Writing on gaming as an art form

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Watcheroftrends

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Jan 5, 2009
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I assume you mean the games themselves, not actually playing games as being artistic?

The way I see it, games are essentially interactive "realities". Like a movie, book, or even painting, games rely on making a world contained only within the mind of the observer so that they can experience something that does not exist in the same form as the real, physical world.

Many games contain a story that reveals something about human nature, or makes us see an issue in a different way. On a more simple level, they are about creating a stimulating experience.

To make a good game, it requires mastery of uderstand how we will perceive and experience the game. For example, in a game centered on gun fights, the designer will need to know what it is about a real warzone that is so interesting that, rather than simply imaging what it was like to be part of a war, we have a tendency to want to interact with an artifical game world because, for some reason, the experience of the video game means more.

Essentially we end up taking the role of whatever character or perspective the game presents. It is the game designers job to make that perspective interesting, whether it's to recreate something we can relate to in reality, or to even allow us to experience something completely different. Argably no other form of art can reach the level of personal involvement of a video game though, because video games have a level of interaction not found in other forms of art. In this aspect, they require the highest attention to detail and direction of any of the art forms.

The art aspect lies in the skill required by the creator to convey what they intend through the medium of the video game. This is the purpose of any work of art - to convey ideas through a medium.
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
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Here is how I would write it. I don't want to type everything again, so here, have this quote of me.

DoPo said:
OP, what is art? What connects the Iliad to Citizen Kane? What is the similarity between the works of Leonardo DaVinci and Beethoven? How is music like a painting or a statue? What makes both Dada and Baroque share the same title of "artistic"?

Answer those questions and find a way not to include the video games, or rather the interactive entertainment medium. Movies include a series of images and sound telling a story. A video game does the same. A book is a story in written form. The same can be said about the interactive fiction. The music uses sounds to convey emotions to the listeners. Don't you feel nothing when you hear "Hey. Hey, listen!"?

And so on and so forth.

In the end, isn't "art" whatever we say it is? If so, then there is no reason not to call video games "art". After all, you said it yourself - people on this website would do it. So if some can call Dada "art", then we can call video games "art", too.
It absolutely makes sense in this thread, I hope.
 

CODE-D

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Feb 6, 2011
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Games have art in them and concept art goes into their design.
But saying a game is art doesnt feel right to me but then again neither does saying movies are.
 

Lucem712

*Chirp*
Jul 14, 2011
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It always seemed odd to me that so much 'art' went into game and yet they aren't considered art.

If I drew the main character from a video game and showed it to you, you would reply; 'that's art'.

If I rendered a few cinematic scenes and showed them to you, you would reply; 'that's art'.

If I printed out the script, and showed it to you; you would reply, 'that's art'.

But if I combine it and started playing it, it's suddenly not art? What kind of deal is that?