The Atlantic Analysis

Aaron Smutz, a philosophy professor at Rhode Island College, in his rhetorical essay “Are Video Games Art?” asserts that video games are indeed art. He first puts forward three critically well-received games to be considered art, then determines what can be used to determine art by considering “sister media” like art and music as well as competition such as chess, football or ice-skating. After establishing an “informal” definition of art, Smutz comes to conclude that since the games he provided cover several facets of game-types and since those games can reasonably fall into the definitions provided of art, then most video games should be considered art. Smutz forms his essay in order to explore the artistic merit of games. Smutz also writes

The "are video games art?" debate has been ongoing for as long as I can remember but it has roared to life recently. Last month, an American film critic by the name of Roger Ebert stated in an article suggesting that video games "can never be art''. And in terms of our own local culture, an Australian film critic Lynden Barber ran a similar argument in an Australian paper. Tens of thousands of blog posts, comments, articles began to argue each other’s points as to why video games should be considered art or not. And it would be fair to say that there hasn't been a lot of movement between the opposing views, with both sides assuming they are more than right.

Using persuasive writing, Wright begins to influence his audience that game play is a beneficial source of entertainment not a wasteful one. Playing video games increases creatively, self esteem and improve problem solving skills of the players. Video games are becoming test runs that appear or feel close to the real thing. Where you can control everything with added effects like magic or future technology. Games have the potential to exceed almost all other forms of entertainment media. They tell stories, play music, challenge us, allow us to instantly communicate and interact with others. Encourage us to create things, connect us to new communities, and let us play with people across the world. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently tangible. According to Wright young children spend their days in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make believe into the real world that they are just beginning to explore and understand. Wright states that games are the result of imagination and that they consist of rules and goals. Generation of teenagers has grown up with different set of games. Teenagers use the scientific method rather than reading the manual first. Games today maybe a person’s only place to express a high-level of creativity and growth. Older generations have a lot of criticisms for games, the games can help a person learn to think on his or her own.

This shows the wide verity of this game which adds more to the reason why this game is magnificent. You might ask how this information applies to his thesis: “Why video games matter?” All of this information provides logical facts that interest gamers around the world. The game provides a traditional narrative that allows for an experience framed in terms of wandering and lonesomeness, a purpose that is needed.

Although Ebert did not engage with the issue again and his view remains mired in controversy, the notion that video games are ineligible to be considered fine art due to their commercial appeal and structure as choice-driven narratives has proved persuasive for many including video game luminary Brian

Normally when one thinks about observing a creative activity they immediately think of sports or the arts, their mind being flooded with images of dancers gliding across a stage, painters swiping their brush across a canvas, or strong-abled bodies dribbling a ball down a field. All of these activities are undoubtedly creative, but as American society has grown and changed with advancing technology, so has the way people are able to engage in creative processes and events. In the last fifty years, the gaming world has exploded, bringing with it a new form of creativity. From electronic gaming to board games and live action role playing games (RPG), these new forms of competitive entertainment have been laying the foundations for a new outlet of creativity.

Tom Bissell presents an article in 2010, to college students of which is “Why Video Games Matter.” Bissell isn’t intending for the argument to be about video game criticism, the history of the gaming, or an assessment of anything. On the contrary, he wants to articulate his own opinions and thoughts on what playing games feels like, why he plays them, and the questions they make him think about. Being a gamer myself, I have also endured the struggles of what being obsessed with a video game feels like. It is understood that when first purchasing a video game, all one thinks about is getting home and popping it in the console, disregarding everything else that is happening in the vicinity.

Specific Purpose: To introduce Dan Houser. Dan will be giving his view on whether or not games can be art.

Shouldn’t this generation be required to play Pac-Man, Asteroids, Galaga, Centipede Pit Fall or Frogger before they get to play Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto or Halo? The games these days have real life graphics and by some can be considered offensive and too graphic, having an (EC) early childhood to (AO) an adult only rating (Entertainment Software Rating Board). Games went from being a nice hobby to a young kid to the average gamer now being an average age of 34 years old. The popularity of game usage is detrimental to the American society, changing our nation to

Wright is not so much attempting to convince his audience by weighing the positive aspects of video games on society against the detriments, as he is presenting them a vision of the possibilities of video games. Wright presents an intriguing claim and an effective argument through his own credibility, friendly tone, choice of words, and use of analogies and emotionally potent imagery, causing readers to ponder the positive impact of video games on society. Summary

Video game design is not just playing video games, a lot of stress and hard work is involved.

The game seeks to trick us for a time into abandoning what is real (home) and focus on what is inside our monitors and T.V.s. Baudrillard spoke on the process of a simulated reality in a multi-step process. “In the first case, the image is a good appearance – representation is of the sacramental order.” This can be related to the early days of video games when they used cathode ray tubes to project pixelated images onto a curved glass scene. Video games where very new, and exciting. “In the second, it is an evil appearance – it is of the order of maleficence. This can be related to games starting about 15 years ago till today. Video games were and still are thought to be a source of violence in people. Many view them as a waste of time and that they detriment a person. Though this mentality is starting to fade as we shift towards the third order “In the third, it plays at being an appearance – it is of the order of sorcery”. Technology is starting to advance to the point that anyone without training in the field cannot understand what is going on. As myths about video games negative appearance are being debunked or confirmed their negative aspects are getting swallowed up by the more exciting advancements in the fields. “In the fourth, it is no longer of the order of appearances but of simulation.” At this level the video game stops being a game, and starts to become a part of everyday life (home). For as much as some may dedicate their whole lives to games, in the

Rhetorical Analysis 1 The critical article “Video games can never be art” was written by Roger Ebert, who was a famous American film critic. Ebert was a very popular and well celebrated journalist and film critic in his field. He was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, which is the highest honor in journalism (rogerebert.com and Wikipedia). This article is about Roger Ebert’s critical analysis of Kellee Santiago, a professional video game designer, presentation about video games as already being a form of art.

So by playing video games you learn how to analyze each choice you make to see if the overall outcome is beneficial. He also states that many videogames now allow it players to “build, design, and populate”. This gives the gamer the ability to be creative and expand their mind. “Dream Machine” all in all defends the use of videogames by stating the favorable characteristics of gaming - “creativity, community, self-esteem, problem-solving”. The author uses his authority and knowledge of video games to display a position towards video games that most people have never seen before.

Video games are highly designed with artistic expression in the digital world. There is a