When the argument 'Videogames are Art' comes up...

[amoamaremetallum]

What is the first game you think of? As in, what games do you truly believe are a model of an artistic and creative medium?

For me, it'd have to be Red Dead Redemption. I saw A LOT of beautiful work put into it, had quite a lot to do, a few innovative ideas here and there, and very strong, amusing, and moving plots and characters.

 

[Saxm13]

Flower

 

[Arcanist]

Portal, followed promptly by Mass Effect.

 

[blankedboy]

Morrowind.

And it most certainly is art.

 

[Rouse]

Speaking ART-wise, I'd say Final Fantasy games tend to look orgasmic, also cut scenes in StarCraft make my jaw drop, especially when Kerrigan is included.
Prince of Persia managed to give that 2D-like look some life, I have to admit I hated it at first, but after playing for a while, I started to find it really beautiful.

 

[Blood Countess]

Shadow of the Colossus for me then maybe the Arthus story line in Warcraft and World of Warcraft, not the games per se but the story of that certain character as his leading to his fall to evil and his fall as the Lich King

 

[theComposer]

Portal and Braid, as have already been said, and also The World Ends With You. That game was more stylish (presentation-wise) and moving (story-wise) than many books or movies I've read/seen, so I definitely count it as art.

 

[Judgement101]

I don't think of games, I think "My god, this person is an idiot."

 

[Hader]

Mark of Kri, actually...an old game on the PS2, if anyone has heard of it. I liked its simple yet unique art style for telling the story.

 

[Drakmeire]

Shadow of the colossus.
the story of a man who tries to save the woman he loves and must put his faith into an unknown being and hunt down 16 creatures as old as time itself for what he believes to be the greater good. along his way he physically and emotionally become more corrupt but still trusts the omnipotent being. at the end of his journey he is no longer considered human and is killed then possessed by the one he believed was his only friend. after his seeming death his love awakens and finds the hero reverted back to his childhood as twist of fate to give him a second chance or possibly the being still resides within his body and is waiting to exact revenge.
in the end it gives the message that killing the innocent to break fate is never a good idea and shows that no matter how painful your life is to just move on and not put your faith in false gods.

 

[PhiMed]

Silent Hill 2. Hands down. There are others, but it's the first time I was impressed by a game as a work of art.

No, I don't think that because of Yahtzee.

When I finished it the first time, I remember turning to my (at the time future) wife and saying, "That was the best game I've ever played. You know the feeling you get when you read a piece of great literature, and you want to read it again immediately, because you want to re-read the significant parts through new eyes? That's how I feel right now. I've never gotten that feeling from a game before."

Tank controls, silly puzzles, cumbersome combat... whatever. That game is a masterpiece.

 

[PhiMed]

No games. I am usually too busy face palming at the stupidity of people and how most of them think they are being oh soo intelligent for bringing up such a waste of time subject once again.

Oh and for the record. I hate, utterly fucking hate that 9/10 times when someone asks this the two main games are always Portal and SotC. Why you ask? Because it shows a alarming lack of faith in games. They point out 2 games that are soo damn different from every other game that they may as well not count.[footnote]Especially since SotC was not even very good. Its not a good game. Its good "games are art" wank material. As a game it actually kinda sucked.[/footnote]
Only when people can actually see the "artistic potential" of your average game which makes up 99% of the market will this argument ever have any worth.

I disagree. The vast majority of books aren't works of art. They're trash lit. Most of the great works of fiction of the past were "sooo damn different" from every other work of fiction of their time that they "might as well not even have counted".

The same goes for movies.

Also, I really liked Shadow of the SotC. It's certainly a better game than most JRPGs, and Portal isn't art. It's just a damn fun and intriguing game.

 

[Savagezion]

None specifically.

But I still think games are art.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

Anything by Team Silent or Team Ico. Peerless story telling mixed with some clunky game mechanics surely, but they are among the few games I can express fondness for and play in front of strangers or people unfamiliar with video games without making excuses, feeling embarrassment, or trying to distance myself from certain aspects.

 

[Arisato-kun]

I think of Odin Sphere.

Art.