Have videogames reached artistic status?

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Post by Marc »

Here's one definition of art:

"The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium."

In terms of games, I would call "art" something that makes its audience think after the experience is over. Kojima said in an interview once, "As long as we don't create games which get players to think after the experience is over, games will always be just games." I find it funny that someone like him who says games aren't art is, at the same time, making such statements.

I think a game like Policenauts is art because it makes you think about many things: the "monsters" people have created (Frozeners) in the process of spreading the human race throughout space; what is the relationship between parent and child? - someone can be someone's parent and not actually raise them, someone can act as a surrogate mother, someone can raise someone as a foster child; using drugs and organs from less fortunate people in order to serve the more fortunate, all in the name of space exploration and development, among other issues.

There are other games that are fun to play and/or cinematic, but don't make you think after it's over. I would classify those types of games as entertainment, just like there are (junk) films and (junk) TV shows that are a far cry from art, but many people still find them entertaining.
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Post by randomwab »

ratperson665 wrote:
randomwab wrote:I wouldn't say V for Vendetta was art because it had political views, or Sin City was because it used an art style.
Your just bad-mouthing Sin City and V for vendetta because you know there two of my favorite movies.
Not true, while I didn't like Sin City when I saw it, I loved V for Vendetta, I thought it was a great movie, however, I still don't think either of them are art.
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Post by Artemio »

Ratperson wrote:Your just bad-mouthing Sin City and V for vendetta because you know there two of my favorite movies.
Don't be childish, you know they are not art just because you proclaim them to be. They are simply movies based in comics, very enjoyable ones and their craft is really good. But go and ask a movie critic and see what he'll say.

He is pointing out how relative art is , and he is giving supporting arguments.. and you respond with such a reply... man, that is discouraging and spam. Please stay on topic.
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Post by ratperson665 »

randomwab wrote:
ratperson665 wrote:
randomwab wrote:I wouldn't say V for Vendetta was art because it had political views, or Sin City was because it used an art style.
Your just bad-mouthing Sin City and V for vendetta because you know there two of my favorite movies.
Not true, while I didn't like Sin City when I saw it, I loved V for Vendetta, I thought it was a great movie, however, I still don't think either of them are art.
Ah! That's a different story.
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Post by randomwab »

Ohh my, I have missed alot. I never saw ratperson's rants on Ichi the Killer. He didn't like it :lol: Well, if Ichi had a wonderful black and white presentation with a splash of colour, would it be art? Or if Sin City was shot with standard colour, would it be sick? From what I remember, Sin City had alot of violence and sexual content. But it's ok as it was in black and white with splashes of colour. :grin:
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Post by Missing »

I personally think b&w lends much more artistry to photography than color. It's not that one is better than another, but I think color often diverts people's attention. If you watch a film or look at pictures with very colorful photography, the colors tend to catch people's attention more than anything else. That's likely one reason why people think b&w films are boring, because they don't have the color to take their eyes off of any developing action onscreen.
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Post by ratperson665 »

randomwab wrote:Ohh my, I have missed alot. I never saw ratperson's rants on Ichi the Killer. He didn't like it :lol: Well, if Ichi had a wonderful black and white presentation with a splash of colour, would it be art? Or if Sin City was shot with standard colour, would it be sick? From what I remember, Sin City had alot of violence and sexual content. But it's ok as it was in black and white with splashes of colour. :grin:
I told you! I don't mind the violence in Ichi half as much as I do the sexual perversion. Now can we PLEASE get back on the topic? (This is just my opinion. You’re completely entitled to yours.)
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Post by OtakupunkX »

ratperson665 wrote: I told you! I don't mind the violence in Ichi half as much as I do the sexual perversion. Now can we PLEASE get back on the topic? (This is just my opinion. You’re completely entitled to yours.)
So something I've discovered in the 17 or so years in which I've been alive is that, in America, violence is more acceptable than sex. I've never really understood that, as I've always thought of sex as being more acceptable than violence.

It's almost ridiculous, in fact. You can't show a breast on American TV but you can show senseless acts of graphic violence.
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ratperson665
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Post by ratperson665 »

OtakupunkX wrote:
ratperson665 wrote: I told you! I don't mind the violence in Ichi half as much as I do the sexual perversion. Now can we PLEASE get back on the topic? (This is just my opinion. You’re completely entitled to yours.)
So something I've discovered in the 17 or so years in which I've been alive is that, in America, violence is more acceptable than sex. I've never really understood that, as I've always thought of sex as being more acceptable than violence.

It's almost ridiculous, in fact. You can't show a breast on American TV but you can show senseless acts of graphic violence.
I wanted to get back on the topic but... I said "perversion" I didn't want to specify anything but here goes: S&M, fetishism, rape and god knows what else are in that film. Now let’s get back on the topic!
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Post by Rick Deckard »

You can't just say 'let's get back on topic' to get back on topic, you've got to say something that gets us back on topic to truly get back.
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