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[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Interesting list from Wikipedia

For me if a form of communication where you can express the art.

Spoiler: List of Videogames considered art

20th century[edit source]

• Tempest (1981) – an arcade tube shooter with vector graphics by Atari Inc. PBS Idea Channel described it as a strongly aesthetic experience, comparing it to paintings.[1]
• Super Mario Bros. (1985 NES) – a side-scrolling platform game released as a launch title for the NES and became the most praised game in the original Mario series for its 8-bit visuals, power-ups and charm. The game has its own spot in the Smithsonian museum in an exhibition called the Art of Video Games.[2]
• The Myst series, beginning in 1993 with Myst – a graphic adventure based on pre-rendered scenarios and a strongly atmospheric, immersive setting.[3][4][5] The level of detail allowed by the use of CD-ROM as the storage media was a technical achievement at the time, praised for the way the limitations of the format were overcome and used as part of the game story.[6]
• Doom (1993) – a violent game whose transgressive thrills make it, according to The Guardian games editor Keith Stewart, "natural heir to the splatterhouse cinema of the pre-digital era".[7]
• Chrono Trigger (1995) – a Japanese role-playing game created by Square Enix about a group of adventurers from different time periods trying to stop the end of the world. The game has been praised for its multi-ending plot, graphics, art direction by Akira Toriyama, and soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
• Cosmology of Kyoto (1995) – an open world graphic adventure exploring Japanese myths in ancient Kyoto. Together with Myst, it was reviewed by film critic Roger Ebert in a column on whether video games can be art.[16]
• Final Fantasy VII (1997, PlayStation) – considered by many to be one of the best role-playing video games, its story includes the death of a major character, aimed to give the player an emotional stake in the game.[1]
• Grim Fandango (1998, LucasArts, Microsoft Windows) – An adventure game which combines elements of film noir with aspects of Aztec mythology.[17]
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Nintendo, Nintendo 64) – An action-adventure game that revolutionized the entire 3D video game industry. It was highly praised for its music, gameplay and its technical achievements for the time. It is widely considered as the greatest game of all time.
• Planescape: Torment (1999, Black Isle Studios, Microsoft Windows) – A cult-classic role-playing video game that was praised for its detailed writing, defined characters, unique setting and the use of death to progress the story.[18]
• Vib Ribbon (1999, NanaOn-Sha, PlayStation) – a rhythm game known for its unique vector graphics artstyle. Vib Ribbon was collected as part of a video game exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.[19]

2000–2005[edit source]

• Galatea (2000, Microsoft Windows) – Rock, Paper, Shotgun analyzes it as an art game saying that it "transcends that", and calls it "literature" and "not an art game [but] a game about art".[20]
• Max Payne (2001, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Xbox, PlayStation 2) – a third-person shooter developed by Remedy Entertainment. The game was praised for its use of neo-noir storytelling devices[21] and its thematic connection and frequent references to Norse mythology
• Silent Hill 2 (2001, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 (HD), Xbox, Xbox 360 (HD)) – Team Silent's survivor horror video game has been considered a work of art due to its story; atmosphere; sound design; exploration of psychological ideas such as subconscious; use of psychological horror, of metaphors, of taboo topics such as incest and domestic violence.[22][23]
• Ico (2001, PlayStation 2) – a title created by Team Ico that has often been cited as an example of art in games due to its immersive gameplay, evoking narrative and unique style.[24][25][26]
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001, PlayStation 2) – a stealth game by Hideo Kojima that has been cited as a primary example of artistic expression in video games and an early example of post-modernism in video games.[27][28][29][30] The game is considered to be ahead of its time, for anticipating themes and concepts that later became culturally relevant in the 2010s, such as social media,[31] news feeds, post-truth politics,[29] fake news, echo chambers and alternative facts.[32][33]
• MusicVR (2002-2004, Microsoft Windows) – a series of two video games, Tres Lunas (2002) and Maestro (2004), under the creative design of English musician Mike Oldfield. Each one set out to be a real-time virtual reality experience combining imagery and music, as a non-violent and essentially a non-goal driven game.
• Yume Nikki (2005, Microsoft Windows)[34] – An independently-developed freeware game that has the player explore the dreams of a hikikomori little girl known only as "Madotsuki" as she encounters numerous surreal characters and events while collecting "Effects", most of which do little more than alter her appearance.
• The Endless Forest (2005, Microsoft Windows)[35] – Originally commissioned for an art exhibition, The Endless Forest is an MMO in the broader sense of the word. As a stag, the player roams around the forest and interact with other players; though not by words, but by sounds and body language. Another unique feature is that all players are recognizable by their unique symbol and customized appearance, but are otherwise anonymous.

