When the argument 'Videogames are Art' comes up...
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Planescape Torment.
Its one of the few games I can thing of that has ACTUAL literary weight. Not just COMPETENT weight either mind you. This thing is actually written damn good.
Its one of the few games I can thing of that has ACTUAL literary weight. Not just COMPETENT weight either mind you. This thing is actually written damn good.
i think of the entire amount of creativity involved with creating a game. the characters, the story, the history, the scenery... you really cant point out a single thing in a video game and not call it art because every single bit of the game was imagined by somebody through their own creativity and even the objects that are recycled in games were created in somebody's mind long before it appeared in the game. much like movies, every piece of the project is art and to trash a single piece is to trash the entire process
Estocavio said:
When Roger Ebert first started rambling about games being incapable of artistic expression, I seemed to be the only Escapist who ever mentioned The Void in the numerous "games are/aren't art" threads. I am so glad that other people have started mentioning it. However you two found the game, I must say how glad I am that you did. I'm not trying to boast here, I just wanted to say how happy the two of you made me just now.dathwampeer said:
More on Topic: Yes, The Void, the above video does no justice to the game, like all great art it needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Unfortunately I have a very hard time playing it. I have a psychological problem related to stress, of which The Void provides a great amount. It is testament to The Void's quality that I still make the attempt to play it.
Edit: One Important Point: The Void has been officially translated into quite a few languages (English among them,) so you don't need to learn German (although you may want to learn Russian) to play The Void, as you might have inferred from the above video.
i personally view all games as art, but when i think of good art and gaming i think of games like red dead redemption, mass effect, and assassin's creed 2 and brotherhood
people seem to think that "art" has to be this beautiful visual and intellectual master piece, but have you actually stopped and looked at what people consider true art? Shakespeare's stuff was mostly drivel, "oh we're teenager who just met, and we cant be together. lets kill ourselves!" or "you killed my father, prepare to die, oh wait, now I'm dead too!" and most famous artist suck as proportioning people bodies. art is something that is entertaining, that makes you think, and what makes you feel, great art, masterpieces, do all those things.
people seem to think that "art" has to be this beautiful visual and intellectual master piece, but have you actually stopped and looked at what people consider true art? Shakespeare's stuff was mostly drivel, "oh we're teenager who just met, and we cant be together. lets kill ourselves!" or "you killed my father, prepare to die, oh wait, now I'm dead too!" and most famous artist suck as proportioning people bodies. art is something that is entertaining, that makes you think, and what makes you feel, great art, masterpieces, do all those things.
any game with the excpetion of games based on stars and movies art is the expresion of a original idea (atleast by my defintion since there is no real definition of what art is)
World of Warcraft, the story that each zone gives you is simply amazing when you take a deeper look at it.
And the story of all the characters for instance... The fall of Arthas and the rise of the Lich King is the first one that comes to mind. Just reading about it is wonderful.
And of course, the art style itself.
And the story of all the characters for instance... The fall of Arthas and the rise of the Lich King is the first one that comes to mind. Just reading about it is wonderful.
And of course, the art style itself.
When i first played it, i was horribly confused. When i first went into the Garden i was horribly confused. Then i realised i was methodically tending to a Garden based on life as a puressence, and that the game was much more philosophical than i thought it was; Then it all just came togetherIron Lightning said:
Hopefully you aren't saying that we have to *only* look at gameplay when judging the artistic merit of a game. After all, people take the script and music into account when reviewing movies, and lyrics into account when reviewing songs.Veylon said:
I have a feeling this is going to make me seem pretentious, but the art of Shakespeare isn't really in his narratives. It's in the wit, the tone, and the thematic development. Similarly, the art of painting is not only in being able to create a realistic representation of a human being (if it were, painting would have been obsolete as soon as the camera was invented).chainer1216 said:
As such, a game might have a more complex plot than Romeo and Juliet, or more accurately rendered figures than say, a Picasso, but at the same time it's probably also lacking a complex thematic idea like what you find in most "true" art. This is often what people are referring to when they put the fine arts on a pedestal.
You can't really cry spoiler foul on a game that's been out for almost 6 years. You can't expect people to eternally tip toe around talking about a game/movie/book simply because you haven't played it. To be honest you should be able to identify a plot synopsis when it starts off with "the story of a man". If you were really so worried about spoilers for this particular game one would have expected you to have picked it up long before now. Furthermore if its the case that you really hadn't heard about this game before now then one would assume your reason for getting upset is that the plot synopsis made you want to play the game thus making the spoiler in fact your reason for getting it. Also, plot synopsis for this game a spoiler does not make as there's far more to it than just that. You could argue it could have easily been recommended to you without spoilers but this isn't a one on one conversation between you and the other guy.aussiechoco said:
I'd explain it to you (since the one you read is actually kinda wrong) but you'd probably just get angry over more spoilers.
The first game that usually comes to my mind is the first Bioshock. If people can honestly say that it isnt art then Ill concede by their standards that I dont know a thing about art.
Other games that come to mind include Shadow of the colosus, Okami, Silent hill 2, the first God of War, Indigo Prophecy, Fallout (1, 2, 3, Brotherhood of steel, and New vegas), Summoner, the first Knights of the old republic, Dragon Age: Origins, both Mass effects, and both Parasite Eve's
Although the earliest artistic game was IMO Ninja Gaiden (I mean the original NES one)
Other games that come to mind include Shadow of the colosus, Okami, Silent hill 2, the first God of War, Indigo Prophecy, Fallout (1, 2, 3, Brotherhood of steel, and New vegas), Summoner, the first Knights of the old republic, Dragon Age: Origins, both Mass effects, and both Parasite Eve's
Although the earliest artistic game was IMO Ninja Gaiden (I mean the original NES one)
Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption, Limbo, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. What? The plot twist was amazing.
what comes to mind? Bioshock. Because I've almost been indoctrinated to say so. I desperately try to come up with other titles, but none pops up.
Because I'm a pretentious wanker and my definition for art will forever hold games into a "sport"-like category... never mind there isn't a point to this sentence.
However, to be needlessly complex I can point out art that is around a particular game. You know, stuff you're subjected to at the same time as playing the game. I'd say a good example of that is... hard for me to think of...
Most games on my list aren't really artistic though... they're just... really really good games. StarCraft, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Total War, 4x Games, even the closest I can think of is Fire Emblem and I can't stand the story around it, I just love the hell out of the rule system it uses and the grid-based and turn-based tactics it utilizes.
No wait, I've got one. Jet Grind Radio. That's a game that has a bold art-direction to it and a rebellious message to it.
However, to be needlessly complex I can point out art that is around a particular game. You know, stuff you're subjected to at the same time as playing the game. I'd say a good example of that is... hard for me to think of...
Most games on my list aren't really artistic though... they're just... really really good games. StarCraft, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Total War, 4x Games, even the closest I can think of is Fire Emblem and I can't stand the story around it, I just love the hell out of the rule system it uses and the grid-based and turn-based tactics it utilizes.
No wait, I've got one. Jet Grind Radio. That's a game that has a bold art-direction to it and a rebellious message to it.