Is call of duty an art?

[Alexnader]

Call of Duty is art in the same way that The Iliad is literature. And if you don't immediately understand what I mean, then you're probably not qualified to participate in the discussion.

Pshhht yeah right. If you still think art belongs in an ivory tower where only critics, collectors, students and artists (read, the educated/experienced or elite) can look at it then you're probably not qualified to participate in the discussion.

THAT's exactly my point.

The Iliad wasn't pedestal art, it was basically the Call of Duty of its day. Even now, it's not exactly thought-provoking. The only reason people read it now is because it's old. And it was popular. When Call of Duty is 1000 years old, people will play it and say "oh, wow, now this is art" just because it's old (assuming it survives).

I was actually kind of hoping someone would get the reference, and not just knee-jerk react like you did.

But whether or not something is art is somewhat of an intellectual discussion. After all, who else cares whether something classifies as art other than academics? And those same academics are pretentious. If people enjoy it, who cares whether some nerd calls something art? The real question is whether it is expression, and if so, does is qualify for legal protections based on that fact. It doesn't need to be art to be important enough to protect.

The knee-jerk reaction was to your elitist stance that "anyone who didn't get what you meant wasn't qualified for this discussion" rather than anything to do with the Illiad but thanks for the insight. I don't know anyone who thinks the Illiad is art even now, it's just an old story. Just like Cod will be just an old game (or already is depending on your point of view). I'd say people view the Illiad now because it's considered a classic, not because it's art (which in my mind it isn't). Just like people may play CoD in the future because people played the hell out of it now and was a "classic" game.

As for your "who cares if something is classified as art or not aside from academics" question all I can say is most people who posted here seemed to and this is not an academic site by any means. The entire point of this thread was to discuss whether or not CoD was art, not whether or not CoD is worth conserving as a cultural icon or anything like that. Art should be open for discourse amongst everyone and we'd be better off for it if it was. Personally I believe works from all creative mediums can be art when applied in the right manner/context and there should be skilled people pushing the boundaries of all those mediums. If you can't be bothered with all that then that's fine, just don't try and say the entire debate is pointless.

 

[Archer666]

It's not art, and I don't think it was made to be art. It was just made to make money/provide a fun experience for people playing it. It succeeded in both fronts.

 

[helltime37]

the first modern warfare was an art. the rest of the cod games (after cod4) is more go there and blow up that place cause its cool.