I so happy see that is Gravity rush 1 and 2.

My maximum expression of art

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Part 2

Spoiler: Art

2006–2010[edit source]

• Ōkami (2006, PlayStation 2) – An adventure game based on Japanese mythology, the game's graphics were designed to appear similar to sumi-e watercolor paintings, and incorporated art-based brushstrokes by the player to execute special moves.[36][37]
• Shadow of the Colossus (2006, PlayStation 2) – a title created by Team Ico that is a spiritual successor and prequel to Ico. The game is regarded as an important work of art due to its minimalist landscape designs, strong aesthetic, immersive gameplay, powerful narrative and emotional journey. Shadow of the Colossus has been referenced numerous times in debates regarding art and video games.[38]
• Mother 3 (2006, Game Boy Advance) – the sequel to Earthbound, known as Mother 2 in Japan, it is a Japanese RPG about the story of one of the twins as he, his pet dog and his friends fight out an invading force. The game has been praised for its in depth narrative and made well use of its 16-bit graphics.[39] The game is also heavy with themes including the importance of a mother, moral fungibility, and dualisms such as nature and technology, and feudalism and capitalism, and is frequently compared to a form of literature.[39][40] Despite never officially being released outside of Japan, it was later fan translated by the group of Earthbound fans, it and its predecessor served as inspiration to several other games including Yume Nikki and Undertale.
• Dwarf Fortress (2006, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux) – A roguelike, city-building game where the player creates an expansive world each play-through, allowing them to envision the history and culture for their civilization each time around.[1]
• BioShock (2007, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Mac OS, Cloud (OnLive), PlayStation 3) – a title created by Irrational Games then known as 2K Boston, that is a spiritual successor to System Shock 2. The game is regarded as an important work of art due to its immersive atmosphere, compelling storytelling[according to whom?] and the narrative deconstruction of linear gameplay.[41]
• Portal (2007, PC, Xbox 360, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 3) – a puzzle game developed by Valve Corporation, involving the use of portals to transport the player through space. The game was praised for its innovative mechanics, narrative and storytelling, and writing, especially praising the character of GLaDOS.[42][43] This game recently became featured as part of the Museum of Modern Art exhibit "Applied Design".[44]
• Fallout 3 (2008, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) – Action role-playing game acclaimed for its steampunk / retrofuturistic design and credible reconstruction and visuals of post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C.[45] In 2012, Fallout 3 was also exhibited in The Art of Video Games, at Smithsonian American Art Museum.[46]
• Braid (2008, PC, Xbox 360, Mac OS, Linux, PlayStation 3) – a puzzle-platform game developed by Number None, which uses time manipulation as its core mechanic. The game is notable for its painterly art style, layered philosophical narrative, and unique approach to game design.[47][48]
• Flower (2009, PlayStation 3) – Developed by thatgamecompany, the player "controls" a gust of wind through motion controls, guiding it to various flowers around a landscape to gather petals. The gameplay was designed to provoke an emotional response from the player, and was chosen as one of the games shown at The Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[49]
• The Path (2009, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows) - Visionary reflection about the loss of childhood innocence between fable and horror.[50]
• Deadly Premonition (2010, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows) – A survival horror that has been described "the strangest video game of the year" and a primary example of "games as art", praised for its "emotional range, from traditional survival horror scares to farcical comedy".[51]
• Heavy Rain (2010, PlayStation 3) – An interactive movie where the player enters quick time events during various sequences, including intense, rapid-paced scenes. The results of the player's choices or actions can cause one of the four main characters to die while the story continues on, causing the player to become invested in the game's story.[1]
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux, OnLive) – A survival horror game praised for its horror elements, particularly its atmosphere and sound, with many critics regarding it as one of their scariest experiences.[52]

 

[Mista]

MGS2 being on the list made me happy. It never got the love it deserves. Braid, Gravity 1 and 2 are beautiful. Portal is a great smart game too!

