Do you consider videogames as an art?

Are videogames art?

  • Total voters
    185
Your answer probably depends on your perspective. Games are there to be fun for me, with gameplay as a priority. So I see video games as a variation of traditional games.

As such, I am of the opinion that video games contain art, and can lean towards art as a focus, but are not inherently art as and of themselves. Monopoly isn't art, nor is D&D. Resident Evil 2 contains some excellent musical pieces, but RE2 itself is not art. It's just a bloody good game.
 
Yes in design, music and story it exhibit talent and skills. For example Okami, Zelda Ocarina and Wind, Mario 64, MGS1 and MGS4, Bloodborne, Xenogears, FF7- FF9, Heart of Darkness, Abes Odyssey and exodus, Astrobot, Stellar blade, Nier Automata, Death stranding. Half life 1-2, No Mans sky, Vagrant story, Ico, Last guardian, Ninokuni, Dark cloud, and Shadow of colossus. Its art as long it did not rely to much on AI.
 
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Being a game-developer myself that makes everything in the game (graphics, music, story, programming), I am considered by the French administration as an author/artist.
 
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Some video games are definitely art, and there's lots of art involved in it's creation, artistic design, music, drawing, storytelling.

Things like Final Fantasy, Expedition 33, Trails series, Persona series, Dragon Quest, modern Ys games, most Sony first party one player offerings, some indie games, Fire Emblem or Xenoblade, RE, Ueda games, MGS 1/4.

But other games are just an entertainment product, even if they still have some tidbits of creativity involved. Sorry but Fortnite, PUBG, Counterstrike, FIFA, Madden or COD art are not.
 
Every form of art is involved in making a videogame. Writing, drawing, sculpting and crafting (concepts of figures are often made to see 'real life' representatioslns) often times filming etc. To say no is to be ignorant of what art is. The end product of art is art.
 
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Pejo said:
Let's see your framed pamphlet collection then, if you think that they are art. They take creativity and skill to create, but they are not art.
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yiL14NU.gif


Thats the dumbest thing ive read all year.
Do better.





Art doesnt have to be collected and framed to be deemed art.
Graphic Design is literally called an Applied Art as in its an Art that also has a function.
You think Art is only meant to be looked at or some shit?
Fine Arts and Applied Arts are both Arts.




Hell how are you gonna frame the Sistine Chapel?
Do Architects designs get disqualified from being art because the final result is literally a building.
The guy who designs the packaging for fucking Mountain Dew is an Artist and his designs are Artworks.
YdnebcU.png


This bottle of Baijiu is a piece of Art id never throw it or the packaging away.
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> music: created by artists, considered art
> writing: created by artists, considered art
> movies: created by artists, considered art
> paintings: created by artists, considered the highest art
> games: created by artists and often a combination of all other artforms, somehow not art??

Of course videogames are an art.
 
Black_Stride said:
yiL14NU.gif


Thats the dumbest thing ive read all year.
Do better.





Art doesnt have to be collected and framed to be deemed art.
Graphic Design is literally called an Applied Art as in its an Art that also has a function.
You think Art is only meant to be looked at or some shit?
Fine Arts and Applied Arts are both Arts.




Hell how are you gonna frame the Sistine Chapel?
Do Architects designs get disqualified from being art because the final result is literally a building.
The guy who designs the packaging for fucking Mountain Dew is an Artist and his designs are Artworks.
YdnebcU.png


This bottle of Baijiu is a piece of Art id never throw it or the packaging away.
21421660732463.jpg
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Is this what it looks like when somebody spend too much time idolizing brands?
 
yes and no, i think it can be unintentionally art. very few games are trying to be anything but a product...and a retractable one at that , these day especially.
 
Black_Stride said:
I take it you have no counter point.
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You're not even talking about the same thing as my original post, you just went off on this weird tangent. I'm not going to get baited into some weird convo outside the scope of the thread to appease your ego.

I was talking about leaflets being a product and not art. Nobody outside the guy that made the pamphlet is going to look at it and go "man, this is fantastic, look at that spacing and those AI images in the header, great use of white space, hell yea" Same with some video games. Somewhere along the line people have artistic skill and the ability to create, but some games are just mass-appeal wallet extractor simulators, such as sports games with those shitty virtual "card" packs.

