Can Videogames Be Art? - Dissertation

'Can Videogames Be Art?
'
A brief investigation into the artistic
merit of videogames as a medium
John Appleby
________________
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of

MA Games Design
Supervisor: Josh Taylor
DE 4115
December 2010
(word count 8822)

Table of Contents
1/ Introduction
3/ What is Art?
10/ A Brief History of Videogames and their Artistic Merits
10/ Early Signs of Artistic Development
14/ Golden Age of Platformers
Artistry Evolves
17/ 3D Generation
Techniques that have been developed which prompt artistic qualities

in modern games
26/ Approaching High Art
The games that do more than simulate immersion
30/ The Future of Videogame Art

Can Videogames Be Art?
John Appleby - MA Games Design
In 2005 Rogert Ebert, a well respected movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times sparked world-
wide debate when he declared that videogames could never be considered art. He loosely
examined the definition of games as a medium and drew comparisons with other much more
highly respected forms of art such as classic painting, literature and music. In a review of his
writings, Jeremy Reimer1 suggested that “he is critical of the artistic value of the games
themselves” rather than their place among interactive art or their structure in comparison with
‘traditional’ games. Ebert responded to his criticisms earlier this year 2, posting an article which
reaffirmed his previous statements. Notably this post received in excess of 4500 comments. One
of his main arguments is that “No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game
worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets”. In this paper, I will
attempt to examine the development of videogames as an art form. I will look at the elements
which are key to giving videogames an edge which pushes them beyond the boundary of ‘just
games’ and how designers and developers are putting techniques into practice in order to move
the medium forward as it matures and supporting technology advances.
1 Reimer, J. ‘Arts Technica’ - ‘Roger Ebert says games will never be as worthy as movies’
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/11/5657.ars dated 30/11/05, viewed 9/12/10
2 Ebert, R. Chicago Sun-Times ‘Videogames can never be art’
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html
dated 16/4/10, viewed 9/12/10
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What is Art?
The absolute foundation of any kind of work which attempts to successfully tackle a question as
controversial as this should first and foremost establish the definition of ‘Art’. Through research, it
seems to be the starting point for any and all who brave it. It is interesting to note however that
generally, their definitions seem to vary drastically on both sides of the fence. The definition of art
is in and of itself a gargantuan debate that has raged since humans first started to create and one
that is arguably moving further from any kind of recognised standard as the mediums that it
encompass grow vastly in number and human beings find new and exciting ways to express
themselves.
In her presentation on the subject, Kellee Santiago3 proclaims that Wikipedia’s definition that “Art
is the product or process of deliberately arranging elements that appeals to the senses or
emotions” is one that she finds the most accurate. For a more reputable source, the Oxford online
Dictionary states that art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination,
typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated
primarily for their beauty or emotional power” 4 On a very base level then, it seems that art could
be seen to be anything man-made which evokes some kind of emotional reaction in it’s audience.
It has been suggested that most forms of art began as forms of communication. Recording
important information to be passed between people through the first cave paintings and written
words quickly evolved into something much less sterile. Varying individual perceptions led
naturally into storytelling and as our minds realised their awesome potential, we began to
3 Are Videgames Art? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9y6MYDSAww&feature=player_embedded

dates 23/3/09, viewed 9/12/10
4 Oxford Dictionaries, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/art Accessed 9/12/10
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elaborate, working to render such tales as our own while offering unique insights into events and
situations past, present and future. Art by this definition was born as soon as these expressions
stirred the thoughts and feelings of anybody outside of the creator’s own head.
Today there are countless forms of art. They range from the visual, including drawings, paintings,
photographs and sculptures to the auditory, such as music. Stories in the form of novels, plays
and poems and then hybrids of all of these forms together with the invention of cinema. It is this
diversity in make-up that causes all the confusion and difficulty when it comes to a universal
classification. Do you experience a movie in the same way you do a painting? Does a song make
the same impression as a sculpture? Modern art involves works which are even harder to define
still. A lot of it is conceptual, meaning that it can be created out of almost anything - the ‘artistic’
merit being what the piece ‘says’ to its audience.
Then comes culture. What many might view in one part of the world as artistic may be frowned
upon, ignored or laughed at in another. Even within cultures, there are all the denominations which
make up society. Class, race, religion etc. and no two people will have exactly the same values
and opinions, no matter their background. To put it simply, Art is subjective. Unlike Science or
Maths which have a logical, factual framework, Art doesn’t exist in the Universe until somebody
creates it (or points it out?) and it won’t be to everybody’s tastes. Because of this it becomes very
hard to determine what actually constitutes Art. If something moves you and you find meaning or
expression in it you would probably say it were artistic. In the same way, if something has no
effect on you whatsoever, it’s likely that you won’t value it in the same way. Much debate centred
around Ebert’s comments lay in the fact that the statements he was making could only be applied
to himself and his own views rather than medium as a whole. In response to his second article on
his website, one commenter writes “You should change your statement to "Video games can
never be art TO ME."”