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Part 3

Spoiler: Art

2016 onward[edit source]

• That Dragon, Cancer (2016, Microsoft Windows, OS X) – An exploration game designed by Ryan and Amy Green designed to help share their experiences in learning and coping with the terminal cancer and death of their five-year-old son Joel.[93]
• Firewatch (2016, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux) – "Firewatch is about solitude and space, a first-person journey through the massive wilderness of America's Shoshone National Forest. It's a space of such magnitude that it almost unavoidably conjures mysteries and conspiracies of corresponding size. But in this game, we are drawn back down to the essential and human."[94]
• The Witness (2016, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, OS X) – "The Witness does something that you can't do with any other art form. This game has a clear message: 'Change your perspective', and unless you do so, you can not succeed. Every aspect (i.e. gameplay, design, puzzles) of The Witness is based upon this idea."[95]
• Inside (2016, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch) – Playdead's followup to Limbo, Inside is a puzzle-platformer that follows an unnamed boy's trek across a surreal landscape while being chased by pursuers. It uses a wider array of cinematographic elements that, as described by Christopher Byrd of The Washington Post, "It's a mood piece, a series of expertly framed environments that escalate in their strangeness."[96]
• The Last Guardian (2016, PlayStation 4) – The third Team Ico game, following Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, designed around a realistic-acting giant bird-cat-like creature that the player must learn to tend and care for as to be able to entice the creature to help solve puzzles.[84]
• Virginia (2016, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, OS X) – A first-person mystery thriller adventure game using a strong cinematographic language in the style of David Lynch films.[97]
• The Town of Light (2016, PS4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows) – A 3D adventure in first person view about madness and ancient psychiatric asylums horrors.[98][99]
• Hyper Light Drifter (2016, Xbox One, PS4, Microsoft Windows) – an action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine. The game was praised for its visual storytelling, hack and slash combat, emotional storyline and anime-inspired 8-bit visuals.[100][101]
• Gravity Rush 2 (2017,Playstation 4) - The sequel to Gravity Rush, it is developed by SIE Japan Studio's Team Gravity division, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It received critical acclaim for its graphics and gameplay and As well as its positive contribution to the modern video game industry. Their secondary Missions contain positive morals to the daily life of society, as well as the importance of love and solidarity, also considered by the gamers a Cultural Heritage of the Modern Gaming Industry.[102][103]
• Night in the Woods (2017, PS4, Xbox One, PC, OS X) – A single-player exploration game developed by Infinite Fall about an anthropomorphic cat named Mae, who dropped out of college and has returned to her slowly dying hometown to find that a lot has changed since she left. It is a game that has "a fantastic narrative with a beautiful art-style, theme and plenty of small touches occupying a wonderful world full of loving characters covering a sinister story underneath".[104]
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017, Wii U, Nintendo Switch) - The most recent entry of the The Legend of Zelda franchise, which differed from previous entries by creating a fully immersive, non-linear open world experience with a realistic physics engine and an extremely precise attention to detail across an unprecedentedly vast world. It received critical acclaim for its graphics and gameplay and has been hailed as not only a landmark title of the genre and for Nintendo but as one of the greatest games of all time.[105]
• What Remains of Edith Finch (2017, PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Indie studio Giant Sparrow conjures an adventure that blends exploration, reading, reality and fantasy into one innovative and beautiful experience.[106]
• Hollow Knight (2017, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, PS4) – A Metroidvania-style hack and slash platform game developed by Team Cherry about an insect warrior trying save a town from a terrible curse.[107][108][109]
• Last Day of June (2017, PS4, Microsoft Windows) – A 3D graphic adventure with a colorful cartoon aesthetics reminding of Tim Burton's films in stop motion. The game's story is about love and loss, life and death, and is like a puzzle.[110] Soundtrack is composed by Steven Wilson.[111][112][113][110][114]
• Gorogoa (2017, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS) – A puzzle game presented with four images in a grid in which the player arrange, combine, and explore each image to find a connection between them in order to advance the story. The creator who developed Gorogoa, Jason Roberts, draw by hand all the scenes;[115] he cites David Roberts, Gustave Doré, Christopher Manson, and Chris Ware as influences to his art style.[116][117]
• The Invisible Hours (2017, PS4, Xbox One, PC) – The Invisible Hours is an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, a classic whodunit similar to And Then There Were None; it is also heavily inspired by Christopher Nolan's film The Prestige. Six people with an obscure past (among them inventor Thomas Edison) are invited by scientist Nikola Tesla to his mansion on an uninhabited and isolated little island. Tesla is murdered. It was presented at NEXT during the Cannes Film Festival 2017.[118][119][120][121][122]
• 11-11: Memories Retold (2018, PS4, XBO, Win) - Story-driven 3D adventure and interactive drama set during World War I. it is an antithesis to the common shooters. It ambitions to echo the centenary of World War I so that the younger generations never forget. Universally acclaimed for its Van Gogh-like aesthetics opening new expressive possibilities and introducing technical innovations with great impact for the future of gaming.[123][124][125][126]
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018, PS4, XBO) - A large open world game set in the American frontier, the title is noted for creating background settings, characters, wildlife, and other events to make the game immersive, while emphasizing the impact that the choices a player makes on how the player later interacts with these elements.[127]
• Return of the Obra Dinn (2018, Win, Mac) - Return of the Obra Dinn is set aboard a fictional East India Company ghost ship in the early 1800s whose crew and passengers have all mysteriously died or disappeared, with the game's objective being to discover how. "A mystery that makes a grand and intricate game out of deduction" [128]

