Games that are art: What's your candidate?

[FalloutJack]

Unfortunately, the best candidate on my list IS Shadow of the Colossus. That is, I can't think of another better title to put on that. It was clearly made to show off one helluva place, with very detailed enemies who are actually quite few and far between. The idea was that it was a different game, with different sorts of challenges, and it was very nice-looking. I'm not sure of who else fits the bill that I've played.

 

[Rauten]

The Path.
./thread

 

[Totenkopf]

Fable I & II
Brütal Legend
BioShock

 

[Sworm]

Okami. Duh.

This

Team Fortress 2.

That game just never gets old.

This

Zelda: Ocarina of time + Majora's Mask
bioshock 1
& more recently, Assassin's Creed 2

 

[mrfusspot]

World of Goo or Flower, or Raycatcher.
Oh OH! Deadspace as well. In that artsy "Nothing on screen that doesn't actually take place within the setting" kind of sense.

 

[laol1999]

Okami. Duh.

im pretty sure that he was talking in the way of really good but i have to agree that okamis an awsome game

 

[Tele-screen]

Starcraft, Guilty Gear. Storys are alright but the desighn the balance and just everything. makes them a work of art and its just amazing.

What themes do you see reflected in the gameplay that make them art? Starcraft is indeed brilliant, but has always seemed more like a fantastically updated version of Chess to me. I'm not saying all games are art, just that some are, or are in certain moments. Some games are just great games.

Well mabey am wrong then mabey i should go look up the definition of art lol. Just there so beutifuly desighned and balanced its just like pinniacle of game desighn right there.

Guilty Gears a fighting game and when its played at high levels its mind boggiling and just how creative people are at playing the game. Mabey thats not art mabey am talking about somthing else. I dunno. My applogies.

Ha, no I wasn't saying you were wrong. The definition of art is really nebulous and personal. My particular definition might not be yours, but I really do think that great art direction in a game does not automatically make a game art. It has to have some sort of theme or examination of the human condition that creates a reaction in us through the things that make games distinct, namely the confluence of visuals, sound, and ability to control the outcomes of the game. I'm not a huge Starcraft fan and I've never played Guilty Gear so what do I know.

 

[Mykonos]

Killer 7?
Rez?
Braid?
Okami?
Uh...
Silent Hill 2?

 

[EHKOS]

The Void

 

[Tele-screen]

If a toilet can be art, every game is art.

A toilet is only art if it is in the right context for a specific purpose or statement. A urinal in a public restroom installed by a plumber is just a toilet.

 

[happysock]

Borderlands obviously

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Okami. Hell, you paint to fight and solve puzzles.

 

[Spitfire175]

Borderlands obviously

I hate saying it, but "this".

Both visually and in terms of gameplay. Lighting people on fire or corroding them away is an art.

 

[Mister Benoit]

Fable I & II
Brütal Legend
BioShock

Fable? Really?

For the visual style of a game i'd have to say Okami, only game that I forced myself through just to see the next bundle of eye candy.

Gameplay wise i'd just like to nominate the fighting genre as a whole and let the chart toppers speak for themselves being I don't particularly play them. The games require such precision and the controls become very complex at a certain point, creating that experience I think is an art.

 

[omega_peaches]

Killer7

 

[Tele-screen]

If a toilet can be art, every game is art.

A toilet is only art if it is in the right context for a specific purpose or statement. A urinal in a public restroom installed by a plumber is just a toilet.

If a toilet in any context what so ever can be art, every video game is art. also splashing paint on the wall is not art, its just a crap load of paint.

I just said that a toilet is not art in any and all contexts, but in the right context. An artist has to decide that its placement and purpose is the purpose of art. The same goes for splashing paint. A game can be an incredibly good, fun, and well designed and still be just that: a game. But when you feel as though the developers are speaking to you about something deeper, you may be playing a work of art.