What it says on the label. Stolen from Ken's thread...
Basically choose 10 games you feel are art and preferably give a short statement of why these are art and others are not of its genre or peers.
If games can be art, then which ones are?
What it says on the label. Stolen from Ken's thread...
Basically choose 10 games you feel are art and preferably give a short statement of why these are art and others are not of its genre or peers.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
Shadow of the Colossus. - Pretty.
Uncharted 2 - An awesome action packed interactive movie.
Fallout 3/New Vegas. - Unbelievable direction and creativity.
Chrono Trigger/Cross - Very intriguing worlds and storylines.
Final Fantasy 8 and 9 - The craziness of 8 makes it so cool. Some creative places like the Gardens or Esthar. 9 had the best atmosphere by far, though.
Either all are, or none are. It'll just be varying subjective opinions on how "good" art it is.
Just like even the crappiest movie ever made is still really art. Just not very good art (which again is subjective. Maybe the director thinks it's the most wonderful movie ever).
everything is wrapped in gray
i'm focusing on your image
can you hear me in the void?
I can't think of ten but Chrono Trigger is definitely a work of art in my mind. Every element in that game synthesizes so perfectly. The way the colors of the sprites compliment the music is about the most organic thing I've ever seen in any video game.
Xenogears may qualify, too, although for different reasons. It was epic in length and it's focus on story is unrivaled. I've yet to see another RPG that put as much effort into telling a story. Also, the soundtrack is far and away the best I've heard in a video game.
Portal. I haven't played the second installment (and likely never will as I have no faith in valves ability to make a sequel) but if perfection is something to strive for in art, and I say it is, then portal definitely deserves mention. I can't think of a single flaw in that game. It was a bit short but that is part of what makes it a shining example of perfection in a video game. The saying "Perfection is not achieved when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away" applies here. In my mind, you can't add or subtract anything from the original portal without decreasing it's overall quality.
Half-Life and Doom may qualify as well. Both of those games had atmosphere like nobody's business.
I've heard Deus Ex qualifies, but I've not played it yet.
Minecraft - I've already talked about Minecraft in the other thread.
Now this is a very tricky question... Like I said in the other thread, it's hard to actually pinpoint what art is... But if I were to choose some games based on my subjective opinion, I'd go with something like this:
Final Fantasy XII - basically, I like how Yoshida's concept art is more like full-blown paintings and the graphics in this game do their best to imitate the movements of the paint brush presented in the artwork.
I'll list the music of FFXIII, even though I have not played the game yet, but Masashi Hamauzu remains one of my favorite composers. I think his creative mind goes way beyond simple video game music, making something purely artistic instead. The way he experiments with different instrumentations and harmonies is awe-inspiring.
Xenogears is a strang ecase. It's very post-modern, blending together elements of high and low culture. Low culture being anime, and high one being religion and philosophy. The game has plenty of psychological depth and is definitely made by a person with a vision of sorts.
Kingdom Hearts. The whole series seems like a very elaborate metaphor on something Nomura wants to express. I'm not quite positive on what that is, since the current story arc is not finished yet. But it still deals with some nice metaphysical themes, albeit lighter than the ones in Xenogears, and I can't help but notice parallels with "The Little Prince".
Planescape: Torment. Very realistic characters. Though I do not believe art should imitate reality, again, I think it takes an unusual mind to create a game like this. Nice use of the grotesque, naturalism, and sometimes even turpism, I believe. Somebody has done their research when it comes to philosophy.
All in all, I guess what makes me feel those games are art is that the creators try to do something to make them something more than just games. And yet, I know this is very subjective and someone may think there's nothing artsy about those games, and they'll probably still be right. Like I said before, art is a slippery subject
I disagree. There is a difference between entertaining someone and letting someone actively think about life and it's contents. That said, I don't consider a lot of games art. They are rare and wish there were more, but here goes.Originally Posted by Mirage
The most relevant to society as it is today (and therefore a must-read in this topic) must be:
1: Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4. Yes, it spaces out at times, but here's the shocker; (SPOILER)MGS2 predicted what various documentaries, social experts and movement groups have only just begun to shine light on: the monetary system. Digital flow and value of information. Controlling society using information, technology and entertainment. The immense charade that is politics and the president and such.
Also, the backstory of the Patriots (a small group of people controlling the USA on global scale) is based on theories that have yet to be proven false. The very interesting documentary "Zeitgeist" actually states that an organization similar to the Patriots exists.
MGS 4 continues very strongly on the monetary system and how war is the most profitable kind of business in the world. It shows just how sick and twisted mankind is. Controlling the flow of information and controlling societies makes a return as well, with new predictions for the future.
And that is depth most people fail to recognize.
Some others:
2: Shadow of the Colossus. An amazing reflection about life, death, right and wrong, solitude.
3: Final Fantasy X. Reflects on technology and questions mankind's use of technology, strong views on religion, life, but mostly death.
4: Ace Combat Zero. Look past the cliché war theme and you'll find loyalty, borders, politics and wealth/poor contradictions. It also questions the rightiousness of mankind itself and societies.
But still, many schools of art will disagree with you. Many believe art is not meant to make you think or express anything - it is just art and it exists just for itself. There was a name for it, but I forgetI disagree. There is a difference between entertaining someone and letting someone actively think about life and it's contents. That said, I don't consider a lot of games art.
Anyway, while your point is valid, I'm kind of more like with Mirage on this one.
Huh? I find this position strange as Valve is the only company I can think of which has managed to make every sequel a better game than the original as far as I'm concerned. Portal may be the only one that is somewhat arguable for me as I feel the original is a tighter experience, but the second is the better game. And even if we did say for the sake of argument that Portal 2 is a lesser game than the original, it's still better than pretty much everything else released in the last few years.
I don't have time to elaborate on my list of games, though I will agree with nik on Portal and it would rank very high for me indeed.
If games are art then all are equal in terms of artistic merit. Ico and SoTC are often called out but I think those games are just pretentious, not the most artistic. If we are just talking about aesthetics then I really dig the Soul Reaver games as well as games like Rez and Child of Eden.
YouTube - ‪Uncensored Resident Evil Opening‬‏If games are art then all are equal in terms of artistic merit.
As others have mentioned, Shadow of the Colossus is an amazing piece of art, one of the best games ever to be released on the PS2 imo, though I am surprised no one has mentioned ICO that game is just stunning.
I definitely think Metal Gear Sold 4 is a work of art, so gritty, I honestly think that it is the very best game on the PS3, its just staggering how much detail they crammed into one disk.
The Fallout Series, they to are just epic pieces of gaming history, massive worlds and stunning graphics, and such a surreal feeling to the game lead to an epic piece of gaming.
Abes Exodus and Oddysee, for their time, these games had amazing backdrops, every location was unique (atleast in my memory it was lol) and lets not forget, these games were epic fun to play.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for me atleast this was an epic game, George is one of my all time favourite game people, and the voice actors were spot on, the American sounded American, the French sounded French... need I go on?
I know I already mentioned MGS4 but I felt that game deserved its very own entry on my list as does the following game: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, gone is the high tech gear, just you, splints and band aids, and a healthy dose of grit. The story for me... its just amazing after following the series so closely (I have played since MGS1 and also played Twin Snakes) this to me was the icing on the cake, I honestly wondered how Kojima could top this game after playing it, one of the very very few games to bring a tear to my eye (SPOILER)the way Boss sacrificed herself, her name and her honor in the eyes of almost every American in the game... its just staggering, and she is truly a gaming hero imo, such a tragic loss, if I'm honest I would really love to see a game exploring her past, and I hope Kojima has something in the works for her.
Agreed.
That said, and everyone is going to see this coming from me, but Alpha freaking Centauri is a masterpiece. Its story is better than that of 95% of books I've read, and I've read a lot of books.
This isn't true. In many mediums, they differentiate between what is art and what is entertainment. There are long treatises on the differences between movies and "film," and between books and "literature." I doubt a similar descriptor will arise for gaming, but I personally believe there are titles that are art, and titles that do not have enough creative elements to constitute anything other than a business venture.
Because gaming is a unique amalgamation of storytelling, images, animation, and music, there are games I consider art for two different reasons.
A) Some games I consider art because their stories introduce themes, explore the complexity of them, and in the end present some kind of conclusion to the consumer, if not probing them to think about it further. Games like this are:
1. Metal Gear Solid 4
2. Far Cry 2
3. Metal Gear Solid 2
4. Heavy Rain
5. Stacking
B) Other games have what probably pass as poor or cliche stories, but their efforts are so progressive in putting together a visual presentation, they can't not be art:
6. God of War III
7. Valkyria Chronicles
8. Ico
9. Dragon Quest VIII
10. Killzone 3
Don't get me wrong - a visually artistic game isn't just packing in as many polygons, but doing something interesting and creative with the imagination, coloring, shading, and effects like motion blur to create something beautiful. That's why I would say God of War III is artistic but Crysis 2 is not.
Okami: Because it's so obvious I shouldn't need to provide an explanation
Eyyyyyyyyyyyyy
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