Is Multiplayer art?

[TinCynic]

I think a fair majority of gamers would agree, some vehemently, that video gaming is an art form. But, in so far as my experience goes, I've only ever heard people discuss single player as the form of art. I've never really heard or read anyone discussing the multiplayer aspect of games as whether or not its art. So I'm just curious, do you think multiplayer is art.
If so, explain. If not, explain. If you're a fence sitter, explain.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

Just like any game, it can be. Art is subjective.

My mouse is art. This pen I'm holding is art. That lady over there with the face... you know the one... she's art. That half eaten PB&J on my desk; priceless art (Mostly cuz I freakin' NAILED the PB and J ratios).

I mean, while yes, I do believe some games constitute art, no, not all are, including multiplayer. But again, it's subjective. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Call it art, and BOOM, it's art.

 

[gamer_parent]

some A's can be B's, all C's are A's. Therefore, some C's can be A's

replace the letters with thingies.

 

[malkivar]

because a 12 year old screaming ****** isn't art

And there's your answer, but to expand a little, multiplayer is technically a game mode and not something you can actually see or fathom, like for example... a small rose, or a bucket full of 45. rounds. So multiplayer can't actually be considered art as it isn't a thing, its an idea. And also its a pail of crap due to, as The Blu Spy put it, 12 year olds screaming ******.

 

[RandomWords]

You tell me...
Imagine looking at a nice painting, colors are nice and balanced, its very detailed and realistic. Then you see people getting shot in the distance and some guy keeps yelling racist comments in your ear along with a seven year old screaming random words. And while you were watching this another player comes by and kills you point blank and starts T-bagging your corpse calling you a n00b..so yeah I guess that is art.

 

[Cody211282]

I don't think me blowing down a wall with a tank and yelling "Suck it you sniper whore" is art, but it is damn fun!

 

[roostuf]

Theses days art can be anything and games are part of the revolution of modern art, but games are a bit on the radical side of the revolution thats what I think anyway. So no multiplayer is not art.

 

[Cazza]

No. Once you put that many people into a game it always turns bad fast.

Or

Aleast it's not good art. In my opinion.

 

[Canadian Briton]

Well If someone made a movie out of a few good multiplayer matches I guess you could call it art.

 

[jowo96]

The way I see it is that the art of games is in the story, character and world design. I would put multiplayer aspects of a game under game mechanics which I think is more of a science than an art.

 

[Billion Backs]

because a 12 year old screaming ****** isn't art

And there's your answer, but to expand a little, multiplayer is technically a game mode and not something you can actually see or fathom, like for example... a small rose, or a bucket full of 45. rounds. So multiplayer can't actually be considered art as it isn't a thing, its an idea. And also its a pail of crap due to, as The Blu Spy put it, 12 year olds screaming ******.

Because art has never, ever, ever been offensive or controversial AMIRITE?

12 year old screaming "******" could, like, symbolize a lot of stuff.

 

[Sebenko]

Not a chance. It's even further over the line that mindless action movies cross.

 

[NotSoNimble]

Yep, everything is art, didn't you get the memo?

If you can think of it, and take a picture....... it is art.

 

[blankedboy]

What?
Multiplayer is a phenomenon, not a piece.
Sorry if that's hard to comprehend, there aren't really any decent words for what I'm getting at. Multiplayer is abstract, it's not something that someone's created. It's more of a community. Singleplayer content, or the maps, or the models, they can be art, but yeah. Not MP as a whole.

 

[Pegghead]

I believe that videogames can and often are art, and the addition of other players doesn't diminish that.

Case and point Team Fortress 2, utterly unique characters, art style and gameplay and it all has this beautiful...feel to it, that's art.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Commando? Art?
Just no...
But there is something gracefully beautiful about a perfect tea-bag in an online game of Halo 3.

 

[veloper]

Nope. Not expensive enough.

 

[Quid Plura]

I think that it can only be art when it can be re-experienced by someone else in the same way as the original. This doesn't pose a problem for a single player, because the way one plays it is fixed. Everyone experiences it in a different way, but they experience the same thing.

Multiplayer doesn't work that way, because the re-enactment by someone else can never be anything like the original experience. You can also see this in game reviews. Whenever someone is reviewing the multiplayer part of a game, or a multiplayer game, they stick to game mechanics, game modes and map layouts. They cannot review it like the single player, which has a replayable experience.

For example:
In a single player game review, the reviewer can point out a particularly nasty section or some boss fight; "When I was walking down the street in level such and such, I got ambushed by a couple of things. It scared the hell out of me"

Now compare it to roughly the equivalent in a multiplayer game: "When I spawned in room such and such, I took a right, picked up the RPG and shot the 12 year old who was screaming in the microphone."

The latter experience cannot be re-enacted, thus it cannot be art. It can never be experienced in the same way. In a single player, one can re-enact the scene in the review. You can also notice this in talking about games with friends. The parts that really spark a conversation are about something you both experienced. You can tell your friend about a multiplayer game you played, but he will never be able to experience it for himself.

Things that can be art, but are not multiplayer:
- A recorded multiplayer game (which is i.e. a short movie)
- Level design in a multiplayer game (which is a static image, like a 3D painting)