:: dons flame-retardant suit ::

I agree with the article. He''s right on.

There is no "deep emotional significance" to games, like there is in art... the games out there right now don''t "explore what it means to be human," or "give anyone''s life meaning."

But you know, who the hell cares?

What''s wrong with making a game that''s just fun to play? Why are developers so preoccupied with what the world thinks of them?

As a gamer, I don''t slap $50 on a game because I think it will tell me what it means to be human. I buy a game because it''s fun. I''m not going to discuss its inner symbolism and deeper meaning - I''m going to play it, have fun, and move on.

So... as a game developer, I want to create something that''s fun. I could care less about whether or not my work will be considered "art" by the world 50 years after I''m dead. It''s enough of a compliment to me that people like my games so much they spend their own money on them.

This whole "art" attitude is just another manifestation of the "rock star syndrome" game developers are so notorious for. "Look at me, I''m an *artist*!" they scream.

So yeah, the article''s right - there is no "high art" to games. But why does that matter? Does knowing that a game isn''t art make the game less fun?

Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios - home of Quaternion, 2000 GDC Indie Games Fest Finalist!
www.spin-studios.com

I don''t care what you say, Game development is an art. It is the creation of a new world, an entire universe! I think that that''s pretty much art.

"Remember, I'm the monkey, and you're the cheese grater. So no fooling around."
-Grand Theft Auto, London

Reading the above posts, and thinking about it more, I agree with mason in some ways. I thik some games are art and some games aren''t. Look at it this way, if I put a bunch of posters on my wall, and blasted my fav music, would it be art? It would if I where trying to express something. There are some games that I just couldn''t see as being art, despite the amount of art that may go into the project. Some games are meant to move, stir up, or affect the player deeply, assuming these where a form of creative expression, I would consider them art. A game like QIII doesn''t personally strike me as art, but I''m sure the coding behind it is a pure artistic masterpiece. That''s my opinion.

Dare To Think Outside The Box
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http://www.inversestudios.com

Well, I went ahead and pulled up www.m-w.com (the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Site) and got this:

4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : FINE ARTS (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art


Does writing a game involve skill? Absolutely. Does it involve imagination? I sure hope so... The only thing I find questionable is "aesthetic objects" in some games *wry smile*

Going on:

Main Entry: fine art
Function: noun
Date: 1767
1 a : art (as painting, sculpture, or music) concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects -- usually used in plural b : objects of fine art


This gets a little fuzzy. Maybe Myst is fine art and Pac-man isn't...

I found this one interesting:

Main Entry: art form
Function: noun
Date: 1868
1 : a recognized form (as a symphony) or medium (as sculpture) of artistic expression
2 : an unconventional form or medium in which impulses regarded as artistic may be expressed


The second entry is intriguing.

I would argue that while games may not be "fine art" except in some highly aesthetic cases (and would you really want them to be? I think it would make most of them really boring) they are most certainly an art form, in most cases. They reflect the creative instincts and imagination of the programmers, designers, artists, and musicians, and as such, are considered by definition to be art. Granted they might not be as high a form as the Mona Lisa, but isn't art, in its essence, created to provoke enjoyment and perhaps thought and/or feeling from its beholder?

-fel


Edited by - felisandria on 3/1/00 5:30:24 PM