a haunted protagonist...
Max Payne...the only truly brooding/dramatic character that I love in games. I want his voice actors voice!
ReplyDeleteI don't think games have been elevated to this point yet, but we don't judge any other art by the same standard.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get bothered by the painting that doesn't put us in the mood that we were expecting. And if we do, we ask ourselves if perhaps that was the artist's intent. Is it an unfair standard for classical art or is it expecting too much of games?
This is a great example of how more questions are brought out of simple answers. It's not that anything is wrong at any point in the logical process being employed here, but it helps us arrive no sooner than if we hadn't left.