[Closed] Computer games as art

Anyone who doubts it, is also an idiot.

What's that, then?

(Journey, I mean, I'm well aware of what an idiot is)

Mountain on IOS is a great arty piece, wouldn't know that I'd call it a game but a beautiful thing to leave running while you do other stuff.

re. Journey:

Word !

#don'tstopbelieving

<holds up lighter>

Is this journey available for tu iPhone

Machinarium is rather nice too...

Machinarium is rather nice too...

Is this journey available for tu iPhone

Nope.

Give Monument a go, if you want some swish design.

In the past 4-5 years games have really come into their own as something more than instant gratification explosion-fests designed to make you feel 'the hero.'

Recent(ish) ones that made the grey matter tick over.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Spec Ops: The Line
The Banner Saga
Metro: Last Light

It's great, really enjoying the medium at the moment.

I really want to play Journey. have wanted to since beginning of the year. Unfortunately IIRC its only available on PS. I only have PC and Xbox in the house 🙁

I think that Limbo and Badland tick this box too.

Gents - anyone who doubts the computer game as an art form should play GTA V - better than a lot of Hollywood crap.

Great script, great showpiece action scenes, cracking effects. So good I bought it twice!

A mate of mine is really into gaming, and was massively enthused about the artistic merit of Journey..

As an artist myself, and a fairly broadminded one at that, I'm sorry but I just don't get it.. There must be some kind of emotive response thing going on here that is particular to a certain sector of the gaming community or something..

As an artist myself, and a fairly broadminded one at that, I'm sorry but I just don't get it.

One of these statements is not true.

Limbo is ace. Pity its so short and, shall we say, two dimensional 🙂

Badlands works well as well. Its great ho wit transferred to tablet.

I like playing puzzle games in nice environments. I wish there was a Portal +++3 etc! or even something that worked as well as LA Noire.

Crush on the PSP was awesome too.

Get a cheap PS3, Stoner. Not just for Journey, but for The Last Of Us as well. It's what I did after I had finished most games I wanted to play on the Xbox360.

One of the few games I have played through more than once.

your not rong Jamie.

I would, but Im trying to work out how Im going to run media in casa del stoner for the next 5+ years, and Im not sure PS is it yet. I also, just dont game enough to justify owning games consoles that cant do PVR/Media Extender roles.

One of these statements is not true.

Aye...... maybe

You know, after occasionally dealing with some of the most vitriolic, insensitive toxic a*sehole stereotypes of gamers you can imagine through work, this thread on STW is properly heartwarming to read 🙂

Some other huge recommendations for things that are a bit arty and in most of which you are not a hero:

[url= http://www.visitproteus.com ]Proteus[/url] (walk around weird island that makes sound, finding out how… stuff works)

[url= http://fractgame.com ]FRACT OSC[/url] (Like Proteus, but very different aesthetics, more obviously puzzle based, and you're walking around inside a giant synth)

[url= http://blendogames.com/flotilla/ ]Flotilla[/url] (3D space combat, difficult to get into at first if you're not used to having so many degrees of freedom, and it looks quite typically game-like, but but there's something deeply flippant and lovely about the tone it's written with)

[url= http://kentuckyroutezero.com ]Kentucky Route Zero[/url] (I struggle to describe this beyond the words art, philosophy and Americana. Three parts of five released so far)

[url= http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-27/?action=preview&uid=4987 ]Become a Great Artist in Just 10 Seconds[/url] (If you like glitches, this is for you)

[url= http://www.stateofplaygames.com/work/lumino-city/ ]Lumino City[/url], which they made out of photographs of beautifully intricate and tiny physical models.

Limbo is ace.
...
I like playing puzzle games in nice environments

Braid is the answer you seek. With a shout out to The Room and its sequel.

The Last of Us.

Soundtrack, Story, Graphics.

#1

Smudger666 - Member
Gents - anyone who doubts the computer game as an art form should play GTA V - better than a lot of Hollywood crap.

