Should video games be considered art?

by Chris Mailloux

Video games have changed since the early days of Pong. Games now have stories, characters, worlds and large development teams working on them.

In 2005, film critic Roger Ebert said video games should not be classified as art, while writer Clive Barker defended the idea of video games as a form of art, saying they have the power to move people. Ebert later posted a blog in 2010 saying that it was wrong for him to express his opinion since he has never played a video game. Ebert still maintained his idea that video games cannot be art in principle.

If you compare video games today to 40 years ago, when Pong first came out, there is a significant difference. You now have actors performing character voice work, writers creating stories, composers creating soundtracks and artists creating worlds and characters.

Scott Marion, 21, works at a local EB Games and has been playing games since he was about five. Since he first started gaming Marion said he’s seen a big improvement in the quality. Marion says the graphics have improved, storylines have improved and they’ve become less linear.

“Look how much development is going into games like Skyrim and Assassin’s Creed, any RPG really there is a ton of art and structure put into them,” said Marion who also thinks the best example of a game being considered art would be Rage, “it pushed the high definition limits.”

Tyler Head, 21, has started his own podcast called Slackerz Podcast and is currently working on making his own platformer using game maker.

“I believe it’s (video games) comprised of several different parts of art.” said Head.

Programming, artwork and music were some of the parts listed by Head which makes videos games a form of art. Head said Journey would be the best example of a game he considers art because of what they’ve achieved with characters. They gave it a specific theme and in general the programming that went into making the game.

Nicholas Curley, 18, who used to publish a gaming podcast on youtube believes video games can be considered a form of art, but at the same time can’t.

“Yes and no, yes, because it takes skills and talent to create the games,” said Curley. “No, because a lot of people don’t look at it as art.”