games you consider to be art

[varulfic]

Sometimes I wish there was a consistent definition of art, so we could talk about it without getting stuck discussing semantics.

 

[zepher171]

Hmmmm I would class okami as art.

 

[Sharalon]

Sometimes I wish there was a consistent definition of art, so we could talk about it without getting stuck discussing semantics.

There is. Everything is art. If there is any artistic value in a work it has to be considered an art. Simple...

 

[Kavachi]

FOR PEOPLE WHO SAY ALL GAMES ARE ART.
i just created a guessing game using Microsoft visual basic.
you enter a number 1-10
it tells you if the number you guessed is higher, lower, or correct

IS THAT ART?!

OT: American McGee's Alice (once again)

I just painted a horrible stickfigure with a banana. Is this still art?

All of them.

Could also say that JRPGs could be considered art but only because some of them are so convoluted that they can be compared with Picasso

Of all the genres you could have picked to be art... ah well.

OT: All games are art, some of it is just really bad art.

 

[lostlambda]

odin sphere not just because it looks like some one painted it but becasue how you can lose youre self in the inviroment

 

[Zhadramekel]

Wooo, list time! Well, when I hear 'games are art', I immediate think of the more 'alternative' games, even though a game like Half-Life could easily be considered art as well. But yeah...

There's Rez.
Developers said they used Kandinsky as a source of inspiration. Personally, I'd say they based it more on old vector-based games and the original Tron movie. But then again, I don't care what they used as their inspiration, the result is awesome. The synesthesia between gameplay and music, the freaky graphics that like like someone forgot to slap on the textures, the uniquely brought story... Yeah, I'd consider this art.

And then there's Okami.
A game that plays like a living painting and is filled to the brim with Japanese mythology, Shinto stuff and all. The concept of the Celestial Brush was just amazing.

Echochrome is a pretty obvious one as well.
The gentle piano music, the influences of Escher, the sophistication in the puzzles... Yeah, maybe it's trying to hard, but there you go.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne or Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call.
Maybe a bit less 'on the nose', but I've always seen this game as a form of pure art. The stoic and incredibly distinctive character design, the deep reasoning behind the storylines, the atmospheric clair-obscure graphics and the turbulent Shoji Meguro soundtrack. This was the sort of game that took me to another world unlike anything classical fantasy or sci-fi could deliver - something occult and out of this world.

Everything Team ICO did (ICO, Shadow of the Colossus) and will do (The Last Guardian).
It's beautiful, it's touching, it's unique. This development team takes their time to deliver something that can't quite be compared to any other game. And I love them for it.

Thank goodness you thought of Okami too. It's probably one of very few games out there that embodies art in the traditional sense of the word.

 

[AgentNein]

snip

I want you to take a look at some "art".....

Spoiler: art

Did you get all that, that's "art," so if that's "art" then any video game is "art."

While I'm not trying to attack in any way (or presume your understanding of these things), it's really important when looking at these pieces to be aware and understanding of the context of the artistic environment that they came out of. I do agree, seeing them sans context and they're just silly. But context is extremely important here.

I'm willing to accept creative motives to an extent but I call pretentious bs on these. Sorry. Someone has to step up and say it.

A LOT of people step up to say that. And hey that's totally kosher with me. But the problem I have is a lot of people who say that don't bother to try and educate themselves on why a particular piece was/is considered art in the first place. And I think that's laziness.

 

[nukethewhales]

FOR PEOPLE WHO SAY ALL GAMES ARE ART.
i just created a guessing game using Microsoft visual basic.
you enter a number 1-10
it tells you if the number you guessed is higher, lower, or correct

IS THAT ART?!

OT: American McGee's Alice (once again)

I just painted a horrible stickfigure with a banana. Is this still art?

All of them.

Could also say that JRPGs could be considered art but only because some of them are so convoluted that they can be compared with Picasso

Of all the genres you could have picked to be art... ah well.

OT: All games are art, some of it is just really bad art.

no, your shit stick with a banana is not art, and neither is my shit guessing game. It has to make you FEEL. Feel anything, fear, happiness, hope, sadness, madness (in the game i mentioned) And although your counter-argument may be "Well it makes you feel hate doesn't it?" I would say, "The object of your stick holding a banana does not make me feel hate, the fact you claim it is art, makes me feel hate."

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

A very heartfelt picture of how people big and small deal with an impending apocalypse, and a great deconstruction of heroism: you can save the world, but you can't save all the people in it.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

If we ignore the thoroughly pointless "What's art?"-debate:

Homeworld.