You need to define art. Artistic expression, separate from art form. Painting, sculpture, film, music etc are all art forms, but not all paintings or sculpture are works of art.
My definition was whether or not the piece was a form of creative expression, a statement, notion or ideology that the artist wanted to convey. Was the creator of the piece trying to say something, and did they succeed. Could a game be an art form - absolutely. Is the game in question a work of art or just craftsmanship? I dunno. Haven't played it.

You need to define art.

That sentence breaks my head. Art by its very definition is fairly undefinable, is it not?

My son in law is a computer games designer, his primary skill-set is being an artist

I don't actually like playing Journey all that much. It is visually gorgeous and atmospheric, but as a game it's pretty straightforward. The reason I mentioned it as art though is that the whole game, played in one go is a complete metaphor for human existence. Again it's not revelatory in that sense, it's straightforward, quasi-religious depending on your particular leanings, and slightly cheesy - due to the visuals, atmosphere and music it always stirs my emotions and makes me smile. It's just nice, and I think that the ease of playing the actual game helps.

It only takes about half an hour to complete, and you're drawn to do it over and over again, which is also part of the statement. Its much more of an interactive artwork than it is a game.

Yunki, did you play it all the way through? It needs to be for it to work imo.

My definition was whether or not the piece was a form of creative expression, a statement, notion or ideology that the artist wanted to convey

Journey is 100% that, and quite openly.

Nach - thanks for the tips, will check those out 🙂

Dear Esther is less of a game and more of an art piece there's no objective just exploration. It's interesting but doesn't hold much long term appeal.

Another World, that was artistic 🙂

[url= http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/artbookhigh.zip ]Bioshock Artbook[/url]

If art is - at least partly - defined by its ability to evoke an emotional reaction then Shadow of the Colossus on PS2 should be very, very close to the top of the list.

[url= http://kotaku.com/5962410/halo-4-was-shaped-at-least-in-part-by-one-of-the-worlds-great-concept-artists ]Halo 4 concepts[/url]

"Art" is a debate that's been endlessly rehashed by game developers for years. People still often ask me "Are videogames art?" and my answer used to be "For them not to be, you'd have to deliberately redefine art to exlcude them", but nowadays it's "What, all of them?" 🙂

For me the question "Are videogames art?" is a badly formulated one. Lots of videogames are obviously not, some maybe are. Debating if a thing is or isn't art is usually pointless. The role "artist" in a game studio is not the same thing as "artist" outside of games, and more analogous to an illustrator or someone working in VFX (likewise "art books" for games, and I don't mean any disdain by putting it in quotes; people just talk at cross purposes whenever the A word comes up).

A better question is "Can the tools used to make games be used to make art?" and the answer is not only yes, but that there's a long history of people doing exactly that, from Lillian Schwartz as artist in residence at Bell Labs in the sixties to people making stuff with computational skills and methods right now. Because they're not involved in "industry" and their work isn't commercial though, they're largely ignored by the games industry and it ends up endlessly rehashing debates people have been exploring for decades.

Nonetheless, there's amazing, beautiful, thought provoking work being done in games right now, like Journey and the other stuff linked in this thread.

D… does that help? 😀

I've started abusing Playstation on Twitter because their PS4'S ARE A BIG PILE OF ARSEBUBBLES.

that's a bit of an artform in itself.

Dude. Let it go.

Or sell it.

Can I add anything by Fumito Ueda (Team ICO) to the list? They've been omitted so far.

I also thought Ikaruga was a beaut as well but I guess that depends on your definition of art - loads of colourful splosions.

Haven't been a gamer for a few years but do think I may pick up a console this generation and see what I've been missing - Journey looks beautiful.

What Jamie said.

I've no issue with games as art. If we have already broadened the defnition of art to encompass, film, literature and music then I don't see any reason why games can't be considered as art.

Zelda Ocarina of Time on the N64
Ico, Shadow of the Collosus on the PS2
Mass Effect 1,2,3 on the Xbox360

All these games had a substance beyond the graphics and the gameplay mechanics. The conveyed emotions and crucially I think they all let you peak behind the curtain and gain an insight into the mind of the people who made them.

Not has a chance to play Last of Us but I here it is brilliant too