True art work is moving, so can games truely be considered art?

[emeraldrafael]

He could have done a painting or used a stuffed dog.

The guy's an action painter, and it wouldnt have been as impressive. Though only negative I've evers een come from this (side stepping everyhthing obvious) is that once someone in my university had heard of this, they defended Michael Vick's actions as art, which is going somehwere completely different.

Besides, the guy's not a bad guy, and even endorsed the petition to not let an animal be abused in the Honduras show (where they gave the doggies breaks and food and water and such, which strikes me as stupid cause then its not even the same art work, though I guess the point was made and is a new artwork).

That... and I dont get why that was animal abuse and A Thousand Years by Damien Hirst isnt.
<spoiler=Warning, this might be a bit graphic>http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/laplaca/Images/laplaca12-22-12.jpg

Thats (essentially) a closed up glass box where meat is placed in and maggots go through the entire life cycle. They are born as maggots in the meat, grow to be flies, reproduce and lay their eggs then fly into the other compartment and die in the bug zapper. And this jut stands in the middle of a floor and you constantly hear it going zap. But I guess bug dont have rights. And yes, thats also considered art. Its supposed to be a message on the pointlessness of life (I guess).

 

[Innegativeion]

Ending to Half life 2 ep: 2 was VERY moving, to me.

But that's just sadness. Did you forget the little organ in our skulls is capable of an immeasurable array of different emotions?

While games tend to lean towards euphoria, they're far from limited to them. I'm sure everyone on theescapist has their own personal emotional moments with their favorite games.

No piece of artwork has ever brought me to tears, though. I wouldn't say such a reaction is a prerequisite for being art.

 

[Blayze2k]

Skimming through a couple more pages here, I feel like saying that I can't agree with the idea that art is 100% subjective, but neither can I agree that it should be a label applied only to certain works, based on their merit.

For example, I do not enjoy Simple Plan. Musically, they're about as substantial as wonderbread. But other people may find something meaningful about them, and their means of expression. Does this make them "not true art?"
Does this mean that "everything is art?"
No to both.
Art isn't really binary like that. Art is immeasurable because it's about intention.
It has quantifiable merit though, and should NEVER be taken as completely subjective, because that leads to... well, really crappy art.

Art should be poked, prodded, judged, reveled in, ridiculed, glorified, criticized, praised, and heckled. If it means something, it'll stand up to the punishment.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

He could have done a painting or used a stuffed dog.

The guy's an action painter, and it wouldnt have been as impressive. Though only negative I've evers een come from this (side stepping everyhthing obvious) is that once someone in my university had heard of this, they defended Michael Vick's actions as art, which is going somehwere completely different.

Besides, the guy's not a bad guy, and even endorsed the petition to not let an animal be abused in the Honduras show (where they gave the doggies breaks and food and water and such, which strikes me as stupid cause then its not even the same art work, though I guess the point was made and is a new artwork).

That... and I dont get why that was animal abuse and A Thousand Years by Damien Hirst isnt.
<spoiler=Warning, this might be a bit graphic>http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/laplaca/Images/laplaca12-22-12.jpg

Thats (essentially) a closed up glass box where meat is placed in and maggots go through the entire life cycle. They are born as maggots in the meat, grow to be flies, reproduce and lay their eggs then fly into the other compartment and die in the bug zapper. And this jut stands in the middle of a floor and you constantly hear it going zap. But I guess bug dont have rights. And yes, thats also considered art. Its supposed to be a message on the pointlessness of life (I guess).

It certainly doesn't get the same reaction from me as the dog does, but I still don't like it. I go by the theory that a creature's capacity for suffering is proportional to it's intelligence, so those flies aren't suffering much. Plus, they're just being killed, not tortured.

 

[Tyzamar]

Someday everyones definition of art will change and looking at paintings will no longer make anyone feel "mentally reinvigorated"

 

[Chris646]

Aeris, anyone?

 

[Vault101]

I believe that games cant be considered art until a video game is made that can move the average person to tears. True art work is able to move someone emotionaly, and after all the years i've been playing games the only thing thats ever really moved me was when Donkey Kong went into his banana horde and saw it empty. If anyone has a good example of a moving game let me know, I'd be interested to hear if anyone has ever shead a tear over pixels.

your argument seemes kinda flawed basically your saying "I" have never been moved by a game so therefore NO ONE ELSE has

I came close to tears at the end of Bioshock 1 and 2

I found the decision of which squadmate to sacrfice in ME1 really really hard

Found a certain charachters death in Half life 2 really really heart wrechning

the ENITRE experience of Fallout 3 was soul crushingly depressing and amazing from start to finish, from being born to the end

Fallout NV left me wondering what was the right thing to do? and yeah I got emotional at the end

and more than that

honestly this just seems like psuedo-sphisticated trolling

games are art...get over it

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Ok, if you want to play it that way, go play Shadow of the Colossus. If you don't feel something at the end parts you have no soul.