 

[Tesseract]

not sure i like the idea of relegating artistic games to curation, since the medium is beholden to the work of artists on the regular

planescape i'll agree is an absolute masterpiece, one of the best written THINGS ever

 

[petran79]

Also this if you are an E. A. Poe reader. Game features stop motion animated characters.

The Dark Eye

 

[Diddy X]

Well, I guess every VG is art, interactive art it is,

I'm gonna make a guess and say this refers to games having a paint-like visual style, beautiful music and so on,

there we have Hollow Knight, that game is pretty in every aspect,

the best thing about videogames is you can stick every branch of art into it, visual, musical, literary, etc.

 

[Ailynn]

Gris is one of my all-time favorite artistically beautiful games. I'm surprised it didn't make the list.

 

[Spukc]

all games are.
well besides 99.9% of assets flips on steam i guess ?

 

[nowhat]

well besides 99.9% of assets flips on steam i guess ?

So, 99.9% of games on Steam?

 

[Spukc]

So, 99.9% of games on Steam?

OOF
O
F

 

[Mistershine.]

No child of light? For shame.

 

[Kadayi]

Wikipedia...really?

As someone who went to Art College, I have to say I'm forever bemused by this idea that Art is somehow the ultimate accolade to aspire to when it comes to wider recognition, If something, whether it be a game, a song, a painting, a sculpture, a film, etc moves you in some fashion that's great (intent achieved), but its important to remember that beauty ultimately lies in the eye of the beholder, and one person's Mona Lisa is another person's trash. Therefore I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Enjoy the things you enjoy, and worry far less about whether others recognise it as Art of all things.

 

[Spukc]

Wikipedia...really?

As someone who went to Art College, I have to say I'm forever bemused by this idea that Art is somehow the ultimate accolade to aspire to when it comes to wider recognition, If something, whether it be a game, a song, a painting, a sculpture, a film, etc moves you in some fashion that's great (intent achieved), but its important to remember that beauty ultimately lies in the eye of the beholder, and one person's Mona Lisa is another person's trash. Therefore I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Enjoy the things you enjoy, and worry far less about whether others recognising it as Art of all things.

same

 

[petran79]

Artificial intelligence will be replaced with artistic intelligence in the future

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

Basically, whether something is art or not depends on two thing: 1) It is a singular, deliberate creative vision and 2) The majority of people admire and respect it as such. A ham sandwich can be art if it is YOUR ham sandwich (instead of any old ham sandwich) and you can convince enough people to admire its creation.

