Roger Ebert says video games can never be art

[Zucas]

SaviorX said:

Zucas said:
Well by academic terms he's probably right, although I'm not ones to make truth claims so I won't say gaming can "never be art". But the way he presented it and how he gave his examples to fuel his argument, it's actually quite good. For someone I always seem to disagree with on his reviews of movies, I must say this was a well thought out and fair analysis of the game industry. Wasn't a movies are better than games argument or anything like that, but simply asserting something that if you think about, makes a lot of sense.

But as some have already stated and Ebert gets as well, even if it can't be technically called art, it doesn't bring down the value of the video game industry or development process at all. Things can be amazing and wonderful just like art in their own way, and after 12 years of playing video games I know that to be true.

I read his opinion; I can't say he was wrong.

Then again, not many of us really know what art is. I figure it must an educated revelation. I could not care less if gaming is somehow declared art, and boxarts are placed and museums and stuff, so him thinking that all gamers want it to be considered art is a little presumptuous. 99.9% don't care haha.

However, if there were any games I could consider art simply for the emotions they impressed upon me......it would take 15 years of gaming to come up with two: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Shadows of the Colossus. Zelda only because the world was "masterfully crafted" and the story was good. Basic I know, but in movies (not like I want to compare, but whatever) like Lord of The Rings, the atmosphere and narrative make it great. The actual game of OOT is all in the exploration and musical integration.

Shadows......any game that could actually make me feel guilt to the point of discontinuing play is good enough for me. On Hard Mode, the amount of stabbing it took to  kill an innocent creature in an unwarranted manner was actually too much for me - I had to quit and do something else. The sense of awe from the scope of things, the great music, and the innovative lack of hundreds of enemies put if over the top.

Every other game I've played is mindless compared to these two.

My view of art may be subjective and basic, but no one person has the true definition of art is. I do agree with Ebert 95% though.

And that's a fair assessment.  Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and while some of the games I truely love may not be art by academic standards, I'd still call it quite the marvel.