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

[KeyMaster45]

Shadow of the colossus.
*El snip for lengthy synopsis*

gee, a spoiler alert wouldve been nice... thanks

You can't really cry spoiler foul on a game that's been out for almost 6 years. You can't expect people to eternally tip toe around talking about a game/movie/book simply because you haven't played it. To be honest you should be able to identify a plot synopsis when it starts off with "the story of a man". If you were really so worried about spoilers for this particular game one would have expected you to have picked it up long before now. Furthermore if its the case that you really hadn't heard about this game before now then one would assume your reason for getting upset is that the plot synopsis made you want to play the game thus making the spoiler in fact your reason for getting it. Also, plot synopsis for this game a spoiler does not make as there's far more to it than just that. You could argue it could have easily been recommended to you without spoilers but this isn't a one on one conversation between you and the other guy.

I'd explain it to you (since the one you read is actually kinda wrong) but you'd probably just get angry over more spoilers.

 

[Windcaler]

The first game that usually comes to my mind is the first Bioshock. If people can honestly say that it isnt art then Ill concede by their standards that I dont know a thing about art.

Other games that come to mind include Shadow of the colosus, Okami, Silent hill 2, the first God of War, Indigo Prophecy, Fallout (1, 2, 3, Brotherhood of steel, and New vegas), Summoner, the first Knights of the old republic, Dragon Age: Origins, both Mass effects, and both Parasite Eve's

Although the earliest artistic game was IMO Ninja Gaiden (I mean the original NES one)

 

[Captain Pirate]

Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption, Limbo, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. What? The plot twist was amazing.

 

[Latinidiot]

what comes to mind? Bioshock. Because I've almost been indoctrinated to say so. I desperately try to come up with other titles, but none pops up.

 

[Lightslei]

Okami


The game is literally it.

 

[Nahhnbah]

I'll be alone here but: The 1st Bioshock game.

 

[linkzeldi]

Golden Sun.

 

[joebthegreat]

Because I'm a pretentious wanker and my definition for art will forever hold games into a "sport"-like category... never mind there isn't a point to this sentence.

However, to be needlessly complex I can point out art that is around a particular game. You know, stuff you're subjected to at the same time as playing the game. I'd say a good example of that is... hard for me to think of...

Most games on my list aren't really artistic though... they're just... really really good games. StarCraft, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Total War, 4x Games, even the closest I can think of is Fire Emblem and I can't stand the story around it, I just love the hell out of the rule system it uses and the grid-based and turn-based tactics it utilizes.

No wait, I've got one. Jet Grind Radio. That's a game that has a bold art-direction to it and a rebellious message to it.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Minecraft. I then throw in the argument that judging games based on qualities done better in other media (cinematography, graphics, music, writing) is a stupid way to judge games as an art form and then quote from Chris Crawford's The Art of Interactive Design [http://www.amazon.com/Art-Interactive-Design-Euphonious-Illuminating/dp/1886411840/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291393103&sr=8-1] in stating that the only games that are art are the ones that actually take advantage of their unique interactive nature.

 

[crudus]

I tend to think Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect 2, KoToR 2, Metal Gear Solid 3. The list goes on but those are off the top of my head.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Dark Chronicles/Dark Cloud 2. For for a game to be considered art by me it must have all of these things.
Good Story
Good Gameplay

Spoiler: Good looks

I find it extremely pretty especially for a PS2 game​

Spoiler: Awesome music

And may it not be the best in all aspects, its dammed awesome in all of them.

 

[Veylon]

My take on it is that to accept video games as art, they have to succeed artistically as video games. It's gameplay that has to count first and be the art. Otherwise, if we're praising the cutscenes or music or voiceacting, the game isn't being judged by it's core attribute, that which makes it a game.

Hopefully you aren't saying that we have to *only* look at gameplay when judging the artistic merit of a game. After all, people take the script and music into account when reviewing movies, and lyrics into account when reviewing songs.

No, that's true. But on the other hand... Imagine I made a movie by having a series of still images of famous paintings set to classical music. I suppose in some sense it's art because it's made of art, but the entire concept of 'movie' had been degraded to simply showcasing other forms of art. It's not art as a movie. It doesn't demonstrate that movies can be art, except in the most banal and superficial sense. I'm concerned that those who want games to be art tend to want to limit them in just this sense.

 

[chainer1216]

i personally view all games as art

I knooooow you didn't mean this one, but I played a demo for a 3-on-3 hockey game in which all sound fx in the menus are guys doing *pshit* *boing* and such sounds.

hey now, I'm not saying all art is good, I'm just saying that anything thats entertaining, makes you think, or makes you feel, is art.

i mean, look at modern art, its just junk thrown together and welded in place or paint thrown at a canvas, and people still consider that crap art.

 

[GreyFox389]

I just ask the person what isn't a work of art.