When people argue for games as art, they really just want games to be worthy of admiration and respect. It’s not about convincing gamers of this, but non-gamers, of which the thought of respecting the medium is a foreign concept. They want games to have the same base level of respect that movies and books get, for doing basically the same thing for the same effect. They don’t want to have to keep explaining why being excited for a new game is a worthwhile endeavor and not an act of childishness.

 

[Azula]

I still struggle with games as art. In my head, I get that the designs of the world/ characters are art. The writing is art. I understand games are made up of many pieces of art. But where I struggle is the “game” aspect. Literally every other medium considered art, has passive participation from the audience. Or rather, the art is static, and the audience is witnessing it. A book is written, you read it. A painting is drawn, you observe it. A film is made, you watch it. Music is created, you listen to it.

Even with film that has moving pictures, everything is constructed by an artist to be viewed a certain way. The lighting in a scene for example. Every frame. It’s set up because someone wants you to view it that way.

Games however, have to be games as well as art. The audience has to have control. Unlike film, you have control of the camera, and the angles a scene is viewed from, because you have to control the character in the game. That is the big disconnect I have with it. So you have all these pieces of art that make up a game, but through the games engine, the audience ends up controlling how it’s viewed ( or whether something is viewed at all. Imagine all the art you skip, since you swivel the camera as you move).

Shadow of the Colossus actually does something interesting, in that while you do have some control of the camera, the game constantly snaps the camera and the artist shows the “angle” they want you to see the art, as you ride by areas in the world.

RPGS are an example, of why i think games make for a conflicted art form. Look at something like mass effect. The artists had to give the audience “choice”, or the ability to affect the story because it’s a game as well. But then in the final game, they wanted to chose a static ending. A set story, with certain themes. But this then contradicted people’s choices. The static story wasn’t as strong, because they had to always keep the story loose and ambiguous so that player choice could happen. They weren’t able to create endings that satisfied all the choices. They settled really for one ending, that left everyone unsatisfied. And didn’t allow the story they clearly wanted to tell, to be fleshed out. And that was largely because they wanted to satisfy the gamer and player choice.

It’s easier for me to accept games like Journey or even something like Firewatch (even though I think it’s a horrible script). Altho IMO the Last of Us script, is the closest I’ve seen a game reaching cinematic levels of writing (it’s in the nuance and subtlety of the dialogue, and the slow pacing). While some people didn’t like the intro section of Red Dead 2, I also thought that was one of the closest I’ve seen games get to cinematic levels (again, more so the pacing of the storytelling, and the visuals).

So to be clear, I understand games are woven together with pieces of art making it whole. I just struggle with the “game” aspect, and how the gamer by the mediums nature, has to have control.

 

[brian0057]

Metal Gear Solid 2 (not even 3) instead of Thief II: The Metal Age?
Bioshock instead of System Shock 2 (the superior Shock)?
A bunch of walking sims?
No Deus Ex?

No wonder people never take video games seriously as an art form. Which they aren't, by the way.

 

[RedVIper]

Are board games art? Why not?

 

[Doom85]

I really am okay with pretty much all of those listed. The only game I noticed that I would consider bad and definitely not art in my book is Heavy Rain but at least it's the least terrible of the Cage games (granted, I never got around to checking out Detroit). A good deal of the TellTale games (in fact, I'm surprised Walking Dead S1 didn't make the cut) and Until Dawn utilized the game style to FAR better effect.

Some of the indie games I haven't played yet, but hell yeah to Night in the Woods making the list, my favorite indie game I've ever played, absolutely loved the cast and story. Firewatch was pretty solid too.

