I posted news from this interview with the AP. It was when he was talking about putting the DS in schools. He said the thing about not calling games art because he was getting the BAFTA fellowship. It put him in the same league as Hitchcock and Kubrick, and he was very politely denying that he's as amazing as they are.

Yeah, while I can see the artistic achievements in style, music, and graphics on many games, I'd never classify video games as anything but an Entertainment option. Same as movies, sporting events, board games, etc.

I think level design itself is one of my favorite art forms. You're basically sculpting in digital space. It's just not reasonable to go around building giant badass mazes and death traps all over the world, so we put them in games instead.

I would argue the high point of game design IS art.  If it has a level of beauty in its design, and is able to communicate a message, then it can be art.  The boardgame Monopoly, for example, had its origins as a political tool to look at the excesses of landlords by having players be one.

Now, are all videogames art?  No they aren't.  Not all drawings can be considered art either.

The definition of "what is art" is controversial in of itself so its all debatable. Video games have art in them of course but their sole purpose is to entertain so video games are "entertainment " first and foremost. Miyamoto is right and its no surprise really since hes been one of the most successful if not THE most successful VG creator in history he should know how to define his job and what hes doing. He always said this anyway so its nothing new.

The Ghost of RubangB said: This is the man who convinced me that video games ARE art. He will never change my mind. I think this should be hanging in a museum:

I still find it funny, that developers developed games no differently then i pretended to develop games as a kid.  I've got to have stacks of papers just like that one at my house.

Kasz216 said: The Ghost of RubangB said: This is the man who convinced me that video games ARE art. He will never change my mind. I think this should be hanging in a museum: I still find it funny, that developers developed games no differently then i pretended to develop games as a kid.  I've got to have stacks of papers just like that one at my house.

I was all about drawing maps with traps everywhere, and original skull castles for Dr. Wily.  I'd tape several sheets of paper together so I could have underground caves, volcanoes, an island fortress, an underwater fortress, and something on the moon.  Every time.

I wish I still had any of them.

Wow, there. I strongly disagree.

Maybe in the 8-bit era this kind of discussion was not held at all (I was too young to remember or to even ask me about this stuff, but so did gaming). Nevertheless, in the 16-bit era it came quite clear to me that Video Games where a form of art. The Legend of Zelda, for god's sake, that was GENIOUS. It succesfuly created an atmosphere, with its music, with its story, with its landscape. So did a bunch of games. They were different than (not better, just different) than playing football or basketball with my mates. They took me to a place where the "artist" intended me to go to. As long as I played, I was re-creating the world inside myself. That's what art is all about.
So, wheter someone prefers to adress to the object of his hobby as an artistic object or not, that is not my problem. Respect, nontheless, my word when I say that I think of my games as objects that accomplish the "artist proposes - subject recreates" process involved in every artistic experience. It goes far beyond ICO team. It is a characteristic of the medium.