Can Games Be Art?
EXCERPT: Norbert Herber, a Lecturer in the IU Telecommunications Department who has worked as a sound designer and composer for video games, finds Ebert’s criticism outdated.
“I think (Ebert) is hung up on this romantic idea of art. His conception of art is still in the 19th century, and if he were to update that, he might consider his experiences as a chess player to be somewhat of an art experience.”
“You can’t say the music is art, the visuals are art, but the story is not, or any mix like that, because the experience of playing the game that comes out of the participation is something that you as a player are directly responsible for.”
Full article by Brad Sanders: http://idsnews.com/news/weekend/story.aspx?id=77655
Since at least the time of Marcel Duchamp there has been an understanding in art circles that an artist’s intent is paramount to deciding whether something is art or not. That said, not all art is good art. Games can most definitely be considered and critiqued as art, but only if it was intended to be art in the first place. I think it is unlikely that the makers of Madden NFL will try to make a case that their games are art pieces. However, game developers like ‘thatgamecompany’ have clearly stated their intent to create video game art. In that type of case, the games should be evaluated as art and can subsequently be deemed good or bad by the highly subjective art critics. Interactivity is a characteristic of some art that is clearly lost on Ebert.