My own point of view to this question is “Making Games is an art form, but not all Games are Art.”. I’m trying this just to challenge and deepen my understanding of Games. I’m not the wordy and super philosophical kind of person, so no high and mighty philosophy and super deep researches into the subject. I’m just gonna go with Wiki for some simple research and explanations.
“Making Games is an art form…”
From Wiki
“Traditionally the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery …”
When used in this sense, Games Development is art. But I guess in this question of “Are Games Art?”, it is not referred to in its traditional terms. It is a craft or art form, but its product might not be Art.
Simple Example
A person can draw, but are all drawings Art? Drawings will be drawings until they evoke an emotion, thats when they become Art. When you view a piece of Artwork, do you feel anything? Or gain anything? That is what differentiates an Artist from a person who knows how to draw. For me, I’ll classify myself as a person who just knows how to draw.
“…but not all Games are Art.”
From Wiki
“Generally art is a (product of) human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind; by transmitting emotions and/or ideas.”
This could be the meaning that we are referring to regarding this question. Where Art is perhaps a higher form of appreciation of a subject, where the creator tries to express his point of view, and where the viewer tries to intepret understand, and appreciate it. Games stimulates the human sense as well as the mind. But are all of them Art? The crucial point here is the word “emotion”.
Simple Example
Being frustrated by a lousy game and feeling the frustration of the Player’s character (at his own lack of power perhaps) are two different things. The former is not Art, its not emotion transmitted to the Player on purpose by the Designer, it is simply, a lousy piece of work. The second is. The Designer tried to express the feelings of frustration of the Player Character to the Player, and succeeds. The Player feels no frustration, but a deeper understanding of the Character, and the Character comes to live. He is not just an avatar, but a living human who feels something. There is an emotional attachment to the character.
Judging A Game
But of cause, since games are such a multi disciplinary products, it is hard to judge if a certain game is Art or not. The closest comparison is maybe movies which is already quite established in its judgement and categorisation. Are all movies Art?
The best person to judge if a game is Art is up to the person who is attempting to judge it. Some people may look at the visuals to judge if a game is Art, others may look at the technology, while some judge by the audio.
For me, its about how well all the disciplines work together to create the product, how well the game fits the system its meant to be on, and how well it plays. So far, its “Monster Hunter Freedom” series on the PSP for me.
But, seriously, why go through all the trouble? Lets not forget, Art or not, a game is meant to be fun in the first place.
