Why do people hate on games that are not "art"?

[Lenin211]

I have a friend that plays exclusively indie games and is a massive fanboy of Portal.
Whenever he hears someone talking about an Fps like CoD, he informs them of the greatness of his games and how they are "too smart" for most people. Now, I play portal and I enjoyed it, but why can't we play games just for fun?

 

[Palademon]

We can. I don't think either the games for art or games for fun have to be mutually exclusive.

 

[Ranorak]

I dunno, Sometimes I really enjoy a mindlessly stupid slaughter feast like [PROTOTYPE]

Just like sometimes I really like to shut down my brain and watch Die Hard.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

A smug sense of superiority.

 

[Gladion]

I don't know why we can all just play games for fun, but if your friend thinks that Portal is "too smart" for anyone, he seriously needs to grab some books.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Some people feel compelled to look down on others. Just human nature. They feel by playing obscure or artsy titles, they're better than the masses. Others feel that they are at war with critics, demanding that video games deserve to be taken more seriously, and see any game that isn't artistic as a blow against them in that war.

 

[Zhukov]

Because some of us prefer those games that could be refered to as art.

That said, it sounds like your friend sounds is being a pretentious wanker.

 

[DEAD34345]

They don't, at least not any-more than people complain about games that are art. I've heard "Games should just be about fun, stories are stupid in games!" just about as much as I've heard "That game isn't good, it has no artistic merit!". Both arguments are stupid in my opinion.

 

[Caveworm]

Some people get up their own arse and stay there.

Games are about enjoyment at the end of the day. Sure COD is 'mainstream'(how pretentious do I sound?), but if you enjoy it...then good for you.

I like a vary mixed of indie and popular games.

Not just games though. Music, films, and books tend to have a 'snobby' portion of people that look down on say: Twilight readers, action films, and whatever is in the charts.

 

[noahd]

kinda how you like run around in gta and kill ppl and steal cars. just because you can, why did you steal in oblivion, because you can. why do you gank noobs in mmo's on pvp servers...

portal is based on a fps franchise. instead of shooting bullets, you're shooting yourself a lot of the time. it's puzzle based rather than how many ppl can i kill. i don't like ppl chewing ppl out because the types of games. but i'm one of those guys that don't like cod games. if you like them, that's your thing. go at 'er. but i like stuff that makes you think, and stuff that makes you explore, and explore your options. i like rpg's, action/adventure games, and stuff that makes you think outside of kill everything that moves. and then kill some more.

 

[wydren]

I don't know why we can all just play games for fun, but if your friend thinks that Portal is "too smart" for anyone, he seriously needs to grab some books.

Yeah, this. Anyone who says some games are art and others aren't are just making a fool out of themselves by showing they don't know what the word "art" means.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

portal was inteligent and witty but i wouldn't call it art

 

[LordRoyal]

Just like sometimes I really like to shut down my brain and watch Die Hard.

Die Hard's a lot more complicated then most action films

 

[Terminate421]

Halo: Reach is art yet people hate on it (Unfortunatly). Just look at the ending or the mission in New Alexandria (The one without the Falcon).

Not me though, I love it.

 

[Drakos.Amatras]

Not every game has to be "art"; I agree with that to an extent. But "games should be fun" shouldn't be an excuse for the industry to not expand itself with new ideas. Games are, at the core, entertainment software; I emphasize this because this fact seem to fly over a good part of the people's heads.

Instead of arguing whether games should be art or not - or for that matter, what games are "supposed to be" - just leave it to the developers to brainstorm upon how they want to present their software to the users. Whatever or however they want to present, that's their creative freedom, and that's the essential core of a creative medium to begin with. Of course, that doesn't mean, in any way, that there won't be criticism; they present, and the critics will assess, differentiating them by quality.

 

[NicholasT33]

I have a friend that plays exclusively indie games and is a massive fanboy of Portal.
Whenever he hears someone talking about an Fps like CoD, he informs them of the greatness of his games and how they are "too smart" for most people. Now, I play portal and I enjoyed it, but why can't we play games just for fun?

I hit the nail on the head with this one.

There are few people that do say they ?hate? ?mindless gaming experiences? or games that only evoke one or two emotions. They may say this for a number of reasons; 1 may want to sound smarter. 2, in your case your friend may just want or is hoping for you to see his point for view, as games can be so much more. 3 he/she may indeed just dislike them just because.
I?m willing to believe that it?s more of the second. You see places like these (The Escapist) are very rare in the since that we do see games as a true potential art form, of what could happen if we get our act together, as we as consumers and as games makers to create true gaming experiences other that war simulators, by saying they hate a cretin game or genre he/she feels like there doing something of their part in saying, ?Hey make more intellectual thought provoking or even just plain new experiences, and I won?t or can?t stand that your making same old stuff?.
I?m with your friend on this one and I?m sure we?re not alone (If number 2 is the case). However I?m willing to bet that even your friend had enjoyed himself/herself in a few mindless violence games once in a while. I know I have. = )
It?s more of what they stand for rather than a fun factor.

 

[ObjectiveReality]

It's basically hipsterism and anti-hipsterism from either side. You get the same thing in the tabletop roleplaying community - wars between "oldschool" D&D-lovers who want to kill things and take their stuff, and "Forge-ite" indie-gamers who only play systemless mutual storytelling games about teenage heartbreak from the perspective of a mould spore. Those are ridiculous exaggerations, but they illustrate the two points of view.

Thing is, they're both kind of right, IMO. Games can do more than be mindless slay-fests, and limited imagination does let some games down - but there's also a place for less cerebral games, and highly technical or emotionally challenging games will never be everyone's cup of tea.

Basically, I think both extreme positions on the art vs. fun scale are wrong. For me an ideal game sits somewhere in the middle.

 

[kypsilon]

Does that make him a gaming hipster? With some people it's music, others movies. It's the first time I've heard about it being applied to games though, so at least that's something. His opinion shouldn't be an indication of the total population though.

Ask him how he likes his coffee.