Are video games your favorite artistic medium? Why or why not?

[Cosmic Voyager]

I've always loved gaming as a fun hobby, but I think it was over the course of this past gen that I truly came to love video games as an artistic medium, especially as I've gotten more insight into the process of game development. Perhaps to the point that they're my favorite artistic medium at this point (a spot that was previously occupied by literature).

There's something really magical to me about the multi-disciplinary nature of game dev. A masterful painting comes down to a single artist operating at the top of their game. A masterful song (from a band) comes down to a handful of musicians and songwriters operating at the top of their game simultaneously. A masterful game requires animators, writers, voice actors, directors, character/environmental artists, musicians, etc. to all be operating at the top of their game simultaneously.

The level of coordination needed to produce a game, let alone a good or great game, blows me away and increases my appreciation for gaming as a whole.

The other aspect of video games as a medium that I really adore is how flexible and versatile they are, which allows for much greater variety in experiences. From crazy experimental indie games like Fez, where you're solving 3D puzzles in a 2D environment, to interactive narratives like Life is Strange where you're basically watching a show while influencing its outcome, to VR games that provide an unprecedented level of interaction and immersion, and beyond.

I'm curious how you guys feel about gaming as an artistic medium and where it ranks!

 

[More_Badass]

I love it as a medium, but film is my favorite. Games are still very much in their early years of mastering their medium-unique qualities and further crystalizing the possibilities of interactivity, contextualized mechanics, story through gameplay, etc.

 

[Crayon]

Heck ya. It's the one I'm most familiar with and I can't help it appreciate and critique practically every aspect of every game I play. That includes menus, gameplay systems, etc. Every component has a subtleties to it.

 

[LoadRunner]

I love games and think the technical knowledge and skill plus creativity required to make games is an art form, but actors that can turn in an emotional performance and become a character is still more impressive. As is an incredible painting or song.

I think games are the most entertaining of all the entertaining arts, but also the most shallow. That's because when the art of game production is at its worst it will cut short artistic visions for profit, something true art never does.

 

[Transistor]

Film, music, and books are higher for me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate many games as art, but the other mediums just are better at it, in my mind.

 

[Dylan]

Absolutely not.

Video games feels more like shooting hoops than it does reading a novel. Even the most well-written narrative based game I've played hasn't moved me in the same way as a really well written book or a masterfully composed piece of music.

I would love it if video games were the best way to experience art but so far I haven't experienced it this way.

 

[Dolce]

#1 is music for me and then #2 are games, yes. There's not really any other mediums that replace games for me.

 

[Angie]

I would be ok to live without video games, but it would be hard for me to abdicate of music in my life.

 

[ClamBuster]

not in the slightest

cinema music and literature (and sport) all put gaming way down the pecking order

 

[shaneo632]

Nah, the storytelling is generally incredibly inferior to even just good movies and books, let alone the best they have to offer.

 

[justiceiro]

Definetily not. Most if the time, the nature of games work against the artistic aspects of it. You don't want a good game to end, ever. You want to keep playing perpetually if the mechanics feels good

Meanwhile, every piece of art I fully enjoyed had a well defined start and end.

That's why video games sequels suffer so much, because the mechanics are polished, but the history, ost and art feels derivative.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Yes, because they are interactive and more immersive than anything else.

 

[Kurtikeya]

It's still poetry, though I love all lit. No other form is as vulnerable and as attentive as it is. Games are either too long or I fiddle around too much for the artistic element to truly be felt. Like, in Bioshock for example, the game is clearly signaling that I'm at a crucial point but I can't take it all in because there are audio diaries to collect.

 

[flashman92]

Games are something I play for fun. Music is something that is basically a necessary part of life, even if it's just on in the back ground

 

[Elfgore]

Not yet. I don't think a video game has ever outdone the best album, show, movie, or book I've done whatever with. Could always get there though!

 

[Het_Nkik]

I love video games and definitely spend the most time with them over any other medium, and I feel that they're interactive nature makes them the best at certain genres (such as horror).

But overall, not my favorite. First off, I feel like a lot of them are way too corporate and lack any real artistic vision (a problem I also have with a lot of big budget films). The interactivity is also a double-edged sword because it's hard to reign in a vision when the user can do whatever they want.

And also I just really like hand drawn animation because it's dope af so that's my favorite.

 

[TheOnlyJ]

I feel like games have not had the time to develop the way other media have, but Kojima, Taro, etc. are moving it forward. Waiting for our version of Bong Joon-ho or Park Chan-wook to really master the modern form.