 

[sublimit]

I think a lot of those games in those lists don't belong anywhere near an art-list (although they could be great games on their own) but it's true that art can be very subjective so whatever floats their boats i guess.

 

[LordClansman]

I think I started enjoying video games more when I stopped seeing them as art and just consider them toys, but hey, there's place for all kinds of games. And MGS2 is one of my favorite games.

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

Are board games art?

The highest of art, in my opinion. More so even than video games.

 

[nightmare-slain]

i think they are to a degree but depends on the game i think.

and how did i know this thread would be full of kojima fanbois?

 

[Whitesnake]

i think they are to a degree but depends on the game i think.

and how did i know this thread would be full of kojima fanbois?

Two people said that they like MGS2, and one perso implied they like MGS3.

Dunno how that’s full of fanboys.

 

[Diddy X]

Artificial intelligence will be replaced with artistic intelligence in the future

That would be like a sub-section of AI aimed at making things beautiful?

 

[molasar]

For me an art as video games is an experience of gameplay with other artistic elements combined that have impact on it. An active participation is not exclusive to video games. There are sculptures you can interact with by touching, moving their parts, not to mention a choice of viewing angle.

 

[petran79]

That would be like a sub-section of AI aimed at making things beautiful?

Beatiful, ugly, disturbing, mediocre etc

 

[Vader1]

Tbh, most video games are really art in some way. There’s a lot of thought that goes into how everything looks, and most games have art directors/departments.

 

[OrionNebula]

Did I miss something? No artistic games between 2010 and 2016?
No Journey?
No The Last Of Us?
No Witcher 3?
No Bloodborne?

 

[Saruhashi]

I still struggle with games as art. In my head, I get that the designs of the world/ characters are art. The writing is art. I understand games are made up of many pieces of art. But where I struggle is the “game” aspect. Literally every other medium considered art, has passive participation from the audience. Or rather, the art is static, and the audience is witnessing it. A book is written, you read it. A painting is drawn, you observe it. A film is made, you watch it. Music is created, you listen to it.

Even with film that has moving pictures, everything is constructed by an artist to be viewed a certain way. The lighting in a scene for example. Every frame. It’s set up because someone wants you to view it that way.

Games however, have to be games as well as art. The audience has to have control. Unlike film, you have control of the camera, and the angles a scene is viewed from, because you have to control the character in the game. That is the big disconnect I have with it. So you have all these pieces of art that make up a game, but through the games engine, the audience ends up controlling how it’s viewed ( or whether something is viewed at all. Imagine all the art you skip, since you swivel the camera as you move).

Shadow of the Colossus actually does something interesting, in that while you do have some control of the camera, the game constantly snaps the camera and the artist shows the “angle” they want you to see the art, as you ride by areas in the world.

RPGS are an example, of why i think games make for a conflicted art form. Look at something like mass effect. The artists had to give the audience “choice”, or the ability to affect the story because it’s a game as well. But then in the final game, they wanted to chose a static ending. A set story, with certain themes. But this then contradicted people’s choices. The static story wasn’t as strong, because they had to always keep the story loose and ambiguous so that player choice could happen. They weren’t able to create endings that satisfied all the choices. They settled really for one ending, that left everyone unsatisfied. And didn’t allow the story they clearly wanted to tell, to be fleshed out. And that was largely because they wanted to satisfy the gamer and player choice.

It’s easier for me to accept games like Journey or even something like Firewatch (even though I think it’s a horrible script). Altho IMO the Last of Us script, is the closest I’ve seen a game reaching cinematic levels of writing (it’s in the nuance and subtlety of the dialogue, and the slow pacing). While some people didn’t like the intro section of Red Dead 2, I also thought that was one of the closest I’ve seen games get to cinematic levels (again, more so the pacing of the storytelling, and the visuals).

So to be clear, I understand games are woven together with pieces of art making it whole. I just struggle with the “game” aspect, and how the gamer by the mediums nature, has to have control.

I think this is an awesome post.

You've got me thinking that, yes, maybe "art" is not actually a good fit for describing videogames simply because of the nature of gaming.

It always seemed to me that the insistence that "videogames are art" kind of stemmed from the prestige of having something described as a work of "art".

