Proof that video games can be art

[Dimitriov]

It was boring and irritating. However, I subjected myself to see if there was anything of worth there. There wasn't.

Poor visuals. Poor gameplay. No story. Oh yeah, NOT FUN.

Fails as art, fails as a game.


I honestly have no idea what you are on about, and I certainly do consider games as having the potential to be art.

 

[PatchlingZoon]

According to Ekow Eshun's definition, ideal art enables deep introspection and consideration. That in itself is a highly subjective experience entirely based on the observer/participant/user. The same pangs of fear I felt playing Silent Hill 2 were felt looking at Francisco Goya's "The Shootings of May Third." Who can take that away from me or argue otherwise? The police can't. Neither can the art critics. And BBC sure as hell can't tell me what "art" is or isn't. The validity of a personal experience is so damn relative.

I believe arguing over the semantics of "art" is a superfluous, pseudo-intellectual endeavor. Because paintings have been around for over two millenia?electronic games: a few decades. Of course the big wigs are afraid of us and how this medium can potentially subvert the significance of theirs. We're challenging their own notions about "art" en masse as they are to us.

What really fascinates me most about this discussion? The ability to share that introspection with others. I think bringing non-gamers into the debate (and thereby allowing them to experience the cream of the crop titles many of you have mentioned) pushes to case for communal growth. In turn, this would transform games from an semi-diverted subculture into a field worthy of BBC/elitist distinction.

 

[Ninjat_126]

I believe arguing over the semantics of "art" is a superfluous, pseudo-intellectual endeavor. Because paintings have been around for over two millenia?electronic games: a few decades. Of course the big wigs are afraid of us and how this medium can potentially subvert the significance of theirs. We're challenging their own notions about "art" en masse as they are to us.

I think that people just think that because some paintings, books and films are art they all are. I think art needs to have some sort of meaning attached, or make some sort of point about our lives. While an insane paint-splatter painting might be new and thought provoking the first time it's done, just ripping the same concept off hundreds of times means it loses its appeal.

Unfortunately, much of the postmodern art designed to make the viewer completely reconsider their concepts of art has become commonplace. Now, painting a tin of soup on a blank canvas isn't new or exciting, it's old and cliche. Kind of ironic, really.



I found this game

I just sat there waiting for something interesting to happen, which it didnt, and then resenting the time I wasted waiting for something interesting to happen.

It is a game, you're supposed to play it. Did you try moving around with the arrow keys?

 

[Ninjat_126]

If a written/spoken story is art, then a game with text/spoken narrative that tells a story is art.
If a song is art, then a song in a game is art.
If I draw a picture that is more than a purely informative diagram, that is art, so then a game with graphics is art.
If acting is art, then a game with voice actors is art.
If dancing is art, then a game with dancing in it is art.

By that argument, Little Miss Cloned Pop Princess (tm)'s new song "I want to get drunk and have sex with you" is also art. That is entertainment. (For some people)

Likewise, I wouldn't consider Team Fortress 2 art. Even though it has characters and graphics and music and if you press the "G" key around Halloween your character does the Thriller dance, merely including these elements does not give your work artistic merit.

As to the lack of instructions, that is part of the game. Not that it should be particularly difficult to spot that you move with the arrow keys, click highlighted words with the mouse and that is all. I picked it up after a couple of seconds.

 

[Blade1130]

Well, it's definitely an interesting example of art. Is it art? Maybe, certainly provides a unique argument. Though I do wish it went more in depth than "Good boy / girl" and "How disappointing" being the only two reactions.

I did chuckle when it second-guessed my gender, something I wish games would do a little more often. Positive reinforcement works fine, but negative reinforcement can be just as useful. Why don't I get scolded when I die? Why doesn't Grunt point out how terrible of fighter Shepard is and question his own reason for fighting under him whenever Shepard dies? That seems like a great way to further characterize him as well as make me feel insignificant to a character that I want to like me. And I'm just pulling that out of my ass, I'm sure there are a million ways to better use negative reinforcement like that.

Actually, I just remembered back in Half-Life: Opposing Force there are a number of fat donut-ridden security guards there for comic relief, and when I got to point where one couldn't follow me, I shot him to take his ammo and as he died he said something along the lines of: "Hey! I though we were becoming friends..." I was so mad at myself for killing him that I had reload the last quicksave. Not exactly negative reinforcement, but it makes the player feel bad for doing something stupid, rather than simply saying, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have done that, but no one's going to care anyways".

In case you skipped all the previous posts mentioning this, it reminds me a lot of Stanley's Parable (link below) a Half-Life 2 mod that is also a kind of meta commentary on designing player experiences, kinda similar, though a bit more cryptic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblvOhnv2k0

 

[EzraPound]

Alright, here's my issue with "art games": Most of them, this one included, seem to have been designed completely around a single metaphor. While it's neat to play this, or Jason Rohrer's Gravitation, it honestly feels a little gimmicky. It's just such a simple mechanic, I don't think it justifies the minimalist style. If you think about minimalist Film or Paintings or Music, is the meaning immediately clear? Is it even clear that there is a "meaning"? Metaphors should be weaved into a work of art, not be the entire inspiration behind the work.

Personally, I feel that art is entertainment, and entertainment is art. The only difference is the level of sophistication and thematic harmony. I think of Mario Galaxy as a work of art, because I think it's brilliantly designed and evokes emotion, even if that emotion is just what you might call "fun".

This.

Also, the defining of what art "is" is entirely a matter of social constructs, anyway, so we're really arguing about nothing.