This may be an instant “yes” for some of you, but there are actual proponents to this idea of video games being an art form, separate no less.
Arguments include (non-exhaustive list):
- Video games are just combinations of previously established art forms (music, fictional prose, visual art, etc…)
- Certain video games (think Pong and Tetris) weren’t made for the purpose of being “artistic”.
- Because video games are interactive, this positions video games outside of the area of the arts. No other types of art comes close to this level of interactivity.
- Video games (especially mass-marketed ones), regardless of their nature, are not recognized as art for as long as the purpose is solely for financial gain, which is the norm nowadays.
Personally, I believe that video games are flexible enough to possess unlimited art forms, ranging from being creatively artistic and visually stunning (e.g. Journey [2012]) to being only a tech demo or both, since they are an amalgamation of previously established art forms.
To make this discussion productive, I’d suggest approaching these arguments with an open-mind and/or coming up with an opinion supported by some video game example (note, this is only a mere suggestion).
EDIT: Just to be clear, the counter-arguments list above are NOT my take on the matter. They’re loosely taken from several sources, including an IRL discussion w/ a friend and articles online, e.g. Games aren’t art, says Kojima.
For me, art is a way to communicate in interesting ways via a medium. Video games are clearly able to do it. I’m thinking of Outer Wilds for example. Everything in the game from the music, the main menu picture, the gameplay, the way the worlds interacts with and without you… All thoses elements are combined to convey the same thing, the same feeling about life and the universe. Art is a value judgement. If you don’t find it interesting or complexe enough you will disregard it.
Also regarding the arguments you shared, I do not buy them (obviously ^^`)
- Video games is just other arts combined. Yes, and movies is just acting, photography and music. So with this argument, cinema isn’t art? Plus: it’s wrong, because games are defined by their interactivity, that no other art form share with it.
- Some games are not made to be art. The pornographic movie I watched yesterday was also not made to be art. So with this argument, cinema isn’t art?
- Some games are made just to make money. Like Marvel movies? So with this argument, cinema isn’t art?
- Games are way more interactive than any other art. Ok and? Why having something unique makes it not be art? In contrary, it should be considered as art because he can express things like nothing else.
