Are video games art?

[MMMMatilde]

Afternoon everyone,

At uni my next assessment is 2000 words long and the question I have picked is..

"Film critic Roger Ebert famously pronounced that ‘Video games can never be art.’ Is this statement correct?"

I have done some research, not a lot yet, but I would be interested to see what everyone else thinks. My immediate opinion is that video games can be art, not all, but a lot of. I also have an opinion that a lot of modern art is not what I would consider art. For example..


This piece of art, I could have done in paint.


This game, journey, visually much more appealing and inflicts a lot more emotion, to me, than the above.

What do you think?

PS. If you have done any research I'd love to know where you got your information from - sharing is caring people.

 

[The Man]

I am going to say yes
Start out with a blank slate
End up with many visuals done from the imagination. ..these graphics are often appealing to the eye..characters created are art,back scenes are art...the fact that there are interactions are secondary to the art itself.

 

[Jordan]

A lot of games are hand drawn firs too.
If if they are in the end digital, it's still art in my opinion. You have to be really skilled to be able to develop graphics and animations for games.

.these graphics are often appealing to the eye..characters created are art,back scenes are art...the fact that there are interactions are secondary to the art itself.

Like The Man has said, even back screens are. I once saw a video on how Blizzard's game developers create their stuff and it was really neat and cool to see. A lot of them have a utensil to draw directly on the computers to make the art digitally.

 

[porterjack]

one thumb up one down

 

[The Man]

A lot of games are hand drawn firs too.
If if they are in the end digital, it's still art in my opinion. You have to be really skilled to be able to develop graphics and animations for games.

Agreed..its just digital in the end..the creation and what the final product looks like is a human creation due to the human imagination.
Software is a tool just like a paintbrush or pencil or even a finger in the sand.
Music for the most part ends up in digital format and is still music and some is actually created with digital instruments..the "tools" are the instruments.

 

[Godsloveapples]

Of course video games are art! They're the best kind of art too

 

[boombala]

Absolutely. I play on pogo and the graphics in many of the game are outstanding.

 

[!]

You could ask the question of any digitally rendered cinematic type content?

Examples:
TV shows = Simpsons, Family Guy
Movies = Happy Feet, Lion King
Music Videos = "Feel Good Inc" by Gorillaz, "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead.

The only difference I see is that video games are more of an interactive experience as opposed to just being a pure visual presentation.

 

[Adam]

Of course there art, the amount of creativity it takes to model, create and bring to life a digital world is in itself a variety of different art forms.

 

[BadBoy]

There are a lot of pieces of art I look at and say that it is not art. But most video games are works of art. Anytime you can take an idea and present it on a 2D screen in 3D, you have created a work of art.

 

[boombala]

Offtopic here but speaking of art no less. What I really miss and I think we have lost forever is the psychedelic art produced in the '60s.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...1&va=psychedelic&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001

 

[itsmeJonB]

Roger Ebert should lay off the fatty foods

 

[itsmeJonB]

There are a lot of pieces of art I look at and say that it is not art. But most video games are works of art. Anytime you can take an idea and present it on a 2D screen in 3D, you have created a work of art.

Anytime you can take any idea and make it real it's art, regardless of the canvas