That was my point in the original post I made, nobody asked to compare some Mountain Dew cans to the Sistine Chapel or whatever the hell you're on about.
 
That depends on how you define art. I personally feel art is a medium or work created to be appreciated for its sensory qualities and is able to convey ideas and evoke an emotional/rational response. I don't consider games like COD art, but games like Journey or Okami are.
 
Pejo said:
You're not even talking about the same thing as my original post, you just went off on this weird tangent. I'm not going to get baited into some weird convo outside the scope of the thread to appease your ego.

I was talking about leaflets being a product and not art. Nobody outside the guy that made the pamphlet is going to look at it and go "man, this is fantastic, look at that spacing and those AI images in the header, great use of white space, hell yea" Same with some video games. Somewhere along the line people have artistic skill and the ability to create, but some games are just mass-appeal wallet extractor simulators, such as sports games with those shitty virtual "card" packs.

That was my point in the original post I made, nobody asked to compare some Mountain Dew cans to the Sistine Chapel or whatever the hell you're on about.
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UOY5Gvt.gif


You pointed out that Graphic Design wasnt Art even if its an Applied Art.
Brochures/Leaflets/Informational Posters are Graphic Design.

You then went on to posit that we dont have collections or framed Graphic Design leaflets so that somehow disqualifies them from being Art.
So I counter pointed that not all art needs to be framed or whatever, and gave you examples of other forms of Applied Art.



Your analogy of using a Leaflet as NOT being Art but a product is flawed because Graphic Design is in fact Art, an Applied Art but an Art all the same.

This is a fact not an opinion.
 
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I just don't like definition of art. Usually it's just too vague or restricting and used to downplay something as soulless. I just prefer words "creation" and "video game"
 
Black_Stride said:
You pointed out that Graphic Design wasnt Art even if its an Applied Art.
Brochures/Leaflets/Informational Posters are Graphic Design.

You then went on to posit that we dont have collections or framed Graphic Design leaflets so that somehow disqualifies them from being Art.
So I counter pointed that not all art needs to be framed or whatever, and gave you examples of other forms of Applied Art.



Your analogy of using a Leaflet as NOT being Art but a product is flawed because Graphic Design is in fact Art, an Applied Art but an Art all the same.

This is a fact not an opinion.
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Art is subjective to begin with, so just because you say leaflets are art, it doesn't make it true. You're getting too caught up in the minutia anyways, it's clear what the OP meant when he made the thread. Why aren't you hounding his ass with something like "lock the thread and close the poll OP, by literal definition all videogames are art because people are making texture files bla bla bla"

This is a thread asking opinions, so I gave mine. I think some games are art, and some are products.
 
I believe that yes, videogames can be art. I also believe that anyone who leans too extreme into the art aspect of it to pretentious levels generally makes really shitty unfun videogames. There's a line that once it's crossed I feel you need to fully commit or else you are mediocre at both.

I think there is room for "art" games, but there are way too many devs trying to squeeze into that same room. Gets a bit crowded.

I consider games I enjoy to be more like junk food, and it's been slim pickings on the AAA side of gaming. Have to go to the indies and budget games for our junk food.

Take this for example,
get_in_to_culinary_school_body_2.jpg


Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Is it art? Maybe, but I ain't trying to admire the look of my food and that shit would leave me starving.
 
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Pejo said:
Art is subjective to begin with, so just because you say leaflets are art, it doesn't make it true. You're getting too caught up in the minutia anyways, it's clear what the OP meant when he made the thread. Why aren't you hounding his ass with something like "lock the thread and close the poll OP, by literal definition all videogames are art because people are making texture files bla bla bla"

This is a thread asking opinions, so I gave mine. I think some games are art, and some are products.
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Most people with sense know that.
Thats why the poll is heavily skewed towards people voting that Videogames are Art.
Not all Art is good Art, but that doesnt detract from it being Art.


You using Graphic Design as an example of NOT Art is where you fucked up.
Its a public forum, you brought forth your argument, I was simply engaging with it and counterpointing.....thats what a discourse is.
If you didnt want to engage in the conversation you could have voted and dipped.
 
I'd have preferred a middle option on the poll for "it occasionally can be".

