The Atlantic Analysis

lot of controversy in the video game industry, but there are very few reasons to back up the

Video games are a profound art form, incorporating trades and mediums that span the artistic spectrum and beyond. To refute this is to ignore decades of rich history, disregard hours of artful labor, and discredit the immeasurable devotion of many whom worked to perfect this art form. Although video games may not suit every individual’s tastes, one cannot claim with credibility they possess no artistic merit.

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.

“In books, everything is laid before you,” he says. “There is nothing left for you to discover. Video games are the only forms of artistic expression that allow the authoritative voice of the author to remain true while allowing the observer to explore and experiment.” This is especially true when looking at older creations, when the graphics and narratives were limited by the current technology, forcing players to draw heavily from their imaginations, becoming what Melissinos calls the game’s “third voice,” the first voice being the designer of the game, and the second voice being the mechanics of the game itself (Tucker).

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

In the article “Art Form For The Digital Age,” by Henry Jenkins, Jenkins elaborates on the ever expanding video game industry and cites that it is now being considered a digital art. The gaming industry is also said to be the form of art in today’s economy that has grown the most.

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.

Ebert's essay was strongly criticized by the gaming community,[23][24][25] including Santiago herself, who believes that video games as artistic media are only at their infancy, similar to prehistoric cave paintings of the past.[26] Ebert later amended his comments in 2010, conceding that games may indeed be art in a non-traditional sense, that he had enjoyed playing Cosmology of Kyoto, and addressing some replies to his original arguments.[27]

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.

The author of this essay, is not intending to persuade the reader to feel a type of way. What he is expressing ideally are his opinions on said games. Yet, one is somewhat persuaded, because of how he speaks, clarifies, and uses rhetoric in his writing. It really makes someone want to stop what they are doing and get on the nearest gaming system. In fact, it is consolidating to know that he isn’t characterizing the game as just a game, but an aesthetic and an art. Tom Bissell questions himself, “To what part of me do games speak, and on which frequency (361)?” We all would like to know the answer to this question, because there have been so many games, some good and some awful. However, we as a world continue to try and try again. Some of the appeals that Bissell uses in his argument were emotional and descriptive. Basically, in the entire article he described to the audience in intimate detail the world of

Video games have shaped the world your years. Video games have defined us and made us through technology. Some would say they can’t live without video games while others say they would die if they played them. Video games also start franchises, wars, friendships, relationships, and inspiration for those who might one day become a game designer them self. Aside from the gamers and designers, the video game itself is a whole other story. Video games are now-a-days played on consoles and PCs made from the hardware with all the components from it needs to send signals and what not. There is also the code within the video games, one simple action you take in a video game can be maybe 3 to 20 pages worth of code. The creation of video game also have a really cool history as well.

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

Video games have become a key element of popular culture, because they have attracted players from many different cultures and age groups. Video games have come a long way since Pong and Spacewar. Since the first video games, there have been innovations in this industry nearly every year, always striving to defy the impossible. Today, the newest generation of gaming consoles are extremely powerful, and with this comes the ability to make games that are increasingly realistic and advanced. Because of this advancement in video game technology, video game genres have expanded to include racing, shooting, adventure, horror, and so many more. Many of the games today even feature a historical element. To the outside viewer, it may seem as if these

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

In “Do Video Games Kill”, Karen Sternheimer does an excellent job in supporting Wright's views of video games not being destructive. As stated earlier, many people, especially elders tend to view games as violent, childish, and hurtful to society. This reason being because of media news portals, “The two boys apparently responsible for the massacre in Littleton, Colo. Last week were, among many other things, accomplished players of the ultraviolet video game, Doom” (Sternheimer). Many reports and articles have been written linking violent games to the being the cause of teens mass shootings. However, Sternheimer rebuts the studies by looking at the sources of research being presented to the media as “credible”. Many studies done have “linked” violent games to the shooters aggression, but they fail to state all factors such as “poverty, neighborhood instability, unemployment, and even family violence…” (Sternheimer). All these factors are never presented when researching the cause of the boys