Do you beleive videogames are an art form?

[RiseToFall]

~This is a topic that i've been hearing alot about for a while now. On the one side we have a person like Roger Ebert who say's that "video games will never be as artistically worthy as movies and literature."

He beleives that our beloved medium has "fundamental limatations". And later goes on to say that " video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic."

So I was wondering what you guys think about all of this? Do you consider games an art form, or do you agree with Roger Ebert and beleive it will never reach that status?

Also for the people that beleive that games are indeed an art form. Do you think that they should be studied in the same way that film, music, and literature are?

[Odaisé Gaelach]

I think that they've already reached "art form" status.

[Madame Adequate]

The level of immersion offered by videogames means that, when made well, they can probably trascend most other art forms. The only one more immediate and necessarily interactive is architecture, but whilst that can evoke some feelings, it has a hard time doing so to the extent games can.

Yes, I consider them art, and I would go so far as to say that they will become the medium - for entertainment and for art - in this century.

[Roto13]

Play Killer 7 and tell me otherwise.

[Pike]

Yes, I think that video games are an art form. A successful video game is an amazing fusion of visual art (character design, storyboards), film (cutscenes, sound design), architecture (level design), music, animation, and storytelling, along with several new things that other mediums don't have to deal with (such as the actual gameplay mechanics). Furthermore, I don't know about anybody else, but I find video games to be more engaging on a personal level than any other art form. (Obviously I can't speak for everybody though.)

Yes I think that video games should be studied in the same way that other "art" is, I've thought several times sitting through many of my film classes that the exact same critiquing and studying of film that we do in class could be very easily and even seamlessly applied to video games.

I do feel that, as a fairly young art form, you probably won't be able to see many "high art" video games just yet... but I presume we're getting there. =P And for me, it's not a matter of "if" video games are going to be studied in class, it's "when".

[Sephex]

I believe it depends on the video game, I guess. This also goes from person to person because art is in the eye of the beholder.

[Rostum]

Defenately!

[Markus. D]

ovcourse.

its like a visual story book n_n

[Giga Guess]

Absolutely! Watch Aeris get skewered, and tell me that it didn't at least tug on a heart string or two. Or Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and say it didn't creep you out, if not scare the bejeezus out of you. When you take a viewpoint of a character you get more involved, hence the immersion of it all. Not to mention you have FAR more time to develop a character than in a movie. I'd say to think otherwise is an insult to the people that work endlessly to make these masterpieces.


Of course, that said, seeings how this is a gaming forum, there's obviously going to be a strong bias.

[KentaRawr!]

Well, when making a Video Game, someone would be looking for sales rather than expressing themselves. On the other hand, there are things involved in the making of the game such as Character Art and Music Writing. Level-Design could fit into the category of art as well. Story telling is also another form of art used in Video Games.

[LunarWeaver]

I would say for the most part. Some games have stories and characters developed so far above and beyond any movies. And some games are technical beauties.

Some are also just about shooting people in the face. But those are fun, so who cares if they're art or not.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

The medium can be considered a viable art form, but it is not all-encompassing. Certain games like Killer 7 or Okami definitely constitute art. Other games like, oh, say, Harry Potter and the whatever-thingy-cashing-in-on-the-movie do not.

[RiseToFall]

The medium can be considered a viable art form, but it is not all-encompassing. Certain games like Killer 7 or Okami definitely constitute art. Other games like, oh, say, Harry Potter and the whatever-thingy-cashing-in-on-the-movie do not.

I know exactly where your coming from in this department. But I mean do the games really have to look artsy to be considered art?

What I mean is this, do games have to look a certain way to be considered art?

Games like:
Killer 7
Okami
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus

All of these games have a certain art style in which they were made. Does that automatically make them art?

Also when you take 2 games, let's say any Final Fantasy and compare it to quick buck game like Harry Potter. I mean both games are done pretty much the same way. Sure Final Fantasy might take a year longer to make and the people making the game probably have a lot more passion for their project. But the actual process of making the games altogether is not so different from one to another.

This is the part that really confuses me in this overall topic. Why some games would be considered art but others left behind.

[Zeromus_X]

I always kinda thought video games were, you know, games. That I play. To have fun. And maybe enjoy some sort of explorable world or enthralling storyline.

Character designs, soundtracks, and the like, are definitely art though.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Graphical superiority isn't requisite for me to consider a game to constitute "art", but it definitely helps. Storyline, innovation, depth, these are the things that make a game art. Games that try to break out of the mold and do something new and innovative usually constitute art, as do games with an epic and genuinely engaging and interesting storyline (usually happens with games that break from normal storytelling conventions as aside to sticking to the old, tried, and true).

This isn't always the case though, and it's really subjective. I'd say a good game speaks for itself on whether or not it could be considered art.