Are video games a form of art

He argued: ''Games can be fun and rewarding in many ways, but they cannot transmit the emotional complexity that is the root of art’ (Smuts, 2005, p. As expected, this comment by Kroll was largely criticized by people within the video game industry. Most of the critics claimed that Kroll had underestimated the cultural effect of the video games. Other prominent film critics who held a similar position to that of Kroll include Rodger Ebert who claimed that although games can be subtle, elegant, challenging, sophisticated and visually amazing, the medium through which they are presented hinders them from being considered as art (Parker, 2018, p. Further, Ebert claimed that games lack the element of compassion, hence they cannot be considered as art.

So, what is art? As per Robson and Meskin (2016, p. 166) art can be basically defined as an presentation or expression of a creative skill or imagination of a human being, normally in a form that is visual like a sculpture or a painting, creating works to be cherished mainly for their emotional power or beauty. In addition, art includes disciplines of study that are mainly concerned with the products and the processes of human social life and creativity like literature, history, and languages. Thus, art is simply differentiated from technical or scientific disciplines by its definition. Some people describe art as what you make others see and feel rather than what you see or feel; pointing out to the general idea that the purpose of art is to invite a reaction or an experience.

The player, therefore, experienced nightmares about possible devastation that he would be a subject to for many years. Given the fact that the developer created work initiated by his morality and observation of the immediate world, it can be said to bring a similar impact to that an artist would bring. In simple words, the developer, in this case, was telling a story of his experiences and his observations. This example clearly shows that the intention or motives of early game developers were not different from those of the present day. However, the developers in those times lacked the tools and the language to fully narrate their stories. Video games have exclusive graphics comprising of arrays of 2D and 3D models, not to mention the unique soundtracks, effects, and immersive stories.

This can be said to be art that is somehow combined with science. Inherently, video games are interactive (Bourgonjon et al, 2016, p. For some people, art is normally passive by the fact that it requires the audience to observe and make reflections on their experience. Nevertheless, by interpretation, art is arguably interactive. Today, so many aesthetic components are creeping their way into development studios (Sharp, 2015). In some modern games, whenever a player dies, some blood bags emit some blood, thus creating a physical demonstration of the virtual killing (Sharp, 2015). This aspect of most modern video games can be used to evoke emotions, hence the main reason why such games stand a chance to be termed as artistic. In addition to the philosophical evidence that shows that video games should be considered an art, there also exists legal proof.

In the U. Whereas this is not bad, it disqualifies video games from being artistic, as they are craft by default. Whereas the intention of developers and designers is to craft, the intention of artists is to express. Another reason is that games demand an effort and attention of the player to truly get an engagement, which makes it easier for people who do not play to trivialize the medium. This is not the case with movies that take short just hours to watch or books and novels that may take days to read. Video games demand more time and require the player to role-play to fully connect with the experience or to unpack their tale. , Soetaert, R. , & Valcke, M. Players’ perspectives on the positive impact of video games: A qualitative content analysis of online forum discussions.