Video Games as Art, and you

[balfore]

The subject title is a little vague, but I could not think of a way to word it, but essentially what video game made you think of them as more than just a game but art as well.

For me it was honestly Grand Theft Auto IV, the final part of the game where you have to choose who it is that will die. It was really emotional for me and actually caused me to put down the controller and think about the game as a whole.

So Escapist what game was it for you?

 

[Atmos Duality]

The opening title screen for Secret of Mana.
It's simply epic.

 

[CityofTreez]

GTA4 is the the last game I would think of as "art".

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The last game that really hit me in way that made me think 'Wow, this is beautiful, we've come so far.' Was Journey.

Everything about that game is just gorgeous.

 

[balfore]

GTA4 is the the last game I would think of as "art".

I get that reaction alot, but honestly the writing at Rockstar has really been amazing recently, and the ending to the game in my opinion was beautiful

 

[Casual Shinji]

Walking toward the light with the accompanying music in Journey struck me to my core.

I wouldn't call it "art" though, 'cause that's just lame. =P

 

[Terminate421]

All games are art, some are better than others though.

Simple

 

[hazabaza1]

When I play a game, I only consider the fun factor, not how "arty" it is.

 

[MBurdock]

Games are multi-faceted entertainment to me, where each facet can have a level of artistry. The whole may as well, but that's a tougher call. For one, there is the video part - what you see. Muramasa and the backgrounds in Baldur's Gate 2, and even the Jungle level on Killzone all seemed beautiful to me. They are things that I could enjoy for their own beauty.

The same can be said for the soundtracks and even the sounds of some games. Toejam and Earl had some great funk-based songs that are still pretty catchy. The Animaniguchi tracks of Scott Pilgrim are fantastic, and then there is the more traditional music, like that of the Elder Scrolls.

Then there's the art of good voice-acting in games. Rarer, but when done well, they make even old games have emotional impact. But that emotional impact only works if the narrative itself has emotional impact.

The narrative is more than the sequence of events and the depth of characters in the story though. It's also the telling. Camera angles, flow of the action, etc. all influence the narrative.

Then there is the mechanics. Is the game well put-together? Is it fun to play? That's an art, or at least a craft.

So, the games that did it for me were: Planescape: Torment (visual, voice, look, story), Pixeljunk Eden (visual, mechanics), Half-life 1 and 2 (narrative, mechanics), Uncharted 1 and 2 (visual, narrative, mechanics), Starcraft (mechanics), Freelancer (visual, mechanics), and Muramasa (visual, sound, mechanics).

 

[NerfedFalcon]

The last game that really hit me in way that made me think 'Wow, this is beautiful, we've come so far.' Was Journey.

Everything about that game is just gorgeous.

Your avatar just reminded me of the game that did exactly the same thing to me: Okami. Pity nobody else bought the game. Still, at least it gives us a license to be smugly superior to everybody else.

Wii or PS2? I got the Wii version since I don't have a PS2.

 

[Euryalus]

Gesamtkunstwerk... the best word to describe it ever! Google it...


EDIT: For my Games... uhh... Limbo and Portal

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Yay, I get to be the first to say it!

For me, it was "Shadow of the Colossus". No one can play that game and say that games cannot be art.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The last game that really hit me in way that made me think 'Wow, this is beautiful, we've come so far.' Was Journey.

Everything about that game is just gorgeous.

Your avatar just reminded me of the game that did exactly the same thing to me: Okami. Pity nobody else bought the game. Still, at least it gives us a license to be smugly superior to everybody else.

Wii or PS2? I got the Wii version since I don't have a PS2.

Wii version for me too, but I'm well aware that it PS2 version is superior in terms of combat controls.

The only thing the Wii version had going for it was that the Celestial Brush worked really well with motion control.

 

[Colton Walker]

Shadow of the colossus was one of the most artistic games ive ever played. When a game can push my emotions like that then it is nothing less than art. Especially the scene just before the final colossi, that scene was the most emotion ive ever felt playing a game.

I also found the first dot hack game to be fairly artistic in its approach to immersing you in the game.

One more would have to be fatal frame. Scary but if you really stop and look around you can see what the creators were going for.

 

[Karoshi]

Especially modern art is very eager in engaging its viewers. Some artists (you know, the weird ones) are encouraging the museum visitors to change the position of objects in their modern piece-of-art-thing. Others put a machine, that doodles on paper if you rotate its handle and call it art. Most people would say that's bullshit and not art, but hey! You find entire museums full of this stuff.

Games are interactive pieces of art. Each playthrough can tell a different story, each camera shot seen from a different angle. Does this diminish its value?

Bastion and Dear Esther both taught me something about death and moving on. Especially Dear Esther portayed grief in such a striking and accurate manner, that I was awestruck and left wordless. Art or not art, it left a more lasting impact on me than most books ever did.