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With all this in mind, I think the question itself must be addressed differently in order to reach a
more interesting and perhaps useful outcome.
There is no arguing that some people will always view games as art while some, who maybe
aren’t gripped by them in the same way may never do so without a lot of persuasion. As most of
the elements that make up a game already constitute art in some form or another, those on the
‘non-art’ side of the fence may argue that such imagery, music and narrative are created and
directed with purely commercial intentions, rendering their artistic integrity weak and
unsupported. The same here may be said for a TV advert or the branding/logo design of a
company or other commercial outlet. Some will suggest that the McDonald's ‘Golden Arches’ are
a piece of art. They were created by someone with the aim of representing a multi-national
corporation, therefore they should reflect something of it’s values and ideals. Perhaps the emblem
is a reflection of modern society - the needs and demands of the consumer? And hand-crafted
items with practical purpose may be considered in the same light. A chest of drawers for
example, have been designed by someone and while they were built to fulfil the slightly mundane
job of housing unworn clothes, it is rare to find such an item of furniture without some kind of
additional embellishment. Are the floral carvings on the arm-rests of a chair necessary to meet
the needs of the person who sits in it? Even a simple door-handle or a set of kitchen cutlery is
rarely crafted purely to suit its practical purpose. If so, the world would be a much duller place.
We customise the plain and elaborate upon it in order to brighten up our lives and these aesthetic
improvements will often hold strong connotations with their place of creation, reflecting time and
culture. While such designs don’t usually hold any deeper meaning, nor are they trying to ‘say
anything’, they may still incite a feeling in their user/audience. Be it connotations with something
else of similar design, nostalgia or a simple arousal of the senses gained by viewing or hearing
something pleasurable. If this is the case, then the various artistic contributions that make up a
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video game cannot be denied either. The sheer quantity of tailoring and effort that goes into the
2D artwork, 3D models, story, dialogue, sounds and music alone provides vast quantities of this
kind of ‘aesthetic pleasure’.
Low art vs. high art
The argument then, becomes not “can video games be considered art?” but more specifically
“can video games be good art?”. As explored, the spectrum of art forms today is huge and as
such, the term must be broken down in order to separate all the variations and the different
degrees of quality. Even those who will argue relentlessly that their shoes might be works of art
will most definitely not attempt to prove that they are of the same value as Michaelangelo’s Sistine
Chapel. Amongst the art culture of the modern age, such categorization has begun to evolve and
the term ‘high art’ is now commonly used to describe real classic works of importance and
historical value. These include not only paintings, but pieces of music (most often of the classical
genre), sculptures and when pushed, some of the great works of cinema such as ‘Citizen Kane’.
Contrasted with what may be referred to as ‘Low Art’ or ‘Popular Art’, the most elite is that which is
created by the absolute masters of any discipline, showing exemplary skill in design, craft and
execution. Additionally, High Art might be work which has significant cultural importance,
challenging, redefining or innovating in it’s chosen subject and/or field. At the opposite end of the
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scale is the popular art. The graphic design, adverts, TV-shows, theme music and pop-songs. Art
which is mass-produced to meet a demand or suit a purpose.
Blogger ‘Jabsonic’5 references “Litlove’s analysis of what makes the difference between high and
low culture:
• Low art comforts, satisfies and reassures audiences’ expectations
• High art challenges and questions audiences’ expectations”
Interestingly, in his article ‘On High Art’ 6, Lawrence Nannery states that “there is no absolute
dividing line between high and low art. In fact, in modern industrial society, low art has
disappeared and been replaced, for the most part, in adult entertainment, by what has been
called midcult“. He goes on to suggest Hollywood as an example of midcult and argues that it is
“very, very rare” for midcult works to cross over into High Art.
