Author Topic: Games as Art (Pirate radio response)  (Read 2193 times)

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Offline adam101

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Games as Art (Pirate radio response)
« on: August 16, 2007, 10:14:14 AM »
If anyone has listened to the nintendo pirate radio, they probably heard the discussion about whether or not all video games are art. They decided the answer was yes, noting the being art did not mean good art.
    One of the points that popped up was that art is one of the most debatable things in our society. It's value is truly in the eye of the beholder. They focused on movies quite a bit and noted how viewer and critics often debate on whether a movie is good. Few are deemed all good or all bad by everyone (though this can happen). This is a property of art, however, with video games, it is not so. Few games are questioned by the majority of critics (though there are some). I find the the majority of games are considered good, bad or mediocre my most people i.e. Final Fantasy's are good, Superman 64, not so much. To prove this, you can look at rottentomatoes.com and see the scores for movies and games. Movies are usually pretty diverse with thumbs up and down, while it is not odd for games to be 100 percent good or bad. Note: I am mostly talking about critics, many a child or someone new to movies/games has loved a bad game or bad movie (3 Ninjas!!)
    This, to me, takes away something special. Because they are games (instead of art?), it is easy to say whether it is good or bad. a game has set criteria to fill and anyone with a little taste in games can tell the difference. Or maybe, it is just easier to be a good game critic. What is your view?

Offline Ian Sane

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RE: Games as Art (Pirate radio response)
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2007, 10:23:03 AM »
Game opinions might be more universal do the active nature of games.  Tools of low quality for example usually have more consistent opinions because crappy tools suck at their function.  A game is judged on enjoyment but there are also technical reasons for a game to be low quality.  A game with unresponsive controls is logically broken and thus is going to be regarded as poor by a lot of people just like a hammer with a weak handle.

Offline UERD

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RE: Games as Art (Pirate radio response)
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2007, 10:56:45 AM »
I think Ian's got it. Most of the time, it's hard to objectively compare art because it's nearly impossible to quantify things like differing perspectives on aesthetics. I might look at a painting and say 'meh', and another person will think that it is the most beautiful thing ever, but my arguments for it being mediocre and his arguments for it being good will probably be unintelligible to the other.

Stuff like controls, on the other hand, are easier to quantify. I press on the Control Stick with this much force because I'm expecting the go-kart to move this many degrees off my current heading. If the controls are loose, sloppy, or inaccurate, you can point to the numbers and say 'look, controls for game A are just better than those for game B'. An oversimplification, but I think it's pretty close to the truth.  
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Offline adam101

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RE:Games as Art (Pirate radio response)
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2007, 02:24:29 PM »
        Yes, the fact that games (like hammers as ian pointed out) have more easily assessed characteristics is evident, but does that fact take away from them being art? A quality of art is that it is very dependent on perspectives. Something not dependent so much on perspective, such as making hammers, is much less an art but more a science. There is a good way to make a hammer and there is very little debate on that, just look at the standard design for a basic hammer (though there is a LITTLE artistic flair).
   And thanks for the responses guys, I know I usually don't come to a message board to contemplate or think hard about anything.

Offline Kairon

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RE: Games as Art (Pirate radio response)
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2007, 02:37:17 PM »
What about making violins? Manufacture is one thing, but actual craftsmanship... and actual artisan level work... that's where you realize you're in a gray area between art, and production.
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