Are video games to be considered art?

[Deleted]

Considering we hire actual artists and musicians to create the in game atmosphere.

[GennGreymane]

I consider video games art when they make a game with an artistic vision.

[Jtbrig7390]

Yes video games are a form of art.

[Dezerte]

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power

Which would mean that many if not most games would be considered art by definition, even if the gamey-aspects are strong there's usually an artistic portion as well.

[ranzino]

Hmmm, not the original Tetris. But newer games for sure.

[Pucek]

When you consider this art:



I'd argue that games are already better than that.

Except the games like "Whats under the blanket"

[Deleted]

Not since the hipsters invaded and tried to drag it down to the level of post modern art.

[Vargulf the Happy Husky]

old video games sure, i could see them as art.

but the games of today, like wow, get tinkered and fiddled with too often to be considered "art". an accomplishment, sure, but not art.

what if every few years someone went to the mona lisa and drew a mustache, then the next guy erased it and gave her side burns, then the next guy erased the side burns and gave her laser eyes, then the next guy increased the laser eyes damage by 10%....so on

[Deleted]

old video games sure, i could see them as art.

but the games of today, like wow, get tinkered and fiddled with too often to be considered "art". an accomplishment, sure, but not art.

what if every few years someone went to the mona lisa and drew a mustache, then the next guy erased it and gave her side burns, then the next guy erased the side burns and gave her laser eyes, then the next guy increased the laser eyes damage by 10%....so on

Could a game like Bloodborne be considered art in your opinion?

[Pucek]

old video games sure, i could see them as art.

but the games of today, like wow, get tinkered and fiddled with too often to be considered "art". an accomplishment, sure, but not art.

what if every few years someone went to the mona lisa and drew a mustache, then the next guy erased it and gave her side burns, then the next guy erased the side burns and gave her laser eyes, then the next guy increased the laser eyes damage by 10%....so on

What about Skyrim or Witcher? They are relatively new, and outstanding examples of games as art.

[Vargulf the Happy Husky]

Could a game like Bloodborne be considered art in your opinion?

bloodborne, skyrim, witcher, games like those i could lean towards calling them art.

i should clarify, by tinkering and fiddled with i meant to the extent games like wow get tinkered with. those first three games are still the game that came out originally...for the most part

like a tree blooming, it starts small and ends big and green.

speaking of green...

[Calfredd]

bloodborne, skyrim, witcher, games like those i could lean towards calling them art.

i should clarify, by tinkering and fiddled with i meant to the extent games like wow get tinkered with. those first three games are still the game that came out originally...for the most part

like a tree blooming, it starts small and ends big and green.

speaking of green...

So pretty much all MMOs are not art in your opinion?

[Liftbrul]

Does it matter?

[Maischou]

Are movies art? Are books?

Some, yes, but not all. Same goes for video games.

You can have educational books and films, and we've seen our fair share of educational video games as well.
We also have books and films meant mostly for entertainment. Same goes for video games.

Then there are the productions that try to go in new directions, trying to break the mold of the medium or experiment with it to evoke different feelings than what we mostly expect from the medium. I think that can easily be classified as art.

To my mind, if you take the stance that no video game is art, you must take the same stance with films, books and audio productions. The point is that these are all a form of medium. On the face of it, they are all a means of transferring an experience between a sender and receiver. Naturally, you could debate the definition or classification of video games. As you might not lump music together with other audio experiences (like a debate, an audio book, or something else), you might not wish to categorize video games with other computer programs. My view is that you can't declare a medium as art or not, you have to consider the productions within that medium.


So, to conclude, I say yes. Video games can be art, same as so many other media.

[SL1200]

Containing art doesn't make it art.

[GennGreymane]

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[Vargulf the Happy Husky]

So pretty much all MMOs are not art in your opinion?

after 11 years, no.

imagine the theme from Jaws. that music hits a note with many people, its ominous. even hearing it in landlocked Indiana makes me want to watch my back for a shark. That's art. it brings out a response from my core.

i remember playing read dead redemption the first time through, and that moment you cross into mexico and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkvAb6THQY starts playing. That was art.

i guess an MMO could pull those feels out too, if they really tried.

wow makes me want to pull out my styrofoam sword and shield from when i was a kid and go attack a flock of birds

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Does it matter?

for the sake of civil conversation, yes it does.

get a coffee

[Deleted]

Couldn't pretty much everything created by human hands be considered art? Had an old art teacher telling us that video games is considered art but have heard the opposite.

[Acidbaron]

Containing art doesn't make it art.

It's a form of expression like any other, arguably not all games are out to express an emotion, display something or make a political statement but there are games that do that.

[Pucek]

Containing art doesn't make it art.

Why is that a picture can be art, a movie can be art, a novel can be art and tell a story, but interactive combination of all cannot?

The true piece of art: