Poll: do you think games are an art form

[Kenjitsuka]

Rofl at that spoiler for option 4 XD

 

[Florion]

Some games are art that is sold to support the artist(s). Other games are just entertaining money-makers.

The difference lies in the intent: Was the game made primarily to make money, or to express a statement?

I consider "The Path" to be art. I do not consider Battlefield 1943 to be art. However, I enjoy both of them, for different reasons. <3

Spoiler: Aside:

Art usually involves a high level of skill/craft. However, not everything that is highly crafted/involves high skill is art. It's all about artistic intent; cave paintings are not art because they were not intended as such (heard this from vicariously taking art courses, i.e. my mum is at art college and she learns by repeating the lessons). Conversely, something that doesn't involve a lot of skill can still be art.

(also, sorry, if you quote me, you're not going to get a reply from me; I'm supposed to be writing a short story within the next four hours. I'm only here because I DON'T WANT TO but I'm going to fail if I don't. Sigh.)

 

[ResiEvalJohn]

Yes

Dude, they contain artwork for character animations, landscapes, music, creative puzzles and patterns, and many other catagories that can be classified as art by one definition or another. End of story.

Can we talk about Resident Evil now? I think 4 was the best but 5 sucked.

 

[War Penguin]

My opinion on games being art usually gets the response of a stretched out "eh". Like so:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.............
Thankfully, I'll elaborate.

While I do agree that some games like Okami, Braid, and even Metal Gear Solid are perfect examples of art, I still think they have long way to go before we consider them as such. The games I just stated were good examples of graphical uniqueness, interesting new gameplay, and story telling, but let's look at the majority of games. Some of them seem to be wanting to be Halo or Final Fantasy. Nothing new, nothing interesting, stuff we've seen before. And some, including myself, consider art to have some originality in it, which some games don't offer too much of. However, I'm seeing allot of developers trying new things and making things more artistic in their games.

So in short, not yet. Games aren't entirely art but developers are pushing the ball in the right direction.

 

[Thaius]

So... hard... to resist... writing... essay...

YES. Video games are a storytelling art, the most effective form of storytelling that has yet been discovered/invented. This is fact, really: it cannot be denied by any means but ignorance.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Yes, yes they are.

 

[Kortney]

Of course it's art. Any creative design in any medium is art.

 

[Thaius]

Games aren't an exploration of emotions, they're flashing lights designed to amuse and keep entertained, not reveal truths of the universe or cause us to search our soul. If something affects emotions for entertainment rather than to actually get us to explore ourselves and the world, it isn't art. I object to people who go around reading meaning into things that really don't need to be there and were obviously not intended by the composer, thanks to HSC English i have a severe hatred towards the trend.

Do you have any idea how important storytelling art is to culture? It's arguably the most important aspect of it. I'll try not to launch into "english major" mode and write an essay for you, but storytelling both affects and records culture. Look back to stories that have affected society greatly: 1984, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Star Wars... these stories have changed the way society looks at certain things. It has been said that "Whoever tells the stories defines the culture," and truer words have rarely been spoken. Storytelling is an incredibly important aspect of culture, and it is art. Stories are more than capable of "revealing truths of the universe and causing us to search our soul."

Now if you deny that video games are storytelling, you obviously have to go play Final Fantasy or Bioshock. Heck, even Halo has a pretty good story! Video games tell stories, this cannot be denied. And they tell them better than any other medium out there, because of interactivity. In no other art form can you actually take control of the protagonist, in no other art form can you feel his emotions, take responsibility for his actions. In movies, some people yell "Don't do it!" when someone is about to make a big mistake, but only in a video game can you actually be the one reacting, possibly the one making the mistake. It makes things much more personal.

I'm sorry, but to say that video games are not an art form is just wrong. They are, if anything, the next evolution of storytelling art, the newest and most effective medium for telling compelling stories, and stories are arguably the most important art form out there.

Oh, and also,

But being artistic doesn't make it art.

What?

 

[Dopi]

Games are the most amazing form of artwork. I mean, look at the Final Fantasy games. The story, the characters, the settings, landscape, everything SCREAMS art!

 

[Thaius]

tl;dr... I wish

You spent two paragraphs talking about storytelling. I agree with you on all counts (except the Bioshock bit, that story was atrocious) but STORYTELLING IS NOT ART. Also, with regard to "no other interactive medium", ever heard of role-playing? That gets pretty intense... not that I've done it, but still, it sure seems it.

