The Art of Video Games: True or False?

It has long been argued that video games can never be and will never be considered art, but with fantastical game releases such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Final Fantasy, some might argue back that video games are redefining what art, cinema and entertainment are entirely.

World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Final Fantasy are international best-selling games. They are both loved and revered by many gamers worldwide for their incredible cinematics, great storylines, and seemingly innate ability to transport gamers into vividly colorful worlds of mysticism and might. The fans’ love is so deeply felt that many attend conventions in full character dress in the same way that movie and book characters might be imitated.

The argument that video games may never be considered art, especially by the likes of Roger Ebert in my honest opinion, are simply the angry banter between the old generation and the new. You cannot really even compare cave paintings or the brilliance of Da Vinci to the Call of Duty series or any of the Final Fantasy games, but I think the point is that you shouldn’t compare them. To me, comparing these completely different art pieces is doing them a disservice as they are their own entities in their own right. Each belongs to their time, place, and their own medium.

Even so, video games have come a long way from their small beginnings. Take Pac-Man, for instance. I would not dream of calling that art in the slightest, nor would I consider even Super Mario a form of art really, but with the advancement of video games and the presence of some top games today, it is hard to ignore their artistic and creative value. Consider the cinematic trailers for some of these games such as Folklore, Final Fantasy or Halo and imagine the time and effort the character designers, riggers and various level designers who spend hours toiling over the characters, environment designs, level designs and all the mechanics that go into that. Not only are the hours spent equal to an artist’s own piece if no greater than, but the result is to very similar effect if not in a different medium.

I will conclude with the opinion that I think video games are entirely art. As defined in my college beginning art class, art is considered art when it is a reflection of and/or imitation of life. Is that not the main function of story-based video games?