Friday, October 26, 2012

But is it art?

For many years, people have debated if video games are considered art. Many game developers and avid gamers would say that video games are art. However, there are many people who would disagree with this thought. Film critic Robert Ebert is one of the many who say that games are not art. Ebert has actually said that “Video games can never be art” but later changed his statement to say that gamers alive right now will not be able to see the medium become art within their lifetime (Ebert, 2010). Ebert claims that games can't be art because they must be won, they have a point system, and if you take these things away from games they are nothing but visual novels (Ebert, 2010). While I do not agree with Ebert's opinion on video games, I respect that he has stated why he thinks games are not art. I believe that games are art because they are a collaboration of art.

 These elements compose video games and I have given examples of each of these:

How can each of these parts of a game be considered art but not the game as a whole? I don't think that is possible to separate one part from another. Also, games have recently been featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  However, I would like you to decide if you believe video games are considered art and to leave a response in the comments. I think it is important for everyone to truly decide for themselves if they believe games are art or not.


References

Ebert, R. (2010, Apr 16). blogs.suntimes.com. Retrieved from http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html




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2 comments:

  1. Matt ThurmanOctober 29, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    I personally believe that video games can be art, but aren't always art. I would draw the distinction at whether the game attempts to illicit an emotional response or not. For example a game like Bioshock would be art because of the immersive atmosphere and quality storytelling designed to illicit an emotional response, while a game like Tetris would not be art because it makes no attempt to affect the audience aside from the challenge of the game itself.

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  2. Ryan LutzNovember 26, 2012 at 8:33 AM

    May I suggest touching on Ico as well, while it may be nearly a decade old game it did really help propel the discussion on is a video game a work of art.

    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2011/10/the-video-game-art-of-fumito-ueda.html

    This article by the New Yorker speaks directly to Ico and the discussion of if it is art.

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