 

[Damn Silly]

I've never put too much thought into having a favourite, but yeah, probably. If I had to prod at why, it probably comes down to its interactive nature.

 

[Goldenroad]

No. Video games are fun, but they aren't transcendent in the way that music can be for me. I'd rather play games than watch a movie or TV show, or usually even more than read a good book, but any day of the week I'd rather go see my favorite artists live in concert (all things being equal) than almost anything else I can think of to be doing with my time. I'd still take recorded music as an art-form over video games too, but live music is the best non-sexual experience that we can engage in as a species.

 

[Black Mantis]

Comes after music for me. Music just hits more on a personal level.

 

[ElCidTmax]

Games are up there, but I would put music ahead. I think I'm just wired to like music and it's a reliable dopamine rush and makes everything better.

Games can scratch a lot of the same itches as film, books, fine art. I think I find it easier to find what I like and engage with in games than in other mediums. For me it's music first, then everything else depending on my mood.

 

[Aerial51]

I think so yeah, but i also believe they aren't even close to reach their full potential and part of that is because Videogame Discourse is much more shallow than that of other Art forms.
I think Art is some sort of symbiotic relationship between the artists as well as the people that experience said art. Be it Fans, Critics etc.
Videogame discourse largely still evolves around checklists that are supposed to objectify the art in front of them. Things like Gameplay/Graphics/Music/Story that are all seperated from each other very often shows to me that people don't really engage in an interesting way when it comes to videogames. And maybe that's the fault of the medium itself in a way, considering that many Games are just about seperating things and creating checklists in your mind.

When you see articles from Journalists that want to critically engage with a Game, beyond those shallow things and instead analyzes the subject matter at hand many people laugh at that.

I just get mad when i still see someone talking about Naughty Dog Games and the biggest thing they latch upon and hate is a comment that usually goes like this
"The Graphics and Story is nice, but it's just a movie Game and the shooting is no fun at all" or the good ol ludonoarrative dissonance, people did those takes 8 years ago and it seems we still haven't moved on from that. Meanwhile a Vice Article that talks about the conservative ideolgy of Last of Us 2 gets largely ignored.

Essentially the discourse of other art forms can go and reach such interesting analysis in political subtext, while games discourse is still stuck at discussions that go like this "The Shotgun is just really dope man."
And i think if that doesn't change Games will never really reach their full potential.

 

[Rolento]

It's why my entire non-for-profit exists, except I work with artists to learn to use game engines as part of their practice.

 

[heathen earth]

Not even close. Books, film and music are far above video games. I could give up video games today if I really had to. Not that I would want to, but still! I would have major trouble letting go of music and books especially.

 

[Murder She Wrote]

Video games are fun but books, movies, and museums provide far more value to me.

 

[Sparks]

Absolutely not.

Video games feels more like shooting hoops than it does reading a novel. Even the most well-written narrative based game I've played hasn't moved me in the same way as a really well written book or a masterfully composed piece of music.

I would love it if video games were the best way to experience art but so far I haven't experienced it this way.

Click to shrink...

That's why it's super exciting to me, you could say the same thing about Movies at the dawn of its creation and how it was an untested medium for its time.

It's kind of why it irks me when people berate or get overly negative when a game tells a story and isn't perfect, because there isn't a comparison, every game that pushes story telling is pioneering new ways of how stories can be told. Its an iterative process that hasn't yet been mastered. We have had glimpses of story telling perfection, but it has yet to be fully achieved I feel.

Which keeps me enthralled in this medium, the untapped potential I believe far exceeds any other medium.

 

[Rendering...]

As an artistic medium, games are well behind almost everything else. Films, music, books, paintings, etc.

Between technical limitations, the need for entertaining gameplay, and the intrusion of corporate influence, you've got a medium pulled in multiple directions and held back by the tendency to imitate other forms of media. In addition, the best games from an artistic standpoint usually aren't the best games from an interactive standpoint.

The very best artistic games, IMO, use the medium's one unique facet, interactivity, as a storytelling mechanism and unifying element. The best recent example is Death Stranding, which manages to make almost all of its gameplay thematically relevant and integral to the story, at the same time as it keeps the player entertained. It's very rare for a game to so effective reduce the dissonance between gameplay and plot. Even The Last of Us is diluted by Naughty Dog's fun but very video gamey mechanics.

 

[Deleted member 49535]

Second favorite after music.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

I voted yes, but it's a bit more complicated because VR is also a medium. The two combined is what I would consider my 'favorite' as interactive storytelling combined with the presence of VR allows some real magic to happen.

