Are Video Games Art?

I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember, so when Roger Ebert came out a few years ago and claimed “video games can never be art,” I was one of the many who voiced their objections. Are video games art? The answer is a resounding “yes.” In fact, I believe the time I’ve spent with Chrono, Cloud, Andrew Ryan, Ethan Mars and countless other characters not only falls into the category of “art,” I believe it is the very definition of art in the digital age.

As a fellow student and lover of films, I respect Roger Ebert. I may not always agree with his critiques and reviews, but I usually understand where he’s coming from. I’ve been unable to reconcile myself with his statement about video games, however.

His primary argument is that video games cannot be art because video games creators, themselves, are not artists. He then concedes that cave painters “were great artists at that time, geniuses with nothing to build on, and were not in the process of becoming Michelangelo or anyone else.” So, his argument is predicated on the fact that simply because video game creators are creating video games they, by definition, cannot be artists.

I expected more from a comrade in the realm of film studies.

Were the works of the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès or Charles Pathé considered art during their lifetime?

By and large, the answer is no.

Today, however, these names are brought up in discussions about art and artists because of their contributions to the film medium, and rightfully so. So, how can a person who studies film and its history overlook the fact that the position he is taking on the video game medium is the very position taken by objectors to the film as art argument in the early 20^th century? It boggles the mind.

Add to this the fact that the teams of artists behind today’s video games very closely resemble the teams of artists behind today’s films and it becomes clear that his argument is a hollow one. The writers, visual artists, directors and even programmers who create the scripts, concept drawings and 3D models, and frame the individual shots for a video game are considered artists, are they not?

And the scripts, drawings, models and shots they create are considered art, are they not?

If we accept that these individuals are artists and the scripts, concept drawings, 3D models and individually framed shots they create are considered art, how can the end product, which is greater than a sum of these parts, be considered anything other than art?

The simple answer is it can’t.

What do you think Studio 602ers? Are video games art? Sound off in the comments section below!