Games as Art

Since people seem to be talking about it a lot lately, here are some of my thoughts on the subject, briefly:

Art can serve a number of purposes, like displaying something beautiful, conveying a message, or telling a story. After playing a game like Braid, it’s hard to say that no games can be art, ever. I’m sure you have played games that have held more meaning for you than certain other works of art. If movies and theater are art forms, I don’t see why games can’t be too. In fact, games have even more reason to be called art, since they involve the viewer to a greater degree, and, in that way, allows for more personal interpretations. Furthermore, games generally include multiple other types of art. Visually, they can provide far more than a movie or image, because the player may explore it as he chooses, in his own way. The vast majority of games these days tell some kind of story, not unlike the way great literature does. Some of the best games have a great soundtrack to go with it… the list goes on.

People are free to create games just for fun, without intentions of getting into that art stuff. You may say that those creators are still intentionally affecting the player’s emotions, and is therefore art anyway. That is true, but I wonder if games should automatically be examined that way – this should be up to the creators. I will say, however, that I think games are a completely valid medium for artistic expression, with great examples out there already.

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