Videogames Are an Artform

Off topic a bit for this post, but relevant I think, as you shall see.

I think the ultimate argument for this perspective is the fact that this blog itself was inspired by a videogame. To me, that is the sign that art exists within the medium.

The main problem that arises is that the videogame industry itself, like the movie industry, is full of an endless pile of crap. This is the crap that rots your brain, makes your body fat, ruins your relationships... But there is, in fact, a clear methodology, an art form if you will, to making games that are stimulating.

Brain stimulation, I think, is the main draw of art. Something strikes us, whether a string of music or a shot of cinematography or a description of articulate words, that stimulates our experience, some alternative sense.

There are certain mediums that conglomerate multiple arts into one, making the art itself a proper balance of delivery, that each complements the other. This is how one might describe the art of movies, but it is also how you could as easily describe videogames.

The only thing holding back people from thinking this way, it seems, is mere prejudice. We grew up being told by society and our parents that videogames were somehow base. This is simply false, and society is finally beginning to change it's views. Scientific studies have proven that none of the videogame myths about brain rot or obesity are true. Let's face it guys, how our body develops is based on LIFESTYLE choices, not whether or not we play Halo.

If videogames are an artform, how are they so? What should I compare them to? Ironically, I thinking the closest artform to videogames are not movies, but books.

Movies are an extension of theater. Both artforms are presentational, meant to be observed, with the main goal being the immersion of the 'audience' into the 'performance'. Perhaps even, the audience will project itself ONTO the character onstage or onscreen.

Books are almost entirely reliant on the reader. The words are merely tools of communication, but it is the reader that creates the experience. Whether or not that experience is effective has somewhat to do with the effort of the reader to participate. You can probably see where I'm going with this. Videogames are 'played' (and for the record, we're talking about solitary experiences, not multiplayer games, which have more in common with traditional types of games). Being played, they are entirely reliant on the 'player' for the experience to come about. But unlike books, the player is not only initiating the experience, he is also a DETERMINANT for that experience, meaning that the experience is unique to the individual that plays.

The art then, is not merely in presentation (the limits of movies), but in the variety of the experience as well.

The original Super Mario Bros. is commonly used as an example of a quintessentially perfect game. It simultaneously limits the player in what he/she can do, but also provides the player with a variety of discoveries and choices. You can run through a level, jump to hit blocks, jump on enemies or avoid them, choose whether or not to take secrets, all within a presentation that is phenomenally precise, practical, and everything with purpose.

If the medium itself has a level of artistic theory, then why can a videogame not be more than that? Why can a videogame not inspire you as easily as a movie or song? The reality is that it CAN and it HAS already, but very few people know this or have even played the games that have.

The potential is very great, but the question is, when will THE videogame that establishes the legitimacy of an artform occur? I think it already has, but cultural prejudices have prevented it, but perhaps in the era of blockbusters the world is looking for that blockbuster. We'll see when that happens.

One last thing, why am I posting about this? This is the main point: that videogames, more than any other artform, have the ability to allow us to teach OURSELVES about OURSELVES. The player itself is an artist. In other words, videogames at its core are an exercise in self-exploration, kind of like this blog and blogs like it. With blogs, we try to communicate to others our own experience and allow others to interact with it. You might call the blogger the "designer" and the readers the "players". ;-)