Video Games are very much at the centre of contemporary debate as to where they may fit on this
scale, primarily because they are such a young form of media. Perhaps given Nannery’s
definition, the majority of modern videogames might fit into the bracket of midcult? It is fairly safe
to say that when they were first introduced, they were seen purely as simple games such as
chess, ping-pong or ‘snap’ (although debate even rages over thew artistic merit of the likes of
chess, but that’s another story...). The very earliest titles lacked even the complexity of most card
games due to the limits of technology and the designers/programmers technical knowledge and
efficiency. While other media such as painting have explored many different styles and techniques
over the years in order to create new and interesting pieces, they have never been limited in the
5 Jabsonic ‘Pure example’s of high or low art’
http://jahsonic.wordpress.com/2007/01/20/pure-examples-of-‘high’-or-‘low’-art/
Dated 20/1/07, viewed 9/12/10
6 Nannery, L. ‘On High Art’
http://faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/forum/HighArt.htm
Viewed on 9/12/10
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same way as Video Games have by the tools used to create them (with the slight exception of
cinema - something I will come back to). A trained painter or musician is really only constrained
by the power of their own imagination with the costs of paints, brushes, and canvas amounting to
very little whereas Video Games designers have consistently been fighting an uphill battle as to
what they can produce, limited by the processors and software that is available to help them
realise their vision as well as a skilled team of developers and a big budget.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s, designers were still simply exploring the potential of what they
might be able to do and as the commercial appeal of the games they were making began to
increase while the costs of production and complexity of their methods gradually decreased, they
were able to explore further still, adapting and improving with each ‘generation’ of technical
hardware. Admittedly however, the evolution of Video Games has been a slow one. While
technology is improving more and more rapidly as the years go by, the fact that games are still
very complex and expensive to produce, requiring a plethora of different skills to effectively build
has meant that they are still largely commercial products. As with any other commercial industry,
creativity and experimentation can be scrutinously stifled and held back in order to make
products which will generate a guaranteed income. For this reason, atop the significant
disadvantage in time that Video Games have in comparison with other recognised art-forms, they
have always been and still are struggling to convince many that they hold anything of real value in
terms of cultural significance and importance.
This leads to another possible problem for the acceptance of Video Games. In a media that is still
so much in its infancy, there are many people who may have played Video Games at some point
very early in their development and ‘written them off’ due to their simplicity. For example, if
somebody played ‘Pong’ on it’s debut, then maybe ‘Donkey Kong’ some years later and didn’t like
them, they may well have decided from those experiences that they don’t like Video Games in
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general and as a result, avoided them ever since. Since these early games represent very little in
terms of artistic expression, be it visual, audio, narrative or interactive, such a player would find it
very hard to imagine the dramatic evolution of today’s games. They would not consider what they
know of games as art and most people wouldn’t blame them.
It would be safe to say that cinema probably encountered the same kinds of barriers but it
overcame them through years of exposure and credible works by reputable people. Since cinema
is easily accessible, once it starts to get exposure all over the world, it is hard to avoid it and this
then opens up opportunities for quality directors to prove their worth. Videogames have a
significantly larger barrier when it comes to accessibility.
Possibly because of the focus on interactivity, which does serve as a hindrance for a lot of people
due to intricate and complex controls, many simply cannot experience games with as much ease
as they can other art forms. Games take patience and skill among other qualities and they are
things that a proportion of people simply do not have the time for, nor are they interested in such
things. Anybody with a working set of eyes can view a painting and make judgement on it in an
instant, a song will last a matter of minutes and a movie a few hours but not everybody is willing to
sit through 60+ hours of a Final Fantasy game which includes a lot of learning and challenges in
order to indulge in everything it has to offer. Ebert himself has admitted that time constraints are a
major factor in his reasons for not trying out more videogames.
From a players perspective, Video Games should arguably excel in elements of story-telling
because they have so much longer to embellish their tales and the interactivity required should
immerse the audience more-so than any other art form. It is obvious that this advantage comes at
many costs. In addition to the lack of time available to play, the barrier of controls and challenges
and the commercial restrictions and limitations, the manpower and skill-levels required to put a
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Video Game together mean that often the quality of one or more of the elements that makes one
will suffer. For example, a modern AAA title may require upwards of 100 designers, developers,
artists, writers, directors, composers, technicians, programmers and testers plus a few years
development time to create a game. All these costs for production, technology, publishing and
manufacture mean that a company simply cannot afford to have the worlds leading artist,
musician, writer, director etc. all together working on one project. The idea is just unfeasible.
Because of this, it is common that at least one of the disciplines will be sub-par and this can drag
the quality of the title right down.
As an example, Grand Theft Auto IV (the best-selling game of 2008) reputedly cost over $100
million to produce with a staff of over 1000 people working for over 3 and a half years7.
Grand Theft Auto IV
7 Top 10 most expensive videogames budgets ever,

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2010/02/20/top-10-most-expensive-video-games-budgets-ever/
Dated 10/2/10, viewed on 9/12/10
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A brief history of Video Games and their artistic merits
With the vague stipulations as to what makes a Video Game a piece of art, it may be hard to
discern where and when their artistic integrity was called into question. Who first claimed that
their game, or a game that they had played was art?
Early signs of artistic development

Pong
Let’s start at the beginning. Pong was released for home use in 1975. It was more or less a virtual
on-screen translation of Ping Pong, the only details shown on screen being a pair of white
paddle’s (in the form of shapeless rectangles), the ball (a white square) and the centre line
against a plain black background. Only as an abstract interpretation of reality could one argue
that Pong's minimalist visual style was either aesthetically pleasing or artistic, but it wasn’t
designed with that purpose in mind. Pong looked the way it did because that was the best and
most effective way that it’s designer could translate what he needed to to the player. The game
wasn’t commenting on contemporary sports or trying to say anything to it’s audience - it was
simply an interactive electronic game to be played and enjoyed for it’s simplicity and use of
cutting edge technology.
Pong and Space Invaders
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Space Invaders
Space Invaders (1978) was a step-up from the simplicity of Pong. It involved guiding an avatar left
and right at the bottom of the screen in order to shoot at aliens above and avoid their incoming
return fire. While still extremely basic, the objects on screen now implemented more complicated
design than the cuboids of its predecessors. The players ‘laser cannon’ looked vaguely
reminiscent of a tank and the aliens themselves were uniquely distinguishable from one another
from row to row. While the game still only consisted of a monotone white on black, the games
principal designer and creator Tomohiro Nishikado, did put thought into a theme for the game and
worked to represent the visual elements in a specific way which wasn’t simply a translation of
something real. Notably, one of the alien designs has in recent years become something of a pop-
culture icon used to represent gaming as a whole. It is this early on in gaming’s life that the idea of
a game as art can begin to creep into question. Nishikado was restricted by the processing
capabilities of his hardware and so he could only have a certain number of pixels and colours on-
screen. He worked within these limits to produce something which communicated an idea or
feeling to his audience. Even aside from the visuals, the gameplay mechanics themselves which
could involve taking cover behind buildings to avoid attack and the tense feeling of the aliens
gaining ground and drawing ever closer (which would inevitably lead to a game over if the player
could not eliminate them first) all added to the immersive player experience. It isn’t necessarily a
‘deep’ experience, or indeed one that was intended that way, but if Nishikado’s man-made
creation, which was an expression of his own idea can move someone, then surely it deserves
some artistic recognition.
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Super Mario Bros.
Sprint forward to the mid-80’s and after what has become notorious as Video Gaming’s worst
‘crash’ in ‘83, Nintendo almost single-handedly revived the medium with ‘Super Mario Bros.’. By
this point home consoles were powerful enough to display full colour graphics and support more
complex game mechanics in order to provide a deeper and more enthralling overall experience. It
is now widely know that many of the elements which went into the design of the game and which
have since become internationally iconic, were in-fact created in such a way because of technical
limitations. Mario only has a hat, sports a large black moustache and wears white gloves because
graphical constraints meant that it was too difficult to depict hair, a mouth and arms on such a
small character model. Nevertheless, the psychedelic plumber’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto built a
narrative, a fictional world and other accompanying characters to support him in his adventure
and has gradually evolved this model now for 25 years. Among other things, the Super Mario
franchise has sported a cartoon, a movie and countless imitators. It’s artistic style set a basis for
pretty much every platformer in the years that followed and it’s musical score, composed by the
now legendary Koji Kondo, was unique, innovative and is widely recognised, the world over.
In terms of Artistic merit, Super Mario Bros was another game which set a standard in it’s medium.
The Legend of Zelda series which followed it, imagined by the very same man, adopted its puzzle
solving elements, its focus on story and characters and created an even deeper play experience.
In both games and their many homages and copycats, players really do get moved by the
interaction that they make with these onscreen sprites. Long have songs, books, paintings and
theatre depicted the classic tale of a brave knight coming to the rescue of a princess. Games
offered the opportunity for their audience to play that role. Just as the ‘limitation’ of reading words
on a page in a book means that an audience must use their imagination to flesh-out a story’s
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setting and characters, the primitive computerised depictions of fantasy characters in a game
offer the player the opportunity to conjur the rest of the world themselves and experience
something unique and meaningful. It is arguably a strong piece of art which provokes the
thoughts and the senses and thus provides a deep experience rather than spoon-feeding an idea
that will remain unchanged from person to person.
On the other hand, does Super Mario Bros. have a more meaningful underlying theme? Is it telling
us anything important? Does it have any cultural significance? Is it’s story original, deeply moving
or compelling? Has it provoked enough of an impact to move someone to change in some way?
Unfortunately the answer is probably not. Not at this stage anyway. But it was getting closer.
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Golden Age of Platformers

Artistry Evolves
Over the second half of the 80’s and right through more or less until 1994 with the arrival of Sony’s
Playstation and the first major leap from 2D graphics into 3D, developers experimented with this
model. As with any medium, titles were released with various levels of sophistication and artistic
value. Platforming games such as the Super Mario series and Sega’s rival Sonic series attained
huge popularity. Many movie tie-ins were built in the same way and there was a barrage of other
titles that copied the formula with different levels of success. This particular genre generally had
it’s main focus on gameplay, however. The visuals may have been fantastic, the characters
interesting and original and the music memorable and now for many, extremely nostalgic but it is
obvious that each production was primarily driven by commercial aspirations. It is obvious in the
common elements.
Since game designers are making products that need to be interacted with and thus understood
easily by their audience, it is in their best interests that certain fundamentals become
commonplace. This way, if a person plays a game that they enjoy, when they then come to play
another new title by a different developer, they don’t have to learn a whole new set of rules and
aims in order to enjoy it. The health bar, collectible items, lives, the method of jumping on an
enemies head to eliminate it, bonus rewards that grant new abilities, end of level boss battles.
Each of these elements can be found in almost any 80’s/90’s platformer. In the same way, control
schemes are often the same and this concept can be applied to most games from the birth of
gaming right through to present day. It has become a language unique to it’s medium that works
to create an easily enjoyable and more importantly an easily accessible experience.
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Popular Platfomers - Sonic 2, Earthworm Jim, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Rocket Knight Adventures
Other mediums that are considered art-forms suffer from the same form of repetition geared
towards big sales rather than artistic experimentation or raw expression. The Music industry
churns out numerous manufactured pop-groups that release ‘one-hit-wonders’ in order to rack up
cash sales with no interest in creating art whatsoever. Similarly Hollywood is guilty of following
trends and all too often giving the green light to a movie because it is reminiscent of another that
recently achieved big success. It is a terrible pitfall for any artistic medium and once again, the
gaming industry probably currently suffers worst because it is so much younger than the others.
In her Presentation ‘Are Video Games Art?’ whilst discussing the impact that modern media has
on our lives, thatgamecompany’s Kellee Santiago suggests that “it has become somewhat
destructive to our culture, very often honouring the completely superficial and the empty”. She
then goes on to explain how video games are in some ways, slowly breaking away from that area
as the medium expands and new opportunities are presented to new designers.
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Other genre’s such as Sports and Racing games have always attempted to simulate reality. They
have no intention of commenting on it, or rousing any emotions in their audience other than
providing a similar virtual experience to the one they are based on, at home in the living room.
Probably the first evidence of video games actually doing such a thing was provided in the form
of Role-Playing. It is a concept which has naturally evolved out of story-telling and ‘Dungeons and
Dragons’. As with most games around this period, the cream of the crop came out of Japan and
while many western designers were creating action games involving ceaseless fighting and
wanton destruction, the east were creating arguably more mature games that were very story
focused and centred around gradually earning experience and abilities in order to become
stronger and better at the game. Such titles as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy told long epic
tales involving large casts of characters. A player becomes deeply invested in the story, the world
and the characters over the course of it’s play-time, arguably more so than in any other medium
because the players actions directly effect their avatars progress and consequently the entire
plot.
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3D Generation
Techniques that have been developed which prompt artistic qualities in modern
games
An excellent prime example of the drama and emotion that can be garnered in an RPG came in
1997 with the Final Fantasy’s first 3D title on the Sony Playstation, Final Fantasy VII. In the game,
the player takes main control of Cloud Strife who finds himself wrapped up in an epic journey to
save the planet. Along the way, among other characters, he meets a girl called Aeris. At a few
points during the early hours of gameplay they converse until Cloud finds her being attacked and
has to protect her from her pursuers. Afterwards she decides to join him on his quest. On top of
conveying a growing relationship between the two through the games storyline, the designers
used Video Gaming’s unique opportunity to build an even greater bond between Aeris and Cloud
(and the player) by making her important to gameplay too.
Although you primarily control Cloud to Navigate the world and interact with its inhabitants, the
Final Fantasy series allows the player to choose a limited number of characters with witch to battle
enemies. In this particular game, you may choose 3 of a possible 9 characters, Aeris being one of
them. The more you use a character, the more experience they gain, thus ‘leveling-up’ and
learning new powers and abilities. Another way of looking at this might be that the more the player
uses a character, the more important that character becomes to players progress. Many players
will choose Aeris as part of their main fighting team (possibly guided by the story and their own
feelings about the developing relationship between her and Cloud) and they will put hours of
playtime into improving her abilities until about a third of the way through the game when the
unthinkable happens.
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In a rather unexpected twist in the plot, Aeris is killed by the games main antagonist Sephiroth.
This doesn’t happen in gameplay and there are no ‘extra-lives’ or restarts on offer because her
death plays an extremely vital role in the narrative. Not only is this a hugely moving and emotional
point in the storyline, but had the player been using Aeris up until this point, they are essentially
robbed of one of their primary assets and this adds a deeper and more personal charge to the
event. Not only has Sephiroth killed a character in the game, he has taken from you something
which you put hours of skill and patience into to obtain and now you want to get revenge, not for
the sake of the story, but for yourself. No other medium can create that intimate connection with its
audience and because of that, this particular instance has become one of gamings most
memorable moments and made Sephiroth into one of gamings most notorious villains. As a player
myself, I would rate this particular example to be as moving and engrossing as any movie I have
seen or book that I have read. The story is intricate, deep and compelling and the method by
which it is told, only serves to glorify it and make it stronger. Final Fantasy VII is constantly topping
‘Greatest Game of All Time’ lists in magazines and on websites worldwide which just goes to
show the impact it has had on many others as well.
The death of Aeris. A poignant moment in Final Fantasy VII
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While few games can claim to achieve this degree of depth of interaction, it seems that by the
time of the 2D-3D transition, whether it be through technical evolution or the maturity with which
developers were beginning to craft their works, video games were experimenting with these types
of techniques and moving closer to what most would class as respectable examples of art.
‘Doom’ was the first 3D first person shooter to achieve critical acclaim and although it was pretty
much a simple ‘run and gun’ affair with the odd puzzle thrown in and small doses of tense scares,
by the time of the Playstation, the Medal of Honour series was depicting it’s unique
representations of World War II events in significantly more effective ways. Due to the compact
disc format, designers could now incorporate much more grandiose soundtracks to their games
and include proper live-action or CGI video. The sound effects themselves also improved, along
with obvious graphical advances - all elements geared towards creating a more immersive
experience.
Although Resident Evil is often knocked for it’s terrible acting, it was one of the first games to
make use of real voice acting rather than on-screen text. Now your in-game partners could
actually talk to you, you could feel the emotion in their voices (when the acting is up to scratch!)
and the use of this was also refined with each title. The same was true of Metal Gear Solid, which
was highly story orientated and too used voice acting in gameplay and for it’s many extended cut-
scenes. MGS in fact involved a dramatically intricate plot, comparable with a thriller or action/spy
novel and once again, it’s way of offering the audience control over the actions of the main
protagonist only works to boost that feeling of intimacy and attachment that grows between the
player and the games world and it’s characters. It actually went one step further at a few points by
directly addressing the player within the context of the story.
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Whilst fighting the enemy ‘Psycho Mantis’ who supposedly harbours strong telekinetic powers, he
tells Snake that he is going to prove himself by demonstrating his abilities. A shock for a lot of
players, Psycho Mantis then goes on to read out a list of games that you - the player, have
recently been playing (in real life). Obviously rather than actually being psychic, the game simply
reads the memory card which is inserted into the Playstation, but it is quite a profound way of
connecting with the audience and while retrospectively quite humorous, at the time it can increase
the sense of danger and vulnerability that the context is trying to convey. Methods of engagement
such as this can make an experience way more deep by translating their message into something
personal that it’s audience can directly relate to.
MGS – Psycho Mantis reads your mind...
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Interestingly the outcome of the game was dependant on a particular moment that occurred
roughly half way through. Once again, in the same vein as Final Fantasy VII, MGS created a bond
with the protagonist Solid Snake’s love interest Meryl. When the two are captured and Snake is
tortured, the player must win a ‘mini-game’ which involves resisting the torture in order to save her
life. If the player succeeds, Snake will meet up with Meryl at the games conclusion but if the
player fails, Snake will find her dead. This imposes responsibility onto the player. In a movie or a
story or a painting when someone is murdered, it can have a moving emotional effect because
you can imagine the circumstances - you put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters or you
relate it to personal experiences. In such an instance as this, you actually have an influence over
the development of the story. If you want Meryl to live, you have to fight for it and if you win, you
feel a sense of achievement when you see her at the end. If you fail however, that feeling
becomes one of guilt and frustration.
So immersion is obviously a big deal in the gaming industry and something that every designer
strives for. By immersing a player in an experience, it is making that journey all the more real and
with it all the emotions and thoughts and feelings that are had will have a considerably more
lasting effect. With modern technology and 20 years of design, there are numerous ways that
designers are achieving it. Game mechanics such as those previously mentioned are a prime
example. Other elements include the improvements in visual art, music, 3D and the mastery of
combining each one in order to create moods. Some designers do this by attempting to emulate
reality as best they can whilst some do the opposite and try to create titles which look new and
original but even simulation can have artistic merit. “When a game crosses this divide of realism,
we tend to forget about the graphics altogether. We have ‘crossed over’ and accept the game as
reality. At this point, immersion becomes something that designers can measure.” 8 Are movies
and plays too not designed to emulate reality in the most convincing manner?
8 GamesTM (Imagine Publishing), issue 102, pg80 “State of the Art” Ed - Rick Porter
21
In argument against the interactive immersion theory Denis Dutton, Professor of philosophy at the
University of Canterbury, New Zealand puts forward his perspective - “Consider Shakespeare's
Othello. Why should I imagine for a moment that my having an ability to intervene in the play could
make it better? Would a happy ending - Othello and Desdemona singing a love duet, with me
seated behind them strumming a harp - be an improvement on Shakespeare?”9. While his
argument holds weight, Shakespeare never designed his stories to incorporate interactive
elements. They were created in order to be read or watched by an audience in a theatre.
Videogames on the other handed, are crafted with interactivity as their main focus right from the
offset - it’s not just an added feature tacked on in an attempt to add depth. In examples of great
games, the interactive element of gameplay is something that feels seamless and goes almost
unnoticed. When The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time tasked it’s players with playing music on
a virtual instrument as an integral part of gameplay it very successfully added to the games
immersion. You didn’t simply witness a character playing nice music with his friends, you yourself
had to learn how to play specific songs, remember them and then use them to solve puzzles and
create bonds between other characters. Importantly, such a thing is still ‘gameplay’ and may have
been created for the purposes of fun more than anything else but as an overall product, the game
benefits in it’s ability to evoke an emotional response from it’s audience by incorporating it. So
would having the ability to play this instrument removed from the game make it worse? Definitely.
Notably the user interface is another stab at immersion technique that has taken on new life in
recent years as designers look at replicating physical gestures as part of controlling their games
with Nintendo’s ‘Wii’, Microsoft’s ‘Kinect’ and Sony’s ‘Playstation Move’. Once again this is a
feature which is still very much in it’s experimental stage and whether or not videogames will
benefit from it’s presence is yet to be ascertained. With the right design and imagination, it may
9 Dutton, D ‘Can videogames be art?’ on CultureLab

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/can-video-games-be-art.html Dated 20/9/10,
viewed on 9/12/10
22
well be another move forward for the industry in creating recognised art. The game ‘Flower’ which
is regularly cited as art is an example of a game controlled purely through the gentle motion of the
controller and it does so with great success.
Top to bottom: Playstation Move, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Kinect
Simulation which is a form of immersion, is something that has always relied heavily on
customization. Nowadays it is not uncommon for players to have absolute control over almost
every aspect of their virtual adventures. Firstly they will name their character, then they will create
that avatars visual appearance choosing sex, race, build and facial features. Next they can select
clothing, perhaps weapons or items that the character will use and then even statistics relating to
the avatars skills, temperament and moral standing. Games like Black & White, Fable and Fallout
3 have incorporated what is generally now referred to as a ‘karma’ system whereby a players
actions directly effect the games world. Others in-game characters may react to you differently,
you may learn new things which effect general progress, different places may evolve in various
23
ways as a virtual economy is altered by the players spending habits. Such complex workings
within what is a highly sophisticated simulated environment may not just lead to an immersive
experience but can also be a factor of learning and indirectly lead to change within an individual.
In Fable 2 for example, a player who sticks to the rules, helps out other characters and generally
does good, positive deeds will become a hero amongst the games population. Non-player
characters (or NPC’s) will offer the player gifts as rewards for their kind, discount in their stores
and new quests will become available, fitting for these kinds of skills. On the other hand, if the
player chooses to be ‘bad’, NPC’s will avoid him/her and will be less likely to ask for help,
although other more fitting opportunities may be unlocked committing crimes or working with
villains.
Fable 2's cover art, showing the good/evil progression
24
Similarly, 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 sparked outrage in the press when it was revealed that one of
it’s missions included disguising yourself as a terrorist and massacring an airport full of innocent
civilians. People naive to the medium immediately presumed that this was some kind of sadistic
fun - that the only point of the level was to attain pleasure out of shooting people. It is an
understatement to suggest the the sophistication of the video games as a medium is drastically
underrated by a huge percentage of non-gamers the world over. The mission, called simply “No
Russian” never actually required the player to do any shooting at any point and there was even an
option to skip it because of it’s controversial content. The ‘point’ of it then was as a story-telling
device, designed to incite emotion in the audience and influence their feelings as the game
progressed. It is a pivotal moment in the plot which precipitates a full scale war and by witnessing
the trigger first hand, players may be encouraged to feel even more strongly about what they are
fighting for in the rest of the game. As with FFVII’s Sephiroth, it fuels a desire for revenge and acts
as a driving force to play on. According to publisher Activision, it’s aim was "designed to evoke
the atrocities of terrorism"10 and like any good piece of modern art, it caused widespread
controversy, being banned in more than one country.