What you mean the story where an idiot runs around world doing terrible things to save a loved one. At first maybe he didn't know but if a evil like mist or soul thing went into me and i passed out every single time i'd think somethings wrong.

Look death is hard it is, but the person wouldn't want you to do all that crap and cause all that trouble just to save them.

The game just made me mad at how selfish and insane the main character is. I know a 10 year old girl who had a family member die and she handled it better.

The dudes selfish and stupid, hate that game.

Yes, because when someone has lost the love of their life, the first thought that will go though everyone's heads are "Now let's be rational about this". Love is irrational almost by definition, and if it wasn't there'd be no point in it.

I could go two ways on this.

First off ok sure maybe but most people then wouldnt go on a quest saving them doing crazy stuff involving a god him passing out constantly by a dark looking energy all the time then waking up back at the temple even though he passed out miles away.

Or i could say that like i said before people have experianced death of a loved one or a love of your life.

i could write mushy paragraphs with my past experiances and others i've seen handle it better but its summed up perfectly with a sentance.

The person whos dead if they knew what you were doing theyed want you to stop. So if that love really is/was that strong you should think of that and accept there wishes. Dont forget them never forget but relize doing all this (specificly what he did) wont end well and she hates what your doing (if she could watch down on you)

Plus ya, i've done it.When somthing terrible happens dont go jumping off a bridge, think for one Fing second and if you cant do it for yourself do it for her!.

gah getting frustrated again by this. Think i proved my point though.

Edit: WAit wait now that am thinking back dosent she actually tell him to stop the ritual!? Holy crap this guy is stupid!.

You and I must have had very different experiences of love then. Because I know that if I had lost someone I love and their was a way I could get them back, there isn't a single thing that I wouldn't do. Even if it cost me my own soul, even if I had to hurt other people in the process, and even if a spirit of them appeared to me to tell me to stop I'm not sure I could. I know that makes me irrational and stupid at best, but y'know what, I don't care. If I have to explain the sort of feelings that would make someone go to these lengths to you then you're obviously not going to get it until you've experienced it yourself.

 

[Legion IV]

You and I must have had very different experiences of love then. Because I know that if I had lost someone I love and their was a way I could get them back, there isn't a single thing that I wouldn't do. Even if it cost me my own soul, even if I had to hurt other people in the process, and even if a spirit of them appeared to me to tell me to stop I'm not sure I could. I know that makes me irrational and stupid at best, but y'know what, I don't care. If I have to explain the sort of feelings that would make someone go to these lengths to you then you're obviously not going to get it until you've experienced it yourself.

I love this so since i said rational and understanding things i dont understand love or felt it as deeply as you. Or maybe am far more mature and rational then you, i dunno. I've been sitting here for like 15 mins trying to explain this but i basically i already did like, how can we support wanderer in anyway.

He has the mentality of "Shes the only thing that matters so I'll destroy the whole world if i have to to bring her back".

Thats not a good mentality at all. Like I've said I've met and know people older and far younger then me who handles death better.

i just feel bad for Emon, THATS who i felt for during the game. A old wise warrior who is implied to have sealed Dormin before now has to do it again all because of a insane selfish little boy who has no Fing idea of what hes doing or getting into.

 

[end_boss]

I believe that games cant be considered art until a video game is made that can move the average person to tears. True art work is able to move someone emotionaly, and after all the years i've been playing games the only thing thats ever really moved me was when Donkey Kong went into his banana horde and saw it empty. If anyone has a good example of a moving game let me know, I'd be interested to hear if anyone has ever shead a tear over pixels.

As some have pointed out already, emotion doesn't necessarily mean tears and sadness. I was emotionally moved by Okami and Shadow of the Colossus, and in the best way possible for a game - not through some plot point or cutscene, but just by absorbing the atmosphere of the world they existed in. In SotC, I really took in how bleak and desolate the land was, further emphasized by the artistic choice to not have any minor enemies. In Okami I took in how beautiful everything was, including the enemies. It's hard to explain that emotional response isn't always about angry, sad, happy, etc. Sometimes it is far more subtle, and these two games were so moving to me that I would really believe that in the future, when video games are considered art to the point that there will be gaming museums, these two should definitely hold a spot.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Never meant any offence. I'm just saying that in real life just as much as in fantasy you just cannot expect people in that kind of emotional turmoil to act rationally. Being "mature" as you put it, does not have to mean detachment. Also, the idea that people should get better at dealing with death as they get older is crap. In my experiences all being older gives you is just a greater understanding of just what a horrible and random thing death can be, as well as having a greater level of responsibility to have to deal with on top of all your feelings, and both these things just make it even worse.

I'm not trying to say he does the right thing, because from a detached perspective he obviously doesn't, but calling him out for being selfish over the fact that he's lost the one reason he has for living is a little heartless don't you think?

 

[SpireOfFire]

i dont agree with this "video games are art". its more along the lines of literature. and literature (at least to me) is not art.