Are video games art?

[One Direction]

You know what? I've never viewed video games as art before. I was too busy pressing buttons to reach the next level than staring at the intricacies of the environments and the characters. But when I played Okami, boy was I blown away. It felt as though I was playing in a moving painting. This leads me to the question, could video games be considered as art?

 

[Kotro]

Well, technically, they are and have been for quite a while, according to some opinions. In Europe there has been a long tradition of "numbering" the Arts, estabilished at the beggining of the 20th century in Ricciotto Canuto's Seven Arts Manifest. He estabilished the following numbering:
- dance (1st art)
- music (2nd art)
- poetry (3rd art)
- painting (4th art)
- sculpture (5th art)
- architecture (6th art)
- film (7th art)

The numbering is so popular that it quite common outside of the English speaking world to refer to Cinema simply as the 7th Art, and everyone will know what you're talking about.
Recently, the list was extended to include 11 arts in total:
- photography (8th art)
- comics (9th art)
- video games (10th art)
- digital art (11th art)

 

[woot223]

Yes, I think that video games are definitely art. The people who design characters, maps, write the story, produce the soundtrack of the game are all artists so it's only logical that their combined efforts are also art. Could video games be compared to movies or books? Most certainly, there are video games that teach you moral values, are thought provoking and is some cases can even make you cry just like a good book or a movie can.

 

[BWOF]

I think a lot of creativity goes into making and creating them. I don't know if people will ever compare them to works by great artists but I think that a lot of effort has gone into them. Video games have gone beyond the Super Mario Brothers of the 80's.

 

[SS42A]

Video games are a work of art. The character designs are hand-drawn, and now computer-generated, by veteran artists. Game settings, fonts, the dimensions, and everything - these are all taken into consideration in making a game. Critics rate these games based on certain criteria such as graphics, fun factor, sound/music, controls, etc. Of course, video games must be rated substantially distinct from books, movies, etc., because if they are rated based on the same classifications, then video games would fall at the bottom.

 

[Kyama3]

I wouldn't initially consider a video game to be art, however I can certainly perceive it that way. All of the work that has gone in to a videogame, the amount of effort and determination, and of course the end result. It's certainly a work of art when you take it all into account. I really think most anything can be perceived as art by anyone.