Using the word to describe games sort of elevated them from "toys for the kids" to a form of serious expression.
So you can say to your friend who doesn't understand gaming but does "get" the artistry in movies that actually there are games that offer just as much, if not more, than many movies.

Maybe though, like you say, the very nature of the medium makes a descriptor like "art" an unsuitable one for gaming.

I wonder if it's more appropriate to consider a game as more of a "platform" for art.
So kind of like how a theater or a gallery is a venue for viewing the actual game is more like the venue and the art itself is the various pieces contained within the game.

Well, more like there's just this extra layer in between the venue (say, your living room) and the artwork (the games visuals, story, sound, even mechanics) and that layer is where the player interfaces with the art?

I dunno. Trying to imagine it's like if you go to the gallery and the artist is there and hands you a brush and some paint and allows you to "interact" with the painting in very specific ways.

The ability of the player to interact and change things sort of adds an entirely new dimension that "art" possibly doesn't incorporate. "Art" in the context of videogames seems only to be used as a label of legitimacy or status.

 

[Diddy X]

Beatiful, ugly, disturbing, mediocre etc

Mmm yea it depends on the feeling the artist is looking to express, but in this case what feeling could a freakin' machine be looking to express? Well, we are very far away from that anyway, first we are gonna get an ArtI (could that be the name? Lol) that only does what someone programs it to do.

 

[danielberg]

If random nonsense drawings can be sold to people as modern art or overacting as "performance art" then surely the end point medium that combines every other medium can be considered art.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Katamari Damacy

it is a brilliant use of the medium, startingly original. it is formal - composed of everyday subjects like man, woman, car, telephone pole, house, etc. - yet abstract - all these things mashed, compressed, rolled, into an ever-enlarging ball.

it is non-violent yet also cartoonishly so. it foregoes all previously accepted gaming conventions in favor of a childishly chaotic expression of zen anarchism. if games like Grand Theft Auto portend to be simulations of the mundane world, Katamari is the fractured mirror of the hallucinatory psychic underpinnings that hold society together, the very unstoppable, cosmic forces that in effect create the fabric of reality itself.

stylistically it is peak 20-21st century Japanese pop, luxuriating in the free going digital easy listening exotica of Shibuya kei, as hyper-stylized figures of every corporeal animal, plant, rock, and physical phenomenon known, rendered with a Lichenstein-style comic pop flair in low polygon models, a la the famous Money For Nothing music video from Dire Straights, from that first era of consumer decadence known as the 1980s. Katamari is indeed a parody of this idol of consumption, the all-consuming cycle of life and death, the cosmic pinball machine of the universe, and you are rolling the ball.

 

[Ownage]

Playing MGS5:TPP right now. Visually it's stunning but what a crazy batshit plot.

 

[EverydayBeast]

In this day of age where everything is considered art it’s good to see a legitimate list of games considered art.

 

[molasar]

Each one of us is a judge of it. We do not need art critics for it however they can bring a good analysis.

Let's say great video games are timeless. Is it easy to make new ones like them? If not, then it is an art.

 

[Punished Miku]

Wikipedia...really?

As someone who went to Art College, I have to say I'm forever bemused by this idea that Art is somehow the ultimate accolade to aspire to when it comes to wider recognition, If something, whether it be a game, a song, a painting, a sculpture, a film, etc moves you in some fashion that's great (intent achieved), but its important to remember that beauty ultimately lies in the eye of the beholder, and one person's Mona Lisa is another person's trash. Therefore I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Enjoy the things you enjoy, and worry far less about whether others recognise it as Art of all things.

Seriously. I just show people some of the worst of performance art and it becomes clear that virtually all games are art. I think we can find a few that are such trash that they really aren't, or they are just explicitly about some type of skill based interaction with no regards for art design.



If they are trying to convey any real sense of meaning, it's probably art. If it's something like Brain Training or FIFA 95, it's not art and it's not trying to be.

 

[Dragon Lord]

Interesting list. To me, I would consider any video game to be a work of art, or at the very least (in cases where art is not the main intent) to involve art in its production.

