The question of whether or not games constitute art has been around since gaming made the leap from being simplistic, 2 dimensional shooters to being complex, colorful, and often story driven adventures. Perhaps it has been around longer. However, this question is relevant now more than ever because of how incredibly creative gaming has become and how developers are constantly striving to push the envelope to create a triple A title. While games of old may or may not be considered art, games of today most certainly can. So many games coming out today go above and beyond the art direction of some of today's biggest films. There are some exceptions of course, films like Pans Labyrinth, The Dark Knight, and 300 really do go the extra mile to create a look and feel that match the creativity in big budget games like Final Fantasy and Mass Effect. Join me as I take a look back at gaming in the past decade in an attempt to answer this question.
1996: We all know about the big names like "Super Mario Bros" and "Space Invaders" so I wont waste much time talking about them. They were big accomplishments and opened up worlds of possibilities for the industry. But in the year 1996, when Mario made his first jump from 2D to 3D in "Super Mario 64" I got my first glimpse of the artistic possibilities. The game was a beautiful take on a classic game play formula that really demonstrated the kinds of detail that could be presented on screen. In addition to great visual presentation, the game also included an amazing and memorable soundtrack that would be remembered more than a decade later.In addition to Super Mario's 3D debut, new 3D games began to emerge and demonstrate new presentation techniques such as pre-rendered environments. One in particular would be the original Resident Evil for the playstation 1 which demonstrated great visuals (for the time) and some of the earliest (yet worst) voice acting in gaming. The game laid the ground work for one of the most cinematic and terrifying franchises in the industry to date.
1998 - 1999: As games continued to gain momentum and become bigger and bolder, we began to see more immersive games. Games that focused more and more on creating a detailed, cinematic atmosphere. Resident Evil 2 expanded on what made the first game so good and improved on it by createing amazing looking cutscenes and heart pounding, scripted, event sequences.
Metal Gear Solid took this to the next level by portraying an incredibly complex narrative that rivaled about 99% of most films being released. In addition to incredible concept art and smooth looking graphics, the game featured memorable characters in incredible situations. Games like Dino Crisis borrowed from these formulas to create similar experiences and create a feeling among players that simply couldn't be done in the movies or books. These games were some of the first games I would truly consider art but definitely not the last. Check back later for Part 2 of my 3 part looks into gaming as an art form in which I will take a look at some of the games released from 2000 - 2005.-Nick
8 comments:
Of course games are art. It's a moving painted picture (except with polygons) generated from the ideas of one or several. If people don't think it's art, they don't know what art is.
Video game is art, no more can be said because it take so much more then just connecting pixel now. Most of what they do is better then movie because it's doesn't have to be short out to fit a 2 or 3 hours. They have no limit on how much they can amaze us. But what I really found artistic about video game are really music. Just refering to the Video game live concert that really is so artistic that make it look like a symphonic concert.
Whenever discussions like this come up, people on either side of the debate never spell out what they think art actually is. Obviously, you make some assumptions here, but are they the right ones? For example, you mention that MGS1 has a more complex narrative than most films. But is complexity a necessary condition to be art? I don;t know what art is, but shouldn't T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" count? That, like most poetry, barely has a plot to begin with. Or what about forms of art that are completely lacking in narrative such as architecture or modern art?
Also, the other assumption made is that being art is a good thing. Or rather, to be art is to be something god, enjoyable, etc. But can't we have bad art? If there is such a thing as bad art, then it seems odd to define art by listing off awesome properties (immersing environments, emotional depth, etc.)
Still Nick, I'm glad you got this discussion rolling here on 4PP!
Excellent topic idea, Nick. I can't wait to see what you do in later parts, I'm excited. And nice job cataloging the bigger titles, btw.
-Skyliner
That first picture reminded me of SotC. Also nice topic, good post Nick!
Actually, that first picture is of SoTC... its early concept art.
I can't believe you skipped 2-D entirely. You really should go back and cover this area.
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