 

[Dylan]

That's why it's super exciting to me, you could say the same thing about Movies at the dawn of its creation and how it was an untested medium for its time.

It's kind of why it irks me when people berate or get overly negative when a game tells a story and isn't perfect, because there isn't a comparison, every game that pushes story telling is pioneering new ways of how stories can be told. Its an iterative process that hasn't yet been mastered. We have had glimpses of story telling perfection, but it has yet to be fully achieved I feel.

Which keeps me enthralled in this medium, the untapped potential I believe far exceeds any other medium.

Click to shrink...

I see this potential in the indie space, but for games of any sizeable budget, the pressure to sell copies constantly underwhelms the ability for artists to take meaningful risks and/or to express themselves honestly. The painstaking development time/cost of games is a huge limiting factor in their ability to truly express an artist's vision. That's why I'm not quite as optimistic as you, but I wish I were.

 

[Coi]

I love video games, but music and films brings sooooooooo much more for me and my life that I can't deny it. I can totally live without games, but music and films are essential for my life and my everyday work. I basically eat and live thanks to music and video arts.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

My favorite artistic medium is films. Videogaming is my favorite pastime.

 

[GlitchyDegree]

Oh definitely. Games being interactive puts above everything else for me. I wouldn't care if I never saw another movie or TV show as long as video games exist.

 

[Pyro]

I'll say no because I can't really decide between music and video games. I'm far more interested in almost every aspect of the latter, but I could live without video games.

On the other hand, I could NOT live without music despite not really following the artistry, industry, etc. (like I do with games).

 

[____]

Music >>>>>>>>>> Visual Art/Music Videos/TV Shows (short bursts) > Video Games >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Movies>>>>> Books

 

[purseowner]

I love it as a medium, but film is my favorite. Games are still very much in their early years of mastering their medium-unique qualities and further crystalizing the possibilities of interactivity, contextualized mechanics, story through gameplay, etc.

Click to shrink...

Well this is pretty much what I was going to say.

Film is my favourite, but games have the potential to be. Too few games properly marry narrative to gameplay in a meaningful and coherent way - Undertale, for example, feels like a glimpse of what this medium can do. Excited for the future but for now it's film.

 

[Professor Beef]

I don't consider games as art, so I guess I would rank it at the bottom? TV/Film probably rank at the top for me.

 

[Sanctuary]

No, music is, followed by film and books, with video games coming in at a distant fourth.

 

[Ovaryactor]

I'm one of those people who grew up with third through fifth generations of consoles around (to initiate me) and got every generation up until this current one as I aged. Movies, Music, and Reading (and honestly, Insta for visuals, now) always reigned supreme aesthetically, but games will always be there for something ephemeral that is more about collaboration than any of those.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Music is much higher for me. Significantly higher. Then everything is unranked until video games which is more of a cute hobby than anything I take seriously or see in an artistic way.

 

[Deleted member 43552]

1. Books
2. Video Games
3. Music
4. Film
5. Television

 

[Phendrift]

Video games incorporate every other medium into them, plus game design and gameplay which I love, so easily yeah

 

[Clefargle]

Music > Video Games > Books > Film > Live Theatre

 

[Combichristoffersen]

No. I like them, but books, music and movies trump video games.

 

[Deleted member 543]

Nah, I'd put the novel first.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

I don't consider games as art, so I guess I would rank it at the bottom? TV/Film probably rank at the top for me.

Click to shrink...

If video games are not art, then neither are TV or Film.

 

[Professor Beef]

If video games are not art, then neither are TV or Film.

Click to shrink...

Video games are toys to me, not art. Expensive toys, but toys nonetheless.

 

[Boy]

For me it would be Music>Books>Movies and games will probably be last in general.

Music- feels timeless and it's something i consume daily

Books- I love reading a great story and using my imagination to conjure my own images in my head. (it's kinda like you're the director playing out the movie in your head)


Games- While fun, i don't really care all that much for them.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

Video games are toys to me, not art. Expensive toys, but toys nonetheless.

Click to shrink...

Out of curiosity where do you draw the line of what's art and not art?

I'd be interested in seeing your perspective, since I personally can't consider games as anything other than art! When you have directors directing scenes, actors giving performances, musicians composing scores, writers writing scripts, artists creating character designs & environments, etc., which are all artistic endeavors, then I can't see how the end product itself wouldn't be art.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Video games are toys to me, not art. Expensive toys, but toys nonetheless.

Click to shrink...

TV and film are also toys by the same logic.

And if you say that news, documentaries, and educational TV exists, the same can also be said for games outside of news.