 

[Kadayi]

Seriously. I just show people some of the worst of performance art and it becomes clear that virtually all games are art. I think we can find a few that are such trash that they really aren't, or they are just explicitly about some type of skill based interaction with no regards for art design.

Going back to what I said previously, just because you might not see the merit in something, doesn't mean it's not there. It's easy to point and laugh at the things we might not personally understand, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't hold value for others. Also, I think it's important to delineate between Art versus Design. I agree with you about Art being about meaning, but Design is really about the act of execution. I think great examples of games that encapsulates both meaning and good design are probably 'Journey' and 'What remains of Edith Finch' because both titles leverage the unique strength of the medium of games, namely interactivity to immerse you in the experience of their meaning.

 

[ROMhack]

I know it's subjective as all hell but I like to think art should be demanding, either of my emotions or intellect. I find games struggle because they're concerned with streamlining the experience for enjoyment. Other mediums don't need to sustain length for as long as games do, which means they can concentrate on artistic qualities more easily.

I'm a bit uneasy giving tags though. Art is a personal thing and I think any list is best only as a 'general' guide.

 

[molasar]

The last two games I consider good art and timeless are Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Great gameplay, climatic music and fine pixel art. Nothing else had such an emotional impact on me in this decade.

 

[Thurible]

Wait, no one has said Journey?

I have never even played it but I can tell it's a beautiful artistic game both in visuals and thematics. It is all about a wanderer trying to reach the top of a mountain, on the way he can meet with other pilgrims through anonymous multiplayer. There is no speaking, only chirping to commune with your new friend, which makes you have to convey certain thoughts and directions in your own little way.

It seems so fluid and fantastic from what I have seen.

 

[Bryank75]

Started a 'games as art' thread a little after I joined and what I took away was that it was hugely subjective. All games are art and if I was sent into the Louvre and asked to pick out the most artistic piece, I couldn't and shouldn't as it is an insult to the idea of art. Same with games...

 

[Meowzers]

Fifa 19 is arty. The disk is like a paintbrush..it's been all over my walls.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001, PlayStation 2) – a stealth game by Hideo Kojima that has been cited as a primary example of artistic expression in video games and an early example of post-modernism in video games.[27][28][29][30] The game is considered to be ahead of its time, for anticipating themes and concepts that later became culturally relevant in the 2010s, such as social media,[31] news feeds, post-truth politics,[29] fake news, echo chambers and alternative facts.[32][33]

My favourite Hideo Kojima game

 

[ROMhack]

MGS2 is a comic book but it's still relevant for concepts like filtration of media (filter bubbles). In-game it supposes a clandestine political operation are determining the news we see whereas in our world it's algorithms based on our personal data. The takeaway message is existential in that it suggests the only way to overcome it is to see yourself as an individual able to determine your own place in the world (ie think for yourself).

There's a lot of sociological theory in that game.

 

[EDMIX]

Well by default all video games are this.

 

[OrionNebula]

Wait, no one has said Journey?

I have never even played it but I can tell it's a beautiful artistic game both in visuals and thematics. It is all about a wanderer trying to reach the top of a mountain, on the way he can meet with other pilgrims through anonymous multiplayer. There is no speaking, only chirping to commune with your new friend, which makes you have to convey certain thoughts and directions in your own little way.

It seems so fluid and fantastic from what I have seen.

I mentioned it, and played it MANY times
It’s probably the most/best artistic game I have ever seen in my life... beyond amazing and unique

 

[KonradLaw]

Also this if you are an E. A. Poe reader. Game features stop motion animated characters.

The Dark Eye

Yep. Dark Eye is the best example of games being art. Visually it's artistic masterpiece due to bizzare 2D collages and using stop animation with wooden dolls. Story wise it's art to, because it reinterprests Poe's works in fresh and fascinating way. Then you throw in the voice of fricking William S. Burroughs.
All of that would make it art in any other medium, not just games. But what seals the deal completely is that it uses interactivity to express it's ideas in a way no other medium could ever replicate, by allowing you to play through crimes as both victims and the criminal.