Miyamoto: "I Never Said Games Are Art"

[Irridium]

Games that are art
World of Goo
The Path
That new one where you throw colour at everything (I forget the name)
Love
Audiosurf

And those are just the obviously arty ones, once we get into the whole "what counts as art" debate so much more can be added.

Add Okami to that list.

Seriously, its like your playing a damn watercoler painting.

And its lots of fun.

 

[Hurray Forums]

It's fine to say his games aren't an artform, but to apply a blanket statement to games in general is not. Games, as a form of media, have the same visual qualities of a movie, the sound of music, and the text of books, along with the elements unique to video games, so it's impossible to say that video games are not art and those are since games are basically just an ascension of other forms of media. One could say that the games that have been made are not art, or that they are lower quality, or blah blah blah and that would be an "acceptable" opinion, but you can't say that video games themselves are inherently not art. I'm not sure why any of this really matters though. I mean, the word "art" means nothing with how abused, overused, and vague it is. Half the time it's just used to give something importance it may or may not deserve or to sell crap to gullible morons.

 

[potatowave]

Games that are art
World of Goo
The Path
That new one where you throw colour at everything (I forget the name)
Love
Audiosurf

And those are just the obviously arty ones, once we get into the whole "what counts as art" debate so much more can be added.

Add Okami to that list.

Seriously, its like your playing a damn watercoler painting.

And its lots of fun.

Basically, making a list of games that are art is the same thing as making a list of games that don't suck.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Personally i'm glad he said it most calls for gaming to be considered an artform is mostly based off a belife that videogames need defending and that being called art is nessecary to legitimise gaming with no small ammount of pretension being involved as well.

 

[Irridium]

Basically, making a list of games that are art is the same thing as making a list of games that don't suck.

True enough, but still.

The game looks like a painting.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Aliens Vs Predator '99 had me scared in a way that no horror movie ever came close to. I had to take breaks because my shoulders got so tense.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Miyamoto is right.

His games are not art.

 

[dfphetteplace]

Some games are works of art (Oblivion being just one example), others are not (most of the games for the Wii are not art, in fact, most are crap). Lets face it people, 90 % of games now are crap because it is easy to throw something simple together and make some money off of it. That being said, if a game is just pretty to look at and it isn't fun, what is the point?

 

[bladeofdarkness]

the man is entitled to his opinion (god knows we all owe him a great deal)
but i have to disagree with him
quite frankly, i can't think of any other way to discribe mass effect 2, then a work of art
and i'm sure everyone has some game they feel the same about

 

[bladeofdarkness]

Some games are works of art (Oblivion being just one example), others are not (most of the games for the Wii are not art, in fact, most are crap). Lets face it people, 90 % of games now are crap because it is easy to throw something simple together and make some money off of it. That being said, if a game is just pretty to look at and it isn't fun, what is the point?

haven't you heard of Sturgeon's law
"90% of everything is crap"

 

[Pendragon9]

Nice to see some humbleness from the man who blessed the world with a form of entertainment that has brought families together and seperated kids from their quarters.

 

[rosac]

I find it cool how a lead designer/CEo-ish guy is humble when receiving a reward rather than rubbing it in the other companies faces. Well done him.

rosac

 

[Trivun]

Games that are art

World of Goo
The Path
That new one where you throw colour at everything (I forget the name)
Love
Audiosurf

And those are just the obviously arty ones, once we get into the whole "what counts as art" debate so much more can be added.

Epic Disney? That's the only one I can think of, that's mainstream at least, where you throw colour at everything. Anyway, i agree with that list, although I would also add:

- The Graveyard
- Auditorium
- Anything from American McGee

Anyway, on topic, I agree that Miyamoto deserves a Fellowship award. I can think of a few others as well (Peter Molyneux for his work with Bullfrog, for example. And Sid Meier too, and maybe whoever it was at Valve who came up with Steam). I don't see any reason why, despite being much newer a medium, videogames shouldn't be compared to film and TV as artistic and entertainment media.

 

[dfphetteplace]

Some games are works of art (Oblivion being just one example), others are not (most of the games for the Wii are not art, in fact, most are crap). Lets face it people, 90 % of games now are crap because it is easy to throw something simple together and make some money off of it. That being said, if a game is just pretty to look at and it isn't fun, what is the point?

Crap art is still art.

EDIT: The last sentence....that was a joke right? do you really think the word art just means "something nice to look at"
so music by your definition is never art?

I was referencing video games. I do very think that music is art, possibly the most wonderful art humans have ever created. I disagree that crap art is still art. If it didn't take some talent and/or imagination to create, then I do not think it is art. But! All art is subjective so what I find to be shit might be seen by someone else as wonderful beauty. Example: I can't stand Andy Warhol, but I know a lot of people really enjoy is work. I do not even consider him an artist, but that is my opinion. I think music is very artful, but I do not regard a lot of music as art, since I don't think some poeple have to talent to create anything worth listening to. I stated that Oblivion is art, and that is because, to me, the game play was extremely fun, it was beautiful to look at, the music was incredible, and all around was just a wonderful experience to me. Some games are fun, but I think calling it art is a little bit of a stretch. And then some games look awful, play terribly, and just frustrate and annoy, so I do not consider that art. Art is a term used to describe something special. Not everything ever created by humans is art. Thanks for you reply though, seems like a good discussion.

 

[Jaranja]

But games are art!
Dammit, how are going to educate the world if our people won't even follow this way of thinking.

Art can be entertainment.

 

[Plurralbles]

Good for him!

Video games should stay as entertainment and not go the art route because then it becomes less than the sum of its parts. Right now it's more than.