When will Video Games be Treated as an Art?

A New Reality

---

When video games started to reach a broad market in the late 80s and 90s, the technological limitations of the consoles confined the enjoyment to very technical aspects. Pixels were big and blocky and everything was forced in 2-dimensions. There wasn’t much capacity for narrative and experience. Instead, everything was functionality in these simple side-scrollers, shoot-em-ups, racing games, and flat puzzles.

But now, video games have an arsenal of functions to them and are actualized to the degree where we can develop on previously ignored aspects of narrative, immersion, choice, and interpretation. Games now have self-generative environments, NPC and nature life-cycles, expansive dialogue trees, ultra-realistic renderings, responsive elements, and a ever-increasing roster of functions and designs that make them almost more experiential than our daily lives.

• Source: Abzu

Games have even become massively popular, i.e. almost half of Americans play video games regularly throughout the week. E-Sports fill more stadiums than Beyonce and professional streamers make more than your local physician or family lawyer. Videos games have developed from a waste-of-pastime to a viable career and lifestyle.

And yet, despite the fact that other modern forms of creativity have been adopted as “art forms” ( for example, the “Animated Short” category at the Oscars), video games are still only held to esteem at PAX conferences and the EoY lists of IGN and Gamespot. The aesthetic excellence of a game or its deep storytelling are only acknowledged in passing and under an all-consuming numeric 1-10 rating. It’s understandably difficult to judge games properly for their visuals when the gameplay is lacking or for their story when the game is buggy. But this convergent approach to gaming prevents it from being appreciated from multiple angles at once.

Source: Journey

Maybe we can start appreciating games at a slower pace, taking them apart bit by bit instead of slapping some digit sticker on and seeing who comes out on top.

Because of such a heavy emphasis on sales and ratings, we’re unable to fully grasp the artistic values of video games and as a result, companies are more incentivized to chase the market and are unable to explore other facets.

Rendering the Conversation

---

Art is purposely rare, its price bolstered by uniqueness and made iconic by its attachment to a creative visionary. Despite so many correlating elements, video games are the exact opposite - easily accessible and mostly obscured from any single creative genius. There’s no lure to them, no meaningful way to value its contents or components.

Maybe this can all change. Maybe independent developers will continue to experiment with different forms of game experiences. Maybe the community will rally behind new types of award ceremonies and specific honorary prizes for those who create stunning or compelling or mesmerizing games.

• Source: Inside

At this point in gaming development, we can unequivocally say video games offer that new type of immersiveness that is not found in other media. Particular with Role-Playing and Adventure genres, being able to insert a sense of agency and character overlay has never been enacted before in movies of theatre. The capacity to make decisions that can fundamentally alter the narrative according the artistic broadness of the game designers

One last thing…

---

I want to give particular gratitude to the very existence of Steemit and this community for ‘allowing’ me to write about video games. I know my account is mostly geared towards cultural development and content on Korea, but I am constantly at awe that I can be rewarded and supported by a subject that my parents and extended family members to this day are convinced is the biggest waste of time imaginable. I’ll most likely paste this gratitude at the end of every video game-related post.

Anyway, Steem/game on!