Are Video Games Art?

This is a question that has spawned many heated discussions among players of video games. It's a very broad, open-ended, and inflammatory question, but in the end of the day, the discussion always leads to the same thing: what is the definition of "art"?

To me, art is anything created for the purpose of invoking some kind of feeling from the person experiencing the art. However, I'm not going to try to make a case that my definition of art is correct, and someone else's is wrong. Really, "art" is just a word. You can put whatever label you want on video games, but for now, I'm going to touch on some things that are grounded in much more sturdy vocabulary.

Video games are designed to invoke emotion out of the player. And while it's true that many (if not most) games are produced as greedy and lazy attempts to make some quick cash off of a growing fad, even the games that are rip-offs are still trying to exploit that feeling you get when you play a GOOD game. Let's talk about some of those feelings a bit.

To people who are not intimately familiar with the video game industry, it might seem as though the breadth of emotions that video games are designed to invoke is quite narrow. Ask an average person off the street "Why do you think people play video games?" and they might say something like "For fun," or "For an adrenaline rush." What you probably won't hear them say is "For an intense interactive drama," or "For therapeutic relaxation" or "For deep philosophical contemplation." But these are all things that can also be found in video games!

In the game Flower, you play as a stream of flower petals floating on the wind. It's a very relaxing experience.

Generally, I try not to compare video games to other mediums such as literature, music or film, even though it's tempting and easy to do so. But for the sake of talking about things that people perceive as art, I think the comparison is quite fair. What makes film art, but not video games? What is the fundamental difference between Shakespeare and video games? Yes, Shakespeare is probably better at what he did than anybody in the entire history of the gaming industry, but writing has been around for thousands of years, whereas video games have only been around for about forty. But there's nothing about the mediums themselves that would make one of them "high art" (whatever that may be), and the other just a silly toy. I see equal potential in both.

I think that the difference between them is a perceived difference, not an actual difference. When video games first came onto the scene around the 1970s, they were very very simple. Arguably quite bad. But they were a novelty. People would go to arcades and pop quarters into machines in order to have a strange new experience. This novelty became something of a kid's attraction, and I don't think that the stigma of "video games are made for kids" was ever really washed away. But the people who played video games way back when are all grown up now, and a new generation of kids has even been thrown into the mix. The result is an audience that is all across the board in terms of age. The average age of gamers nowadays is 34 years old. The people who play games have grown up, and in many ways, so has the industry itself. Many great and famous developers are targeting this 34-year-old audience and making games for people who can appreciate complex narratives, visual composition, and other finer elements of art.

But these games and the developers who make them are rarely, if ever, spotlighted to the general public. Wii Sports and Call of Duty are probably the two most recognized names of video games these days, and while I wouldn't go as far as to call either of these franchises "bad," they're pretty far down the list of games I would personally pick to represent video games as an art form. On one end of the spectrum, you have a game that continues to promote the idea that games are made for kids, and for mommies to play with their kids. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a game that is on the hairy edge of being extremely offensive and disrespectful, and promotes the idea that video games turn people into serial killers. Not great examples of the best and the brightest up for offer.

So allow me to mention briefly some games that I personally consider to be among the best experiences one can have playing video games. All of these examples are subjective of course, but I will talk a bit about why I hold each one in such high regard.

Earthbound

In the words of a game critic that I highly respect, Earthbound is like a cross between the Cthulu mythos and the Charlie Brown and Snoopy show. I couldn't have said it more eloquently. Earthbound is an RPG for Super Nintendo that creates a fascinating juxtaposition between light-hearted childlike wonderment, and a surprisingly dark philosophical commentary. Especially towards the end as you confront evil incarnate, the nature of this final battle in the game can and has been discussed for years. Maybe I'll talk about it myself in another post.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid is a series of games that helped pioneer what games in the stealth genre would become. They're games with a heavy emphasis on narrative and a strong anti-nuke, anti-war message. However, the games are quite divisive among the people who play them. Some people believe that the stories are told in a very childish and amateurish way, and other people believe they are the finest examples of storytelling in video games. Personally, I think that the games could definitely be more succinct, but if you allow yourself to accept a certain amount of convolution, you'll find yourself with a series of games that goes places emotionally that most games dare not go. Metal Gear Solid 3, in particular, deals with a man struggling to carry out a mission to assassinate his beloved mentor. If you can suspend disbelief and accept a bit of silliness, this series of games is extremely powerful.

Shadow of the Colossus

This game, developed by the illustrious Team Ico, is regarded by many as the finest example of video games as an artform. The story is very simple, yet the environment tells a story all on its own. It's a lonely and bleak world where your only companion is your horse. You travel the land hunting down enormous colossi to appease some godlike voice who promises to bring a dead woman back to life. And as you travel across the vast world and go through the painful task of killing each one of these colossi, it gives you, the player, lots of time to reflect on your task. As you watch a majestic colossus crumble to the ground after you finally defeat it, you might find yourself wondering how many lives you're going to take in order to save just one. The morality of it all is never directly called into question, but the game gracefully controls the things you're thinking about as you play. Truly, this is one of the finest examples of narrative and game design that the industry has to offer.

Super Metroid

This game from the Super Nintendo era was vastly ahead of its time in terms of ambiance and atmosphere. Again, the story here is minimalistic, but the game's environment is what tells the true story here. As you explore the desolate planet, there is an intense sense of loneliness and doom. Despite how old this game is, few games today have been able to match it in terms of creating a particular mood and atmosphere. Even though the graphics are relatively primitive by today's standards, few games will suck you in and immerse you in a new universe in quite the same way Super Metroid does.


Again, I must stress that these examples are just according to my personal taste. These games absolutely do NOT have universal appeal. Many people hate these games for very valid reasons, and I completely understand that. But to completely dismiss the artistic merit that these games achieve is very close-minded.

In the end, the video game industry is extremely young. It's come extremely far in the forty or so years that it's been around, and the speed at which it is growing is very exciting. New things are becoming technologically possible all the time, and developers are constantly getting more creative, mature, and sophisticated. I believe many of the common pitfalls found in game development stem from the youth of the medium. You may not consider video games art, but I hope you can at least view them the same way critically that you view movies, literature, and music.