Anyone else suddenly "Get" Roger Ebert's opinion?

[Veldt Falsetto]

Lucky for you, I've been thinking about this and what I have to say is...NO

Gaming IS art, it isn't really gaming anymore anyway.
A game is something you can either win or lose.
Like Tennis.

You don't win or lose anything when you finish a game, it's the same as a film, it just ends.

You can't say you won Limbo because well, you didn't you finished it.
It's the same as any 'game', they aren't games really, unless it's online multiplayer or games like mario party.

Game is just a term we've become accustomed to, it's changed so much since then that we can't call it that anymore and infact all media is art, 'gaming' is just an interactive art form.

Who here can actually say that Flower isn't art, you don't win, you just do whatever the hell you want, what can be more artistic than a form of pure freedom?

 

[boholikeu]

I don't understand what the facepalm is in reference to. The fact that there's another Ebert thread? The fact that people still believe games can't be art?

The fact that people still believe games can't be art.[/quote]

Ah, well in that case I second your facepalm. =)

 

[jacobkosh]

Art as an....idea, I guess you could call it, is incredibly subjective. I dont consider the Mona Lisa art simply because there is nothing striking about it to me. Same as I wouldnt consider this Limbo game art. However I consider what Jack Kirby, and David Jaffe did as art. Jack Kirby created a whole new genre of comic book art and David Jaffe created a masterpiece with God of War. Now while someone might not agree with me, that doesnt mean I'm wrong because what you consider art differs from my perspective. Its all subjective.......

Except that "art" is not a word that means "I liked this." We have other words for that concept that you can use! Tons of them, in fact!

When you call something art or not art you are - whether you realize it or not - making a logical assertion, and logical assertions require internal consistency. There's no internal consistency in saying that one picture of a woman is not art and another picture is.

 

[PhiMed]

I don't think a virtually plotless platformer is really a good basis upon which to base your decision as to whether games are art.

I personally don't care whether the society at large considers them art or not, and I don't care whether they're defined that way, because they are a form of entertainment I enjoy, so applying a label to them won't make me enjoy them less or more than I already do.

But since you asked...

You arguments overlook one very important thing, and I can sum it up in three words... Silent Hill 2.

It's not just my favorite game. It's the first time I stared slack-jawed at the screen at the conclusion of a game. I didn't feel like I'd won. I just felt overwhelmed. I said immediately that I felt like I'd just read a very important novel. I can't really think of many other games that have made me feel quite like this. Because this game exists, I know that others can eventually be made that elicit similar feelings in the player.

 

[Treefingers]

I really like your take on things and think that more gamers need to read through your entire post as it is now and hopefully take something from it.