Roger Ebert: Video games can never be art.

[Kashagi]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html

I should say, I respect Roger Ebert and often agree with him. He has a fantastic knowledge of movies and I have discovered some gems I had no idea about through this 'Great Movies' articles.

Ebert argues that 'in principle' video games can never (or at least will never in our lifetime) be considered an artform.

I suppose its personal and subjective as all art is, in my opinion, art is simply any form of creativity expressed by someone. By that I would consider many things art, even if it is terrible.

It all comes down to what you consider art, but with my definition videogames can certainly be considered art, whether that be the beautiful game that was Shadow Of The Collosus, or the never ending creativity of the Final Fantasy series. Sure to some it may not be good art, but Ebert argues that it isnt art at all, I cannot agree with that.

What do you think?

 

[Freddy4190]

Some games are so graphically amazing and stunning that they should be in some sort of form considered art. Considering the low standards of art today, I don't see why not. People stand around a trash bag and marvel at the crinkles and the smell and call it art. Games very well can be art, if someone should so decide to take an artistic approach towards it instead of having ridiculously nice graphics, only to ruin the scenery by having a epic gunfight in the middle of it. Roger Ebert bothers me, dunno why. Shame.

 

[X]

As much as I respect Roger Ebert, I also think he's far behind the times and sometimes prone to being a complete and total fucking baffoon. Whether it be his protesting of the Friday the 13th films in the 80s or saying bullshit like this, he really needs to just take his outdated morals and ideas of art and shove them up his fat ass because no one cares if he doesn't think video games are art, when they absolutely are by definition an artistic/creative output of media.

I don't know, Ebert is good when you want to know whether a recently released Holocaust art film is any good, but when it comes to things like video games and horror films, he's clueless.

 

[Ferbian]

I disagree completely, I think it's quite obvious that (in my opinion) video games has already achieved the standards of being considered art, with the amazing, and I really mean amazing graphical designs some of the newer games can cough up with, games like Dragon Age, Assassin's creed 1 and 2, hell the newer shooters games could even have some graphical masterpieces in it that you could probably call art, games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Games has reached the state of art, and will continue to evolve, in many years, we'll probably have forgotten that there were even games that looked like, hell I don't know, I would throw in a strategy game like Age of Empire, but I feel that would be unfair as a comparison, so lets say Halo Combat Evolved (yes I don't consider their graphics anywhere worth a small erection as opposed to the masterpiece graphics that can be coughed up now if it was to be compared on a "hard-on" meter)

 

[ABMorales787]

This is the same as a wrestling skeptic. They shun wrestling for being "fake" and therefore not a real sport. Videogames of course are art. If the characters don't have voiceovers they have texts. Its a for of expression. So is the art designs that are made before creating the game. A five year old could pick up a dictionary and prove videogames are an artform. You really should be embarrassed Mr. Ebert.

 

[Lee]

Spoiler

Okami, Ico, Shadow of the Collosus, just three that spring to mind. Three games that take your breath away with the visuals, with the sounds.

What is art? Arts is defined as "The process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions." OK gaming is EXACTLY that, even to use ones you wouldn't naturally assume are artistic, can you remember the first time you played Super Mario Bros and you jumped when a hammer brother first threw the hammer? That was an 8-bit game yet the emotion was there, take that to this generation with the latest Resident Evil, it again makes you jump at times. Games like OOT that to this day still brings a rush of emotions for me when I hear one of the songs.

Of course Video games are an art, better than an unmade bed (Tracey Emin!).

 

[Loveless]

Spoiler

Okami, Ico, Shadow of the Collosus, just three that spring to mind.

You got there before me. Ico, take that Roger, you know-nothing bitch. I like Roger, I do, but you shouldn't go around criticising something you know fuck all about. Another one that comes to mind is the water dance in Final Fantasy X, if that wasn't art in visuals and choreography then I don't know what is.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Really Ebert? REALLY?

The man knows his movies but he is obviously 100% clueless when it comes to video games. Has he not played a game since the NES era or something? Granted, not all games could be considered art.... in fact, many games could not be viewed as a work of art.... but there ARE great games out there that fit the description of what a work of art is.

"Art" is generally defined as something created to affect the emotions of another human being. There are several video games that are created with the intention of appealing to one's sense of sight (graphics), hearing (soundtracks), as well as moving someone emotionally with an incredible story full of characters that the gamer can become attached to.

The perfect example of a video game that's a work of art is Tales of Symphonia. The artwork, while in a cartoony style, is beautifully done and when combined with the great job done by the voice-over actors it makes the game come alive looking like an epic cartoon movie. The soundtrack has 100+ tracks that are nothing short of amazing.... and finally the story, where this game absolutely destroys any other game. I have never been so blown away by a plot in a video game, nor as attached to a playable cast before as I was by this game.

So, in conclusion.... if games such as Tales of Symphonia have graphics, soundtracks, characters, and storylines that affect one emotionally in such a positive way.... then how is that not a work of art? Ebert is 100% wrong on this because he has NO idea what he is talking about. There are several games that could be considered works of art. Stick to movie reviews, Ebert!

 

[Mr. Steve]

I disagree with the man.

By definition, Art, by any medium it's expressed, stirs emotions within the recipient. If he thinks that video games don't do that, then he's in the wrong. Right now, video games are becoming more fuller and the right one can pretty much get you to delve into the universe. Who's to say that you didn't get goosebumps the second you listened to the Gregorian Chants of Halo: combat evolved theme?

Or that you felt helpless as you walked through the Ishiimura in Dead Space.

Spoiler

I'm not even mentioning the games I used to play growing up. Point is that, even though video games has a stigma that it's just for kids, it can, and should be considered art. Well, if gaming has its own masterpieces, so we should be done with it and call it art.