It combines a tragic story over multiple arcs with the most gorgeous soundtrack I've ever heard [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIUxwEJ-GXI]. The only game to this date that made me care about lots of characters without names or even personality and the only way to capture the beautiful deadliness of space. It's cold, it's hostile, you feel alone and struggling for survival, but at the same time it's so beautiful and there's new, fascinating things around the corner that drive you to approach the deadly depths further.
You can also see the amount of love and dedication that went into the game when going over the manual. It contains a ton of backstory, most of it completely irrelevant to the actual ingame happenings, but it shapes the Constructed World really well and makes you care about the destiny of the protagonist.

Homeworld succeeds not only in portraying an epic story, it also grasps something inside me and shows me something about myself and plays with my emotions. That's pretty much my definition of art, so yeah.


P.S.

Biosock and Killer 7

Genetically engineered socks living in the watery depths of the dystopian washing machine? Sign me up!

 

[Note of Discord]

Legacy of Kain: Defiance

On a visual level the concept art was stunning, the art/architecture within the game itself were well imagined and atmospheric.

Allied to stunning voice acting, a decent soundtrack, solid game play and a story I adore and personally I think you have an artform.

(also with people on the American McGee's Alice front and crossing my fingers that the next one maintains the standard)

 

[Ekonk]

Dear Esther
Korsakovia
The Path
The Void
Deus Ex

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

A LOT of people step up to say that. And hey that's totally kosher with me. But the problem I have is a lot of people who say that don't bother to try and educate themselves on why a particular piece was/is considered art in the first place. And I think that's laziness.

Well as the fountain is challenging the concept of art it's particularly relevant here isn't it. I still don't think it's art although it has a particularly pleasing form. I bet the guy who actually designed the fountain in the first place didn't get any credit for it (assuming it wasn't the artist himself). It's basically plagerism in that case isn't it as well as pretentious.

 

[varulfic]

Sometimes I wish there was a consistent definition of art, so we could talk about it without getting stuck discussing semantics.

There is. Everything is art. If there is any artistic value in a work it has to be considered an art. Simple...

Then the word is meaningless.

 

[Kavachi]

FOR PEOPLE WHO SAY ALL GAMES ARE ART.
i just created a guessing game using Microsoft visual basic.
you enter a number 1-10
it tells you if the number you guessed is higher, lower, or correct

IS THAT ART?!

OT: American McGee's Alice (once again)

I just painted a horrible stickfigure with a banana. Is this still art?


no, your shit stick with a banana is not art, and neither is my shit guessing game. It has to make you FEEL. Feel anything, fear, happiness, hope, sadness, madness (in the game i mentioned) And although your counter-argument may be "Well it makes you feel hate doesn't it?" I would say, "The object of your stick holding a banana does not make me feel hate, the fact you claim it is art, makes me feel hate."

There is no such thing as a sole object that is or is not art. A medium is art, be it paintings, music or video games. There is no question in such matters, because it would be too difficult and too time-consuming to go to every single guy who created a drawing to see if it is art or not. That is why you call a medium art, and one of those drawing, or in this game your geussing game, terrible art. But still art.

 

[scorptatious]

Shadow of the Colossus.

A game where a young man trespasses on a forbidden and desolate land, makes a deal with a demon, and takes on what seems to be the impossible: to kill 16 colossi. All in order to resurrect his loved one. It's one hell of an experience from beginning to end. Ending with a very emotional ending.

If there's any game that I would consider art, it's this game.

 

[Loud Hawk]

Saints Row 2

/thread.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Sometimes I wish there was a consistent definition of art, so we could talk about it without getting stuck discussing semantics.

There is. Everything is art. If there is any artistic value in a work it has to be considered an art. Simple...

Then the word is meaningless.

I think that's wrong.

I think that if a child sets out to draw a picture of a bird he can't get it wrong as it's how he represents the bird that matters. Yes it's probably a damn terrible picture but he's still tried to capture the form. You can't get art wrong it's not like maths but it can be aesthetically displeasing or pretentious or another multitude of sins.

 

[Zac Smith]

All games are art, like paintings, BUT some paintings are good and meaningful, others could be a mindless hand painting by a 4 year old, but still a painting none the less. Some paintings are similar better on certain levels then other paintings. I feel it's the same for games

 

[deshorty]

Mass Effect 1 + 2.