Mostly it's just slop, although others might call the same thing kitsch.
 
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At this point, the word "art" seems to have no actual worth, value, or meaning.

So the correct answer is, "who gives a damn?" I don't need vindication or approval for my chosen form of indulgence or expression.
 
Rocinante618 said:
No, art is accessible to the masses, video games are not.

The social aspect of appreciating an artwork is tangible — you go out with someone to a movie, an exhibition, a gallery, you Netflix and chill, you'll reserve a table to enjoy a seasonal three star Michelin course.

None of that happens in video games. It's virtual. It's meaningless.

But they are so damn fucking fun so let them be just this - fun.
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Video games are nearly immediately accessible for free on phones almost everyone in modern society has.

The social aspect you mention seems to ignore the existence of multiplayer and co-op games. You Netflix and chill and call that appreciating artwork, but me and my spouse playing, enjoying, laughing over Split Fiction isn't? It's meaningless?
 
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No, it's entertainment. But some well crafted worlds such as RDR2, fromsoft titles, Bioshock, etc can be considered as art, i guess. Most studios don't have the talent for this, so they're nothing else than entertainment.
 
This seems like such a 2007 era conversation. Its literally able to replicate anything movies can at this point but with interactivity. Visual novels can mimic books but with interactivity. Not even worthy of further discussion.
 
Punished Miku said:
This seems like such a 2007 era conversation. Its literally able to replicate anything movies can at this point but with interactivity. Visual novels can mimic books but with interactivity. Not even worthy of further discussion.
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It's really the domain of insufferable codgers screaming, "I don't like it, so it ain't art!"
It won't last five more years, and like so many irrelevant, useless things, it'll simply disappear.

The lines become blurred as soon as AI is involved.
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AI is art theft, only without the catsuits, laser grids, and slick masks.
 
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Just a tangent here, I was at an art exhibit yesterday looking at the works of a really good Swedish painter from the 19th Century. It was quite wonderful. I like at times to get really close to the paintings to see the strokes, but I also realize that it's not really those individual signs of paint the artist wanted me to focus on. He wanted me to look at them from a certain distance where the illusion becomes perfect and it almost feels "real". It made me think of gamers who obsess and look too closesly at the textures and pixels and don't think about how those things aren't really important. What's important is to look at the games' graphics from the right "distance" so that you can immerse yourself in its world and story instead.

Just something I reflected on yesterday.
 
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Definitely

Story telling is an art. Creating the visuals is an art. Level design is an art. Even programming can be an art.

It's just not always good art
 
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From my experience video game art is when you make a mock NES game with way too much text to read and cover up the fact you don't have a clue about game design by trying to make out you are cynically lampooning bad game design.
 
Yup. They're a creative expression and so for me they're art.

I also think the interactive nature of games allows creators to place you directly into a situation, making you an active participant rather than a passive consumer. If art is about making you feel something, then games have a unique advantage over other mediums in that regard.
 
Punished Miku said:
This seems like such a 2007 era conversation. Its literally able to replicate anything movies can at this point but with interactivity. Visual novels can mimic books but with interactivity. Not even worthy of further discussion.
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By your logic, adult movies can be art.
 
Yes. As long as someone can put a part of themselves into what they do, I'd consider that to be art.
 
I personally don't consider them as art

It's fine if the game has a good story but for me, it's the gameplay that matters the most to me

That includes JRPGs
 
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It's a medium. Like a canvas or film. You can make art with it. Or not. Anything that involves expression with creativity or imagination is art. Whether it's praise worthy art or not depends on the individual creation.
 
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Yes, they are. Which doesn't mean all of them are a great piece of art, because as happens in literature, movies, music etc most are just shitty products.

Gamedev includes many disciplines that themselves are considered art. So by extension games are art too.

elhav said:
I feel like videogames where gameplay is the only real focus (like Nintendo games) are mostly a craft.
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Nah, if something it would be the opposite: the other big ones focus in gameplay AND having high end visuals.

Featuring high end visuals doesn't mean they don't focus in gameplay too. And wanting to spend less budget in games by avoiding high end visuals to have higher profitability when they have a shit ton of money if something makes them greedy, not a craft.

But well, I consider all gamedevs craftmen and artists.
 
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