YouDecide.(Games=Art | Games!=Art)

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/12/games-not-art-after.html

what happens when critics look at games less as consumer products and more like movies or books? In the case of G4's review of Metroid: Other M, anger and confusion reigned...

[Mr. Analog]

I think some games are art, just like I think some paintings are art. The point is it's completely subjective to the observer.

Is a dump truck art? Somebody had to design how it looked, from the grille shape to the rain troughs on the cab, somebody put effort into making it look a certain way, even if it was only for strictly utilitarian purposes.

Personally speaking I think anything created by man can be considered art, the key however is whether or not it is appreciated by others.

[Darren Dirt]

Ebert puts foot in mouth
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html

4722 Comments
By Nick on April 16, 2010 11:50 PM (FIRST post!)
Roger - as you are sure to be inundated with comments for this post, I will simply say: You just don't get it.


Internet responds
http://www.uproxx.com/feature/2010/09/why-video-games-arent-art-yet/2/
http://gammasquad.uproxx.com/2010/07/roger-ebert-agrees-with-the-rest-of-the-internet


Ebert kinda takes it back, but not really
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/07/okay_kids_play_on_my_lawn.html

I thought about those works of Art that had moved me most deeply. I found most of them had one thing in common: Through them I was able to learn more about the experiences, thoughts and feelings of other people. My empathy was engaged. I could use such lessons to apply to myself and my relationships with others. They could instruct me about life, love, disease and death, principles and morality, humor and tragedy. They might make my life more deep, full and rewarding.

Not a bad definition, I thought. But I was unable to say how music or abstract art could perform those functions, and yet they were Art. Even narrative art didn't qualify, because I hardly look at paintings for their messages. It's not what it's about, but how it's about it. As Archibald MacLeish wrote: A poem should not mean, but be.

I concluded without a definition that satisfied me. I had to be prepared to agree that gamers can have an experience that, for them, is Art. I don't know what they can learn about another human being that way, no matter how much they learn about Human Nature. I don't know if they can be inspired to transcend themselves. Perhaps they can. How can I say? I may be wrong. but if 'm not willing to play a video game to find that out, I should say so. I have books to read and movies to see. I was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place.

summed up in an early comment: "... Art is about making you feel."

[Darren Dirt]

Ebert puts foot in mouth
...
Ebert kinda takes it back, but not really

http://www.next-gen.biz/blogs/ebert-and-the-red-headed-stepchild




But whether or not they are "art" in the typical sense... there's plenty of positive cultural/society value in games...
http://radoff.com/blog/2009/12/08/six-wonderful-things-about-games/

#2: Games can excite people for high-paying careers

I first became interested in programming computers because I wanted to program my own games. This is hardly unique, of course.  A huge number of engineers, designers and artists have taken up their careers because of the excitement they gained from their exposure to games. Games challenge the imagination, and designing them is a fun and rewarding experience.

HELLO! /raiseshand

[Mr. Analog]

Man, I'm so sick of this conversation (I've had it many times with peers both in the IT and art communities).

But yeah, I think the basic point is that no matter what, games inspire.

And finally:

EVERYTHING is ART

[Darren Dirt]

But yeah, I think the basic point is that no matter what, NON-TREADMILL games inspire.

FYP ...stupid "duckbook"...

[Mr. Analog]

But yeah, I think the basic point is that no matter what, NON-TREADMILL games inspire.

FYP ...stupid "duckbook"...

I dunno man, I see MOUNDS of WoW fanart every goddamn day, MMOs are much worse because they get people involved through character development, storytelling and actually palling around with other people wearing their virtual masks.

Just sayin'

[Darren Dirt]

zomg Supreme Court "deciding" if video games are art? lulz...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1961-Free-Speech

[Mr. Analog]

zomg Supreme Court "deciding" if video games are art? lulz...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1961-Free-Speech

Lordy! That's like asking rocks about emotion!!