Why do you claim that storytelling is art? Telling stories isn't art, that's ridiculous. In literature, art is in the way the story is told, not the story itself. Even then it can get exasperating to actually prove it's existence. I have to say, I disagree with you more than just about anyone else; storytelling is not art.

The last bit is more of a personal opinion, which I suppose doesn't make much sense, but it's sort of saying that you can artistically paint, say, a Warhammer figurine with all your knowledge of shades and contrasts and whatnot, but it's not art, it's a figurine you play games with. I don't understand this obsession with people trying to raise everything's status to art. You're degrading both the subject itself and art in general.

Well, I must admit, I have no idea how to respond to that. Just what is your definition of art, anyway?

Look, I'm not degrading art: you're limiting it. But the fact is, I have no idea how to explain that until I know what the heck you think art is, because I have never seen such a narrow-minded perspective on it. Even Roger Ebert has a better grasp on the scope of storytelling, and don't get me started on him.

Side note, Bioshock's story was good, but not amazing, but it was thought-provoking and powerful in a lot of ways, and the use of interactive inevitability during the plot twist was absolutely masterful. That's more what I'm referring to: not just what the story is, but how it is told. That is storytelling: everything done to communicate a story, and its messages, in a compelling and artistic way.

How on earth can you think like you do...?

 

[Queen Michael]

Of course. The way I see it, anything beautiful is a work of art. Some games are beautiful. Therefore, they are art.

 

[Queen Michael]

You spent two paragraphs talking about storytelling. I agree with you on all counts (except the Bioshock bit, that story was atrocious) but STORYTELLING IS NOT ART. Also, with regard to "no other interactive medium", ever heard of role-playing? That gets pretty intense... not that I've done it, but still, it sure seems it.

Why do you claim that storytelling is art? Telling stories isn't art, that's ridiculous. In literature, art is in the way the story is told, not the story itself. Even then it can get exasperating to actually prove its existence. I have to say, I disagree with you more than just about anyone else; storytelling is not art.

The last bit is more of a personal opinion, which I suppose doesn't make much sense, but it's sort of saying that you can artistically paint, say, a Warhammer figurine with all your knowledge of shades and contrasts and whatnot, but it's not art, it's a figurine you play games with. I don't understand this obsession with people trying to raise everything's status to art. You're degrading both the subject itself and art in general.

So beautiful painting and beautiful scultpure isn't art? Okay. by that ligic, if I ever used Michelangelo's David for playing something, it wouldn't be a work of art. how can you claim that nice painting isn't art? You seem to think (and I might be wrong here) that the fact that it's a Warhammer figurine automatically means that no matter what, it's not art. Of course it is! It's beautiful to look at, and it won't stop being art just because you can actually use it for something.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

They can be art, yes. That said, I suppose it relies on one's definition of art. Personally, I believe a professor I once had gives the most general definition: Any creation of man that can create an emotional impact. I tended to think of his statement as a load of crap as I had never seen a piece of "traditional" art that met the criteria.

Then I saw Eugene Delacroix's famouse "Liberty Leading the People" piece and recanted my previous position.

 

[Mozared]

Yes, though "I don't really care" either.

 

[Balaxe]

I like to think of games as a art form but as long as there are people making games purely for money it will not be considered art by the mass public.

 

[Tarkand]

Not every book/painting/movie/drawing/etc is good, interesting or thought provoking, yet those medium are still considered to be art.

So it puzzles me to so many people are essentially saying 'No, because there's to many bad/stupid/whatever games out there'.

 

[Ham_authority95]

They can be art if they are made for the purpose of being art and not entertainment

 

[lenneth]

No. A game is not an art form. Some games can be, but by and large they are not, therefore collectively are not.

Films like Godfather II and Citizen Kane are considerd art/masterpieces despite being Epic Moive also being a film

then I think they do become art: at the expense of no longer being a proper game.

I direct your attention to Okami and Shadow of the Colossus, Both Works of Art and Both Good Games

Art is the exploration of emotions. We can find any number of kinds of art but they will always come back to this.

Hmm exploration of emotions...*realises* TROLLING REALLY IS A ART