Video Games as Art?

Posted on | December 13, 2010 | No Comments

I believe everyone has their own different interpretation of what Art can and cannot be, so there isn’t really a wrong answer to the question. I agree that Video games can definitely be considered art, the people who help create and design the games can be considered artists, and the people who play the game can be considered people viewing the art, or driving the art. As times change, styles of art change as well, and we are heading in to a digital age. I think it is completely logical to categorize many of today’s video games as art.

Certainly not all video games are created with a lot of artisticness. For instance, a lot of people might consider shooter games like Left 4 Dead or Counterstrike to be too basic to be considered art. But other games that  have heavy story lines, cut scenes, and beautiful landscapes are in my opinion are works of art.

Games like Half Life 2, Red Dead Redemption, and even Grand Theft Auto have gigantic detailed maps for players to roam freely around on. I would have to say that having the ability to roam around an entire city that has been rendered in a video game as a pretty significant work of art, especially for the developers who make the maps.

In the Retroforce podcast, the hosts talk about video games and art, and the games they talk about are definitely good examples of games that can be considered art. Games like Shadow of the colossus  -though I have never played it – after watching the YouTube video of the game play I would consider it a good example of video game art.

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