Roger Ebert, a critic whom I cannot say I have any sort of good opinion about, has been quoted as saying that "video games can never be art." He obviously has never played Bioshock. Or Okami. Or Final Fantasy. I could go on. Some video games are simply beautiful, with immersive environments, unique style, gorgeous music, intensely thought-provoking plots, well thought out characters, etc. Ebert calls filmmaking an art, but games are not? Some video games are simply a movie where you are in control of the main character. He makes a point that video games are not art because you can win, there are rules and an objective, and so on. I'll half agree with his point: playing video games is not exactly an art. Where the art lies is in the game itself, in the work that has gone into it. Creating video games simply breaks out of artistic tradition, much like Van Gogh broke out of tradition with his unique, unrealistic style. Creating a video game is not the same as creating an oil painting, but neither is choreographing a ballet. But is that not also an art?
I like your view on video games. I don't know if I have ever seen them as art, but not because I don't think they are but rather because I have never thought about it. They is a lot of similarities between the decisions for art and the decisions for video games. The right contrast, color, balance and so on. It really could be considered art.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. SO much goes into creating video games; they're just art in a different medium that many people are not yet used to. And you're right, video games do break the artistic tradition like so many artists before. Hopefully someday soon they'll get the recognition they deserve.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Jordan said. I don't know if I have ever seen them as art but its because for one I doon't play them oftern and two because I never considered it that way. There is a lot of thought process and creativity that goes into them and I can see where they could be considered art in it's own sense.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has differing opinions on art but in saying that video games don’t qualify as art almost discredits the whole graphic design profession. Graphic designers have the same training as most studio majors. Those video designers probably know a lot more about the human anatomy than most, because like many of the old masters they have to know and understand how the body works in order to successfully display a believable image to their audience. That is kind of getting away from the original point but it frustrates me that the author isn’t appreciative or open minded to the term ‘art.’
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