Do you think Video Games are art?

[Flash_gearz]

I was just thinking, and wondered... could, and should, video games be considered a art?

I think so, because if music is considered art, video games make some of the highest quality music. If Drawing is an art, then creating the models could be too. If art can be described "diverse range of human activities, creations, and expressions that are appealing or attractive to the mind or have some significance to the mind of an individual." A game could fit in that description. The general non-gaming population think that it is a waste of time, money, and effort. But when a cutscene can bring you to tears, from the emotions sprouting from the music, and connection you created with the characters in game... doesn't that have some, even more significance to a peson, then a painting?
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[MorbidLilim]

Of course it's art.

 

[JeffroBaggins]

Absolutely. For all the points you mentioned and more. A game must be audibly and visually pleasing, true, but many of them are also immersive. They take you to a whole other world. Many of them have wonderfully engaging stories that could easily be made into a great novel. There are games (Legend of Zelda comes to mind) where the intricately crafted dungeons and puzzles clearly requires real intelligence and imagination to make. It could be argued that a well-made video game encompasses nearly all forms of art.

And on top of all that, you have to be able to make it fun. If that ain't art at it's highest form, then I don't know what is.

 

[Hipmonlee]

I dont really like anything being described as art. Not even art.

It seems (at least to a lot of people) to imply some kind of inherent value in it, which is utterly nonsense. Art to me means craft of exceptional quality. Usually requiring depth of meaning beyond it's primary function. EG paintings have to mean something and not just look good.

So, in the overwhelming majority of cases, I would say no, video games are not art. But some certainly are.

Have a nice day.

 

[Minwu]

There can be bad art..

 

[Ancien Régime]

The question should really be "Can Video Games be considered art?" I think most video games are not art; they are there for entertainment, challenge, fun. (not that that's bad). But there are certainly video games that, whether they are at an exceptional level of aesthetic quality (which I think provides meaning) or tells a deep, emotional, involving story (Final Fantasy, especially VI/VII would be shining examples of this), I think that there are some games that could easily be considered art.

 

[NESgamer]

The concept of art is subjective.

A small definition from the dictionary says: "1.the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance."

That could fit on a videogame, but still it would be subjective.

 

[omgthatkid]

Yes, of course it's art.
The combination of music, cinematography, and story line really says art.
Everything about it is art.
The only big difference is that you're more actively engaged in this art form.

 

[THE_IRON_...KENYAN?]

Yes because they are utterly fucking awesome and give you the deep down warm feeling of awesome, which for me is kinda like being rick rolled or just listening to good music.

Thats just my two cents about art.

 

[Mr.378]

I suppose they can be if they're done right. However most of the games of today don't focus on such.

 

[Glen]

i guess it's art

but it kind of makes you wonder what isn't art, really

at its most basic level, if we're trying to avoid hipmonlee's definition (the word 'art' having inherent value in it), then art is basically anything anyone creates, is it not?

if so, must it be tangible? is not leadership art? is not a relationship art?

 

[Firestorm]

Yes it is for arguments I've repeated elsewhere countless times. Any arguments made against it being art can easily be applied to other media that are considered art - especially film.

Video games are a medium of expression, just like any other. I'm not talking just aesthetics here. Play through Bioshock or Metroid Prime or Portal and then tell me games aren't art. There was artistic vision in those games and it's obvious.

 

[UberMunch]

I think anything can be argued to be art. Technically, everything is created (or else it wouldn't be here). What it really cames down to is whether the art is good. However this is subjective as well, since it is a matter of opinion. But enough of this philisophical ranting. My opinion is that many video games CAN be considered quality art. Providing fun is the core purpose of any video game, and if a game does this well I believe it should be considered good art

 

[doppio]

If they aren't art, art doesn't exist, and it is a much, much sadder world we live in.

 

[Nindragon]

Yes, of course it's art.
The combination of music, cinematography, and story line really says art.
Everything about it is art.
The only big difference is that you're more actively engaged in this art form.

I agree completely in this statement. In a way, you can create art inside of art using Video Games.

 

[Surgo]

If Portal or Shadow of the Colossus can't be considered art, I don't know what can.

 

[omgthatkid]

Some games are just so aesthetically beautiful that it seems shameful to ever doubt they were art in the first place.

 

[bolt.]

Video games are a brainwashing method used by terrorists to take over america. That way everyone will be too busy to stop playing (insert random game here) to fight back. There is no art involved there. xDDD

Really though, some of it is art, some of it just fails. Even then it would just be bad art... so yes it is art.

 

[Viral7]

Video games are a brainwashing method used by terrorists to take over america. That way everyone will be too busy to stop playing (insert random game here) to fight back. There is no art involved there. xDDD

Umm....sure, what ever you say.

Video games is just a way for developers to express their imagination and to bring whatever they are envisioning to reality. Rather it is good or bad, it is still considered art, just a different type of it. Art is basically expressing oneself through a piece of work.

 

[Chronos]

Many games are better examples of art than the post-modern crap that people crank out

 

[Zathura]

the original starcraft is a work of art
i would say that rby are works of art too.

oh and portal

 

[aura_lucario]

I think that games can be a form of art.
Art, to me personally, is something that you can enjoy, which is why people
assume inherent worth in art.
People who think painting is an art usually enjoy it.
Same goes with music.
Because art is so subjective, you have to look at it through your own lens.
There is no yes/no answer to this.
Now, seeing as this is a forum for a series of video games, I'm going to guess many people think certain games can be an art.
This is because they look at it through their own lens.
You go to the world painting convention (if there actually is one...) and ask them whether a game is an art form, I'm sure that you'll find many more "nos" than you will find here.
Instead of asking do you think video games are art, the question should be, "what constitutes art?" This topic is on its way there [if not already]

 

[Kid Icarus]

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was definitely a work of art. Everything about it is amazing, and still rivals other games for being the best game ever made. And it was for the N64!!!

OOT was really the only game for me that felt like it leapt from entertaining game to something I will remember as beauty.

 

[CactuarJoe]

Video games are definitely art. True, everyone has a subjective opinion of what is or is not art, but one thing just about everyone can agree on is that art is a medium of communication. If it conveys a message, if it's a method a person uses to try to say something, then it is art - everything from the works of Caravaggio to whoever came up with those disturbing PlayStation ads with the squirrels. Whether or not it's good art is another question entirely.

Like Hipmonlee, I have a problem with the word "art", not because I believe that it assigns value without reason, but because the word is so often used to say what isn't worthwhile, as opposed to what is. Especially by people who have no real basis for making such a distinction, save their own personal agenda. The term "High Art" is especially guilty of this. "High Art" isn't so much used to describe a generally accepted social canon as it is to describe pieces that are older than a hundred years, or at the very least obscenely expensive. "Art" is often used as shorthand for "Look how rich/cultured/perceptive I am."

In short, yes, video games are art, because people are using them to make statements. Whether or not they have any value is going to have to be on a case-by-case basis, just like every other medium.

 

[Linkster]

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was definitely a work of art. Everything about it is amazing, and still rivals other games for being the best game ever made. And it was for the N64!!!

OOT was really the only game for me that felt like it leapt from entertaining game to something I will remember as beauty.

I agree whole heartedly with this ^ ^

OoT stands out as it was the first RPG set in a 3D realm and the sense of wonderment at stepping out onto Hyrule field for the first time will stay with me longer than any so called masterpieces that I have seen in any gallery.

Creating a superb video game isn't a science, it's an art form.