Poll: Games are art?

[Arkhangelsk]

Are you one of the people that thinks that "games are art", like Yahtzee says? Also, what does it really mean that games are art? I can kind of get the picture, but it's hard for me to define it.

EDIT: Just discovered I didn't tell you what I think. Games are a work of art if the developers want it to. If a game has an excellent story, that's a work of art. If it has beautiful environments and level design, it's just as much art as a painting (More so, possibly). The soundtrack is a work of art, just like real music. So the only thing that isn't really art is the gameplay, cause that part is for the fun and enjoyment. But you want both, obviously. If I may quote Yahtzee here on what he said: "Anyone who sacrifices gameplay to make an artistic statement is obviously so stuck up his ass that he is in danger of choking on his own head." And that's kind of true. Without real gameplay, it's more of art, and less of a game. But there are games that can pull off both without sacrificing another. A game of art has the same elements of art as books, painting, and music. To squeeze all of them in is something hard, but it's great fun when they succeed.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Is a movie art? Is a song art? If that answer is yes, then it must be so for games aswell.

The real question I should have asked is how gamers feel about this as a spectacle. Do you see games as a simple entertainment thing, or as an artistic statement?

 

[quack35]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

 

[VitalSigns]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

Without explanation that just sounds stupid

 

[BolognaBaloney]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

DIdn't we just do this yesterday?

 

[BolognaBaloney]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

Without explanation that just sounds stupid

Judging someone's opinion sounds stupid

 

[TopaZzz]

Yes, everything created is in it's own way art!

 

[tenlong]

Yes it is. games are Fun fun art.

 

[VitalSigns]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

Without explanation that just sounds stupid

Judging someone's opinion sounds stupid

HELLO THIS IS A FORUM GENIUS!

Im not judging anything im very rudely asking for his full opinion, its different

 

[E.X.D.]

I like Scott Mcloud's definition: "Art, as I see it, is any human activity which doesn't grow out of either of our two basic instincts: survival and reproduction!"

 

[Rascarin]

I do not believe that "games are art". I think a game can have artistic elements to it, but for a game to actually be a work of art... well, I've not played a game that I would consider to be "art".

But then, I am very particular about what I classify art to be.

 

[Uncompetative]

They may have art in them (e.g. the satirical talk radio in GTA IV, or the cel-shaded graphics of Okami), but they are not art as a whole.

They are interactive software systems, currently only capable of recapitulating nauseatingly cliched narratives.

This may change in the future with software that can generate fresh dramatic scenarios that conform to an underlying thematic constraint.

Programming this is incredibly hard.

However, that is just my opinion - someone who studied Fine Art at degree level and now works on tools for videogame production.

 

[Xanadu84]

Games are art. End of discussion. By any sane definition that doesn't specifically try to exclude games, games are art. If it's not survival or sex, its art. If you want a real discussion, ask if games are meaningful. Ask if they cause the same kind of personal introspection of jazz, or a Picasso. That you can argue. But even if you do argue that there not meaningful, I say that they CAN be. If you say that MOST games arn't art, I will point to Rap, Brittany Spears, most action flicks, etc, and say that film and music, therefore, cannot be art.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Alll depends on what you define as art, anything constructed could be considered art.

That said if I created a game I wouldn't say its "art" I would say its a technical feat or idea.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

The idea of games as art is just silly to me.

Without explanation that just sounds stupid

Judging someone's opinion sounds stupid

HELLO THIS IS A FORUM GENIUS!

Im not judging anything im very rudely asking for his full opinion, its different

Calling it stupid is indeed judging it, thats what the word is used for, so if your actually saying thats just your way of asking him for his opinion, then you have yet to master the english language.

 

[E.X.D.]

Games are art. End of discussion. By any sane definition that doesn't specifically try to exclude games, games are art. If it's not survival or sex, its art. If you want a real discussion, ask if games are meaningful. Ask if they cause the same kind of personal introspection of jazz, or a Picasso. That you can argue. But even if you do argue that there not meaningful, I say that they CAN be. If you say that MOST games arn't art, I will point to Rap, Brittany Spears, most action flicks, etc, and say that film and music, therefore, cannot be art.

I agree, art is self expression through any medium INCLUDING videogames

 

[VitalSigns]

The big smile should have en stowed more sarcasm than it did.

Forgot the quote, WHOOPS

 

[The Shade of Time]

Yes i think after all games that are really immersiveare works of art

Lets say Imersion wise what could be called a work of art Call of Duty 4 in my eyes was very, very well done and i totaly immersed and i could call a work of art

 

[VitalSigns]

Story telling is an art form, some games pull of a story well, some dont but it is still an art form. Same with level/world/character design. To just say its not art cause it may not have a bold underlying message is just ridiculous to me. Art and Entertainment can co-exist

 

[Uncompetative]

Games are art. End of discussion. By any sane definition that doesn't specifically try to exclude games, games are art. If it's not survival or sex, its art. If you want a real discussion, ask if games are meaningful. Ask if they cause the same kind of personal introspection of jazz, or a Picasso. That you can argue. But even if you do argue that there not meaningful, I say that they CAN be. If you say that MOST games arn't art, I will point to Rap, Brittany Spears, most action flicks, etc, and say that film and music, therefore, cannot be art.

Name one 'art-game' that hasn't been recontextualized as art by being made part of some stupid electronic art installation in some gallery.

Mario Paint doesn't count.