Gaming and Art Journal 4

Videogames have come along a far way, evolving around the same rate as technology does. Digital media and gaming are essentially parallel in their evolutions. It’s the technological advances into digital tools that affect the abilities of what can be done which in turn also affects the new possibilities that are available for games. Improvements such as higher memory capacity chips, allow videogames to reach higher limits on qualities and lengths on what can be in a game. Besides physical technical capabilities due to hardware, videogames have spread out into almost every category; they’ve come a long way since Pong, Space Invaders, Snake, and Asteroids. Christine Paul mentions in “Digital Art” that “games are an important part of digital art’s history”(Paul 2008  p. 197) as “they explored many of the paradigms that are now common in interactive art.” (Paul p. 197).

Nowadays, there are teams of different artists in videogame companies that collaborate on making high definition and exhilarating worlds for players to explore not being exclusive to game genre. This growth has also encapsulated pop culture and society, which can be seen in artists’ work by the references they make. In examining videogames as a whole, would you classify videogames as art or not? Meaning that this would include all genres of games which includes “’shooters’ that seem antithetical to art”(Paul 2008 p. 197). ; Do they count as pieces of art?

Being born in the 90’s allowed me to experience most of the stages that videogames have gone through. Although not everything pertaining to the creation of these games maybe related to art directly, but it’s the collaborative product in the end that gives them their worth as art. Also, even though game types can have high contrasts against each other, those differences don’t distinguish whether they can be classified as art. Instead, look at the similarities beyond the graphics, where the paradigms that Christine Paul mentions that are contained in interactive art. These nuances that create immersion do not always have to involve a deep plot such as role-playing games(RPGs); for example, simulation games, first-person shooters(FPSs), and “god” games still provide a sense of immersion by giving the player a sense through the camera view and actions. Games like Modern Warfare 3 compared to games like Sims or Okami may not be viewed instanteously as art, but the way each game immerses the player to a different world through visuals, music, sound, and interaction make them more than qualified to be called interactive art.

References:

Paul, C. 2008. Digital Art. 2nd edition. NY: Thames and Hudson, Inc.