Oddworld, Mortal Kombat and Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy (just beaten that last one today) are very good examples of Video games as art.

Mortal Kombat? Are you fucking kidding me?

oh come on

Limbo, Legend of Zelda - Windwaker, Abe's Oddysee and perhaps a flash game called coma on Kongregate.

Mortal Kombat is a let's fight game.
Mortal Kombat is not unique art.

Let's Dance games are art.

I respectfully but furiously disagree.

Just like Limp Bizkit.

(response to OANST)

No you.

urgh

RDR was a sandbox game about cowboys. Some people like that (I know I enjoyed it), others don't.

Do we really have to sit and bitch over it? (yes, i know the answer already)

My argument for RDR not being art is largely because it did not feel unique to me. Everything had been done before, and better. Specific things like herding, hunting and exploring all felt superior in GUN. I found the story (especially that retarded climax) not to be up to snuff to what I consider good Western storytelling and the inconsistency in John's behavior was wayyyy too big a flaw to overlook.

I am of the opinion that the graphics, while certainly impressive from a technical standpoint, extremely drab and boring, with a thin layer of grime on everything for some reason.

Rockstar needs to stop thinking they are capable of making a good game that is also completely 100% humorless and restricting as fuck. Still hoping L.A. Noire bombs.


I'd say that anything that genuinely comes from the heart is art. Therein, Earthbound gets to be art, so I'm happy.

Herding was a terrible part of the game I will admit, I did enjoy the hunting and exploring though. The story grabbed me and I liked almost all of the characters. There was some humor in there, especially with the crack head doctor. I don't think that LA Noire will do as well as RDR did, simply because I don't think its setting is as popular as RDR's was. I don't think it will bomb either though, also Rockstar is not a single entity, their San Diego studio made RDR, and Team Bondi is making LA Noire with Rockstar over seeing them.

Seriously, though.

Fuck herding.

How often was herding even used, like twice?

Also:
What the hell were you expecting from a game set in the Wild West? A world made of chrome and clean freaks?

YES

Twice too many.

That's no reason to call the entire game terrible though.

I'm not saying it is, but it is a valid complaint. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it until Mac brought it up. Still, I think those were the most frustrating missions in the game.

They absolutely were. I got over my inept and sudden dislike for RDR from like 2 months ago, though. It is absolutely a great game, but the flaws in it keep it from being art to me.

I adore the voice acting though.

Any game that sacrifices something because it compromises the art style immediately becomes art of its own kind.

Like how Heavy Rain sacrificed good story for forced drama?

Or how Mirrors Edge sacrificed playability for awkwardness?

Or how Alan Wake sacrificed being a game for trees?

I don't get the Heavy Rain comment as I've never played it. Why would forced drama fit better with an art style? If they were trying to make an over-the-top melodrama, then sure. At that point being what they had defined as art was more important than telling a good story.

And I thought the problem with Mirror's Edge was that it was all arty and good to play until they started putting in combat elements to please the average gamer?

EDIT: Speedy shit. Also, I'm pretty sure Alan Wake was more of an interactive movie. Not intentionally, but still deliberately. The difference being that though they didn't want it to be an interactive movie, they still wanted it to be what they had defined as a game. Which was, unfortunately, an interactive movie.

Oh I was just ripping on Heavy Rain, because Japanese porn games from a decade ago are better written interactive fiction.

Of course they are, dear. Of course they are.

"I only play them for the story, man!"

Well we didn't play fallout 1 for the graphics did we?

The gameplay, more than anything.

As previously stated, art is entirely subjective - someone could make a crappy flash game about a stickman playing basketball, and call it art. It's all up to the person.

You all seem to think I'm glorifying decade old porn games rather than deriding Heavy Rain.

Oh one piece of art I just remembered was The Dig.
It had that atmosphere...it's like the game sucks you in.

Joe watches Gundam.

Going back to something that was mentioned earlier:



(bit weird that the moon doesn't seem to move, though)

My opinion: If an unmade bed can be art, even games like Mortal Kombat can be classed as art too. :P But I think someone said that earlier in a better way than I did.

Everybody's definition of art is different - Much like everyone's definition of music (for example there are people who think the sound of traffic going along a street is music even though I wouldn't agree with them - I won't go into that though). My definition of art are objects or items that are created for the purpose of looking or sounding nice, so I don't think games themselves can be defined as art since they're made for the purpose of entertaining people, however they can have fantastic artwork inside them which can be an important part of their entertainment value.

It's like if you have a tool or a weapon with a decorative handle, I wouldn't define the tool itself as art - But I'd define the artwork on the handle as being art. I'd only define the entire tool as being art if it was made to look nice rather than to serve a practical purpose. (Hmm, this may be a bad example, though)

Flower for PS3 is a game that fits into my definition of being artwork:



There are gameplay aspects to it, and you have goals (collect petals), but it really does seem that the emphasis on the games content is on its artistic value, rather than its gameplay.

I'm jealous that Flower is on PS3, but not on 360. I really want to play it. :(

Video Games are an Artform. so many diffrent games have such in depth art styles.
Don't know if anyone has post this but an kinda obvious example of Video Games as Art.

Oddworld

Seriously, with all the consept art of the locations and the designs of the characters. its pure Art work.

Wow that is the prettiest game I've ever seen!

EDIT: Coincidentally found this article while reading for a new art game to buy, check number four, a pleasant surprise. http://www.cracked.com/blog/defendin...as-modern-art/

Portal and Ico are great examples indeed.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/wp-conte...d-equation.jpg

I felt that the game SPORE was very good, since I like creating shit, but I didn't like how there were set patterens, and you couldn't paint your own animal.
So, like, maybe with the put-together...ness of SPORE, and the paint-ability, of say, GIMP.

You might like this uber xtreem expansion coming out called DARKspore.

It's EDGY

Totally RAD broski.