Games....art or not?

[firehawk12]

I suppose the problem is whether game designers even want their games to be interpreted.

speaking only for myself, i dont care if my work is viewed as art or not. one of my main concerns is if the people playing the game are enjoying it.

Right, I guess it depends if people are ready to accept "fun" as a quality of art as much as context as meaning. Music itself is really just a series of notes on a piece of paper, but the emotional effect of air vibrating in the pattern outlined in the sheet music is what counts as "art" in that context (and maybe the bad lyrics).

MW2 is a good example, because it plays very well and as mentioned, it also has a level that has some meaning. It's kind of poorly executed in hindsight in so much as there's very little context for your actions, but certainly it's a level that tries to make you realize the context of your actions.

You can have both, but very directors take the time to worry about storytelling in games (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a trend I've seen).

 

[Arrqh]

Most definitely, but someone like Ebert, a film critic, cannot be taken seriously as an art critic outside his profession. I wouldn't go to him to ask his opinion on whether someone's writings are artistic enough or what they mean because he is not trained in those fields.

So... you have to be a "game critic" to be taken seriously in this discussion?

Ebert is a smart guy who has the unfortunate quality in this case of being someone who hasn't actually experienced or really understanding the medium he's critisizing. The fact that he's a film critic is neither here nor there... it doesn't give him more credence and it doesn't make his opinion worthless. It just is.

 

[Teelie]

In the case of calling something art or not, yes, I'd prefer you actually be a professional in that field before professing something. His opinion might be it's not art but the way he carries himself and his message, he states it as if it were fact.