30th November 2005, 1:27 PM
Of course video games are a form of art because at its core is a form of story telling. Not the actual script of the game mind you or dialogue of the characters, though that can be enough to place it in the catagory of art - an interavtive graphic novel.
But video games are the expression of commiting to simple goals in order to achieve larger goals that progressively becomes more complicated and/or more difficult. The interaction of the player to the game which has been designed by play-mechanics and the director in to the environment which has been digitally sculpted to carry a vision of the director and art director along with the music and sound effects to bring more emotion and life in to that environment whether that content be of a comedic, dramatic, surreal or what have you, to form the illusion of realism even if that realism is what we know to be untrue.
That interaction of the player to the game is the real art. The player becomes the antagonist causing the change to the game which is then the (game itself) protagonist. Because we are individuals by nature each person extrapolates their own version of what is happening, their life experiences and exposure to other aspects of entertainment (film, TV, books, etc) or life creates a larger pallete that in the case of video games made with the ideal of being 'larger than life' to have deeper more significant ideals as the player gains more real life experience. This can be seen in anything from the bible to a steven spielberg movie, in other words anything with a well-thought out presentation of ideals
What it all really comes down to is the amount of time and thought put in to something to create that illusion. For example the Mona Lisa grabs us and causes us to wonder what the artist was thinking but also what Mona Lisa is thinking, why the smile? why the surroundings of nature? Thousands of theories pop up, Leonardo obviously felt that women are superior and that they are more in tune with nature. / Leonardo obviously felt that women are dangerous because they have become far removed from nature. etc. The real truth is the Mona Lisa is leonardo Da Vinci in a female body, smiling because of his willingness to accept his deviant sexuality.
We can find things like in Kubrick movies called 'hidden meanings' or the ability to use sound, visuals and dialogue to tell more than one story simultaneously, and we can also find this video games. Like Silent Hill or Final Fantasy and especially Zelda.
Ryan told me about something that gives us a glipse in to the hidden meanings of Zelda when Nintendo was taken to court over th use of certain symbols and music in the game 'Ocarina of Time'. Turns out the symbol of the muslim faith was used on the mirror shield and muslim chanting was mixed in to the sound track of the fire temple. If we look closely at Ocarina of Time, we can see more hints about the various cultures in conflict during the progression of the game and find a common thread to real history and its translation in to the Zelda universe.
Just as Kubrick laid a foundation of hidden meanings in his films like in the shining where subtle hints of the european invasion of America and the slaughtering of indians is found through the film in various ways, completely hidden and iconicaly presented. The same ideal behind many stories in the bible or other religious stories.
So it is time and thought put in to the creation of a thing that is given to individuals to enjoy as entertainment that we consider art, and video games, using a mixture of many different previously existing forms of art and completely new avenues of interaction to it, is definitely art. That cannot be argued. But it is the willingness of the individual to accept it that truely seperates the creation of a thing from what is considered to be art.
Some people find the engine used in muscle cars to be a form of art, seeing its beauty and wondering at its design, but those people are few and we dont accept a mechanical device that is used in practical life to be a form of art. Video games are a mechanical device that is used in our practical lives, the manipulation of light on a display for entertainment purposes. But it is what the designers do with that base that creates the thing to be judged, and so on.
Besides, if a woman can spray paint from her vagina and display it in artistic venues where it is judged by individuals, both professional and casual who proclaim it to be a form of art, than video games can DEFINITELY be wholly placed in the catagory.
But video games are the expression of commiting to simple goals in order to achieve larger goals that progressively becomes more complicated and/or more difficult. The interaction of the player to the game which has been designed by play-mechanics and the director in to the environment which has been digitally sculpted to carry a vision of the director and art director along with the music and sound effects to bring more emotion and life in to that environment whether that content be of a comedic, dramatic, surreal or what have you, to form the illusion of realism even if that realism is what we know to be untrue.
That interaction of the player to the game is the real art. The player becomes the antagonist causing the change to the game which is then the (game itself) protagonist. Because we are individuals by nature each person extrapolates their own version of what is happening, their life experiences and exposure to other aspects of entertainment (film, TV, books, etc) or life creates a larger pallete that in the case of video games made with the ideal of being 'larger than life' to have deeper more significant ideals as the player gains more real life experience. This can be seen in anything from the bible to a steven spielberg movie, in other words anything with a well-thought out presentation of ideals
What it all really comes down to is the amount of time and thought put in to something to create that illusion. For example the Mona Lisa grabs us and causes us to wonder what the artist was thinking but also what Mona Lisa is thinking, why the smile? why the surroundings of nature? Thousands of theories pop up, Leonardo obviously felt that women are superior and that they are more in tune with nature. / Leonardo obviously felt that women are dangerous because they have become far removed from nature. etc. The real truth is the Mona Lisa is leonardo Da Vinci in a female body, smiling because of his willingness to accept his deviant sexuality.
We can find things like in Kubrick movies called 'hidden meanings' or the ability to use sound, visuals and dialogue to tell more than one story simultaneously, and we can also find this video games. Like Silent Hill or Final Fantasy and especially Zelda.
Ryan told me about something that gives us a glipse in to the hidden meanings of Zelda when Nintendo was taken to court over th use of certain symbols and music in the game 'Ocarina of Time'. Turns out the symbol of the muslim faith was used on the mirror shield and muslim chanting was mixed in to the sound track of the fire temple. If we look closely at Ocarina of Time, we can see more hints about the various cultures in conflict during the progression of the game and find a common thread to real history and its translation in to the Zelda universe.
Just as Kubrick laid a foundation of hidden meanings in his films like in the shining where subtle hints of the european invasion of America and the slaughtering of indians is found through the film in various ways, completely hidden and iconicaly presented. The same ideal behind many stories in the bible or other religious stories.
So it is time and thought put in to the creation of a thing that is given to individuals to enjoy as entertainment that we consider art, and video games, using a mixture of many different previously existing forms of art and completely new avenues of interaction to it, is definitely art. That cannot be argued. But it is the willingness of the individual to accept it that truely seperates the creation of a thing from what is considered to be art.
Some people find the engine used in muscle cars to be a form of art, seeing its beauty and wondering at its design, but those people are few and we dont accept a mechanical device that is used in practical life to be a form of art. Video games are a mechanical device that is used in our practical lives, the manipulation of light on a display for entertainment purposes. But it is what the designers do with that base that creates the thing to be judged, and so on.
Besides, if a woman can spray paint from her vagina and display it in artistic venues where it is judged by individuals, both professional and casual who proclaim it to be a form of art, than video games can DEFINITELY be wholly placed in the catagory.