Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Are videogames art?

Sirus

Liturgist
Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
840
no
 

ArcturusXIV

Cipher
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
1,894
Location
Innsmouth
I think video games have the *potential* to be art, but they will not be art as long as they are mass-produced, dumbed down commercial products. A few transcend the genre and come close, but they haven't quite hit the mark yet. And yet there is so much room for creating the artistic experience in the medium, if only some company would tap it....different art-styles, David Lynchian plots, humorous and philosophical musings, good writing, musical bliss and atmosphere... Video games are an all-encompassing medium, but they have hardly reached the level of being an all-encompassing *experience* yet. I leave that to the next generation of virtual reality, when development tools are easier to use, production houses smaller and more prone to take risks, and graphics have reached their cap so production houses can focus more on gameplay and interesting mechanics.
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
Waxworks.

ART????

Waxworks_4.png


Waxworks_3.png


Waxworks_5.png


Waxworks_6.png


Waxworks_7.png


Waxworks_8.png


Waxworks_9.gif


Waxworks_10.gif


Waxworks_11.gif


Waxworks_12.png
 

kingcomrade

Kingcomrade
Edgy
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Messages
26,884
Location
Cognitive Elite HQ
They can be. But usually aren't really worth considering. I mean, you can apply the art lable to anything, but really it's a waste of time unless it's actually worth considering as art.
 

ArcturusXIV

Cipher
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
1,894
Location
Innsmouth
The lame jokes aren't really adding anything to this conversation.

As far as the above question, I'm still waiting to see a dadaist video game. Then I'll consider them art.
 

Kos_Koa

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
315
I joke because it is a irrelevant question. Why should it matter if video games are considered art, does it make it any less of a video game? What does it matter if a toilet seat is considered art, if it serves a function, then it is what it is. I honestly don't understand the need for people to define everything in there life. Now back to my question... is fart art since it has art in it? Also is Earth art? I await your response...
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
Ion Flux said:
Wyrmlord said:
Waxworks.

ART????

Wow. What the heck is that? I mean ... I know it's a game called Waxworks, but ... wow.
Yeah, I found the game on Abandonia, and it seems to be a game where you play a person touring your uncle's wax museum, which has all these sorts of oddities.

His waxworks are actually a portal to all the fantastical and historical worlds depicted in them. Like, you see one wax sculpture of Jack The Ripper about to murder a woman. Entering that, you find yourself in Victorian England, and angry English mobs are roaming the streets. When they see you, they recognize you as Jack The Ripper, which you have been transformed into, and you have to survive.

Touring all these worlds, you have to gather clues about your family's past related to these events.

The game contains all sorts of bizzare ways to die. You see a wall of bleach, and touching it causes it to fall on you. The next thing you see is an image of your entire flesh having melted off. All those images are the various possible death images in the game.

People always like to say, "There is nothing scary about gore or grotesqueries." Rubbish. When you are exposed to all these images, a feeling of dread slowly comes over you. When you see that this is what will happen if you make a mistake or let a monster attack you, you just feel a little more inclined to prevent that from happening. That in itself is horror of its own kind. Sometimes much better than forced suspense.
 

ArcturusXIV

Cipher
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
1,894
Location
Innsmouth
Kos_Koa said:
I joke because it is a irrelevant question. Why should it matter if video games are considered art, does it make it any less of a video game? What does it matter if a toilet seat is considered art, if it serves a function, then it is what it is. I honestly don't understand the need for people to define everything in there life. Now back to my question... is fart art since it has art in it? Also is Earth art? I await your response...

The map is not the territory. Art is defined by the experience of art--the word "art" is just that, a word.
 

hiver

Guest
Right question is: can some of the games be considered to be art?

Art - as in superbly crafted. Not as in - i dont have any idea what the hell im looking at so it must be some kind of art.
 

Kos_Koa

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
315
ArcturusXIV said:
The map is not the territory. Art is defined by the experience of art--the word "art" is just that, a word.
Well I was also joking about my question. I know fart is not art because the word 'art' is in it. I guess talking art is serious business. Anyways how is art defined by the experience? What experience?

hiver said:
Art - as in superbly crafted.
Does it have to be superbly crafted to be considered art? I think people may have different opinions on what art is, so forming a general consensus to agree/disagree if video games are considered art is rather pointless.
 

ArcturusXIV

Cipher
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
1,894
Location
Innsmouth
I would say that art is something that transcends reality. Of course, that is just an opinion. Nobody can really describe art, other than as the appreciation of beauty.
 

hiver

Guest
Does it have to be superbly crafted to be considered art? I think people may have different opinions on what art is, so forming a general consensus to agree/disagree if video games are considered art is rather pointless.
As the game is something consisting of many interacting parts with which player then interacts i would say yes.

As i already said the real question should be can any individual game be considered art, not if games plural are art which is obviously No.
 

ArcturusXIV

Cipher
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
1,894
Location
Innsmouth
I would say that art is anything that requires creativity. That said, most games nowadays are pretty derivative, so creativity is not a factor in mass media.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

Notorious Internet Vandal
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
34,585
Location
Cell S-004
MCA Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2
How many of these threads have there been?
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom