Diary of a Gamer: Video Games
Video games are not the oldest medium of entertainment in the world, but they are definitely one of the most popular. They are interactive, fun and can be as beautiful or deep as any painting or film, but are they art?
Renowned movie critic Roger Ebert brought up this question when he said in his blog “Video games can never be art” plain and simple. Since this game bashing blog post there has been a large debate in the video game industry about whether or not this is true, with major arguments on both sides.
Video game magazine ‘Game Informer’ had an entire feature about the subject bringing up great titles from all of gaming history. From Mass Effect 2’s cinematic and epic story, to the original Mario game’s whimsical tale and kid like setting, there were arguments from magazine writers and readers all throughout the issue.
The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. has an online poll to help decide what video games to show in their upcoming “The Art of Games” exhibit opening later this year.
Does the UHS gaming community feel the same? I asked a couple of people here at UHS about their thoughts on this debate. Though their views differ slightly they both agree that video games are art.
Junior Robert Riley said, “Games are absolutely art, it takes hard work and imagination like any other piece of art.” As an example he gave me the Xbox Live Arcade game Limbo, a newer game out for download that features and all shadow silhouette art style and challenging platforming.
When asked about what he thought of this debate he said “Everything goes through trials, this is video games.” With such a positive view towards games as art it seems to agree with many of the professional ideas.
Senior Kyle Silver had more of a realist’s opinion. He said “Video games will eventually be art, maybe not in a traditional sense like paintings but in its own way.”
He said an Indie game called E4 was an example as art as video game. E4 is a very bright and very colorful game that really has no story but has great design elements and brings back the feeling of old arcade games such as Asteroids.
He also believes that this is a trial that video games had to go through.“Ebert is from an older generation, and older generations are known to discredit new forms of entertainment.” This is something that has been seen time and time again, from the first days of Jazz and Rock and Roll.
So one old man sparks a huge debate in a medium, he has no interest in and he gets hate mail from all over the world, but that is not the focus of this argument. The focus is that video games are defining themselves, not as a childish hobby but as a form of entertainment that can be as epic and emotionally griping as it can be childish and whimsical.
Does Roger Ebert deserve gamer hate? No, but he will receive a lot for a while. Does he deserve the gaming communities’ thanks? If not now, then one day he will. He’s the man who helped spark a defining moment in video game history, in an attempt to break it down, that’s just karma for you.
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