Video Games Are Not Art By Roger Ebert

The video games of today take many forms, ranging from immersive fantasy worlds, to simple point and click programs with little, to no plot. Some games aim only to demonstrate an educational concept in a fun and interactive way, while others allow the player to step out of reality and enjoy a world of their own making. It is this wide variety of game types that makes it impossible to judge "video games" as a whole. For this purpose of this essay, I will acknowledge video games as belonging to one of two camps - violent, nonviolent, or educational.

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.

The boy shows the perspective that it is possible that children his age can play these types of games. The visual appeal effectively used is pathos, and logos to grab the audience’s attention. The first appeal is shown by using emotion or pathos because this particular image can cause parents to question about their children’s interaction with violent video games. The image can cause parents to worry and be concerned about their child’s well-being and game habits. Also, the boy in the image displays that he is excited and anxious while playing this particular game. The image demonstrates logos or reason from the statistics part of this image with stated facts from CNBC of the most popular games played in

In that sense, as established in art critic Rosalind Krauss’ article “Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism,” video art embodies a psychological state rather than a material one. Video art embraces irony, and poses the question of whether the piece is making meaning or denying it. I believe the purpose of all art is to communicate something. Due to video art’s unavoidable association with television, the notion of information presentation is ever present, as television is an educational, industrial, and now, artistic platform. However, there is often an intentional failure to communicate with the viewer throughout video works because of this association with telvision. We assume we are being told something in these works, something of meaning, and we assume what we are being told is true, as one usually does when viewing a television program. Throughout video art, artists choose to either support these implications and assumptions in their work, or depict the exact

Critics against gaming could not manipulate the industries new innovations without a good argument in return. Both representatives grew side by side with the industry. Today the argument still continues of whether video games are a good method for learning or just a waste of time and a bad influence on society.

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

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

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

The video game world is full of wonders, fantasy worlds, and even real life scenarios that we see on television. There are games based off of television shows, popular movies, and even comic book universes. In David Perry’s speech and presentation, “Are Video Games Better Than Life?” he brought up a lot of points about gaming both from its humble beginnings to where we are today. However, he made it clear that the discussion was to be about the video game world. Are video games better than reality? This is a hard question with various and diverse answers. It is something that people from just about all walks of life have an opinion about. Through the use of a media presentation, he showed the diverse evolution of games; how since

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.

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

The New York Times’ critic Sam Anderson and winner of the Balakian Award for Excellence in Criticism from the National Book Critics Circle analyzed America’s love for video games in a copy of The New York Times on the 4th of April in 2012.

Do you think that someone playing a video game and someone playing football are both enjoying their favorite sport? The correct answer is no, video games are not a sport like football, basketball, baseball, etc. Video games should not be considered a sport because they can lead to bad health, they do not fit the definition of a sport, and they mostly target a younger audience.

Games Art? movie critic Roger Ebert has an opposing view on whether video games should be

Do you consider video games as a sport? Personally, when I think of sports, I think of an activity that includes running, jumping, or using any kind of exercise. Also sports have to be able to have a team that can compete. However, when people say that playing video games is a sport; i would have to say it is not, because you don´t use any kind of physical activity. According to gamers; people who are very committed to their games and who are willing to succeed in them, they think that playing games is a sport,but since you don´t use physical activity, playing games is using as much work as making a beaded necklace. Now if you think about it, there