Editorial: Videogames as Art

So, I've heard this question tossed around: Are videogames art?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer:

I always think that someone is asking the wrong question when they ask if something "is art." If it's trying to send you a message or invoke an emotion, it's art. I think the question they mean to ask is "Is this good art? Is it quality art?" The quality of art is an opinion, but there are some qualities that most people expect from art. Whether something is art or not is much more factual. The first rule being, if you care enough to argue whether it is or isn't art, it probably is.

So let's assume now that art encompasses videogames in the same way it encompasses television commercials, carpet patterns, and crudely drawn anatomy on the walls of restrooms. Let's asses whether videogames are high art, quality art, and art worthy of respect.

Some videogames are no simpler than television commercials. Burger King released a series of XBox games specifically as a commercial. Are these quality art? Hardly. It does take time and effort to produce games like this. Graphics artists, sound producers, and programmers have to collaborate in an overall effort certainly more impressive than the boobs drawn in the Men's room. The games lack a certain finesse though. It needs to tell people more than "Kids have fun at Burger King" and strike more of an emotion than a lust for less expensive car insurance.

But some games are worthy of respect as artwork. Games are mixed media productions and so there are several facets of art that games employ.

Graphics - Actual artists actually draw graphics for videogames.

Animation - A well made cinema event can be as good as a clip from a Hollywood movie

Music - Many respected composers and musicians create pieces used in games that are even sometimes sold next to regular music

Literature - Some games, especially RPGs can have prose or scripts that stir emotions and tackle deep philosophical thought

Gameplay - Even gameplay can be well crafted and if you don't think gameplay can stir emotion then you should watch a bunch of frat guys huddled around Madden.

I'd like to list some, not all, of the games I consider to be of the highest quality of artwork. These are games that blended several aspects of art together in a way that sychronized smoothly:

Chrono Trigger
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy VII
Shadow of the Colossus
Super Metroid
Earthbound (Very abstract art)
Halo, campaign mode
Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
Pac-Man
Final Fantasy Tactics
Saga Frontier II (Water color actually)

In conclusion, are videogames art? Definitely. Are they good art? Sometimes. Can they be bad art? Of course. The same can be said of paintings, symphonies, and sculpture. You get the picture.

A little snapshot of today. I still haven't gotten one of my textbooks. The bookstore has been swearing it'll be here soon for the last three weeks. My patience is wearing thin with them and I'm about to ask for my money back. My brother has caught bacterial bronchitis and the rest of the family aren't feeling that hot either. I'll continue to be praying for them. I've been hooked on Harvest Moon lately, farming game. I have it emulated on my PC and whenever I feel like playing a game I get sucked into playing it. So, I played some Harvest Moon.

And then...

I went to the local Greyhound station. Most people don't know that they actually offer rides to other galaxies as well. Bought a ticket to Reeva and boarded the bus. I had some down time now. Even though the bus travels at several thousand times the speed of light it still takes about four hours to reach Reeva from Earth.

I already told you that time does not pass relative to myself on the bus and myself on Reeva due to Special Pirate Relativity. So when will I arrive on Reeva? According to Adamsian physics, not only are you not certain when my other self should arrive on Reeva, but neither is the universe. The universe will therefore take an educated guess, which usually turns out to be both convient for the universe and me.

I sat next to some old dude with a backpack that looked liked it held all his belongings. He kept asking me questions.

"Where ya headed? Reeva? I been there, not as much the tourist spot as it used to be. What you going there for? You have to save the shellfish? Save yourself! Oh, got it. Is that some kinda metaphor? Oh you warped here, that makes sense. I don't warp anymore, bad for my lower back. What were you doing on Reeva? No, I don't suppose it's any of my business. I just wondered if you might be looking for the person who killed it."

At that, I stopped dead in my tracks. Ash had mentioned she knew who killed the people of Reeva. She sounded guilty too. The old man told me how Reeva and Kattox used to be good trading partners, but the Kattox Refractor Crystal Incorporated began using Reeva's dependence on their product to influence their political decisions. Reeva boycotted further crystal purchases in an attempt to get their political rights back. Kattox Refractors demanded their crystals be returned to them. When their demands were not met, they razed the planet to the ground. Only underground equipment remained operational and until the scrubbers had time to recover, the entire planet's atmosphere was unbreathable.

After that discussion and a few more on the fine art of macaroni sculpture. I arrived on Reeva. I ran to the facility, bolting towards my last known location. I arrived just in time. I watched as my previous self fell from the robot's blast. I saw myself make a dash towards the robot and slide under his short stubby legs. I quickly ran towards the robot as it spun around. I reached into the access panel that Ash had already opened and ripped the safety cord.

The robot grinded to a halt and my previous self warped to Earth, unaware of the robot's deactivation, as I had done. I was glad. Contrary to popular opinion, temporal paradoxes do not cause rifts in the space time contiuum nor are they impossible to commit. However, they can lead to severe emotional and psychological problems in later years.

Ash picked herself up and dusted off, despite the lack of dirt to dust off, and looked at me with a "I coulda done that look." I was thinking about more important things.

"Ash, I gotta ask you something."

Until next time fellow pirates.