These kinds of moral dilemmas do equate to learning experiences and although free will and
experimentation obviously come into play, their intention is to test the personality of the player and
make you ask yourself what kind of person you really are. What would you do in this situation?
Anything that prompts this kind of self-reflection and philosophising can surely be considered a
work of art? These examples are the groundwork for where video games may go and once again,
it could well be argued that this level of depth is only scratching the surface but elements such as
the ones noted here a becoming common place in more and more titles everyday and as the
medium grows in popularity, more opportunities are opened for designers to experiment.
10 Kotaku - http://kotaku.com/5392161/modern-warfare-2-features-skippable-scene-of-atrocities,
28/10/09
25
Approaching High Art

The games that do more than simulate immersion
Ico
Team Ico, released ‘Ico’ on the PS2 in 2001 and it was something quite unlike any game that had
ever been seen before. It’s focus centred around the development of the relationship between the
two central characters Ico (playable) and Yorda as he tries to help her escape from a castle within
which she has been imprisoned. While computer controlled partners in games often notoriously
become ‘burdens’ rather than actually helping the player, Ico was an exception. With very little
dialogue and quite minimalist in every way, the mechanics of the game worked to create a feeling
of mutual benefit whereby, the player would have to work with the computer in order to get past
puzzles. The gameplay worked in harmony with the story to really exaggerate this and it made for
a highly moving and emotional climax when Yorda ends up saving Ico’s life only to lose her own.
Ico leads Yorda to safety
26
Shadow of the Colossus
The same development studio made what is widely accepted as Ico’s ‘spiritual sequel’ with 2005’s
Shadow of the Colossus. Equally as revolutionary, it was more of an action game than it’s
predecessor but with a twist that set it apart from the rest. In a similar vein to Ico, SotC only
features two main characters the protagonist ‘Wander’ and the Coma induced ‘Mono’. At the
beginning of the game, you are instructed that the only way to wake Mono from her slumber is to
kill 16 giant beasts known as Colossi which roam the nearby lands. So off you set on horseback
only to find that that’s it. There are no other enemies in the entire game, no other NPC’s to interact
with and no puzzles or interactive elements as part of the landscapes. All of the interest is
focused on the Colossi. Each one is as it’s name suggest, gigantic and as a normal man, in order
to bring one of these creatures down you must learn it’s movements, navigate it’s body and find
it’s unique weak-spot The enemies become levels, puzzles and ‘bad-guys’ in and of themselves
and importantly they don’t necessarily attack Wander until he makes the first move, neither are
they doing any harm to anyone/anything else.
The extreme minimalist style of the game draws attention to the moral dilemma of what Wander
has set out to do and by eliminating any and all distractions it brings it’s focus to the forefront. In a
huge open fantastic, magical landscape in which nothing dwells besides these last seemingly
peaceful animals, is it right to kill every last one and make them extinct in order to awaken one
girl? The game is peaceful and sad and exciting and thought provoking all at once and it is
largely considered by gaming critics as an exemplary work of art. Shadow of the Colossus has a
simple message which it delivers directly and effectively and it’s experience is both enjoyable and
memorable.
27
Flower
Thatgamecompany’s Jenova Chen cites emotion as the main goal of the games that they create.
He describes the struggle that games designers are faced with when attempting to use their
medium for such a purpose: “videogames are a very young medium. The relative vocabulary in
game design for human interactions is very little compared to established media. We never had
trouble telling a music composer to make something with a precise feeling [or] an artist to create
an image or animation that communicates a certain emotion. In fact, I can picture the exact look
and sound of a particular scenario. Unfortunately, I can’t see them when it comes to gameplay
interaction design. We can only find it by trying.”11
Flower (2009) puts the player in control of a group of petals caught on a breeze. In the same way
that team Ico emphasised their message through simplicity, flower follows in a very similar vein.
The game is controlled by tilting the Playstation 3’s ‘sixaxis’ controller to influence the direction
and power of the wind. There are no specific goals, no scoring system and no way to fail. As the
petals pass nearby flowers and plants they give life to them, changing the world from dull
monotones to bright natural colours. The menu screen which depicts a single lonesome flower on
an apartment windowsill in a busy city suggests tones of nature vs. technology and the impact
that humankind is having on the environment. The gameplay itself feels like a metaphor for nature
taking the world back and strong mood and feeling of peace and calm is created through all the
combined elements of visuals, music and simplistic gameplay. With no narrative, characters or
clutter, Flower appeals to the senses and provokes the mind.
11 Chen, J. GamesTM (Imagine Publishing), issue 101, pg13 “How Many Roads Must a Man Walk
Down?” Ed - Rick Porter
28
The simplistic beauty of Flower
Braid
Jonathan Blow’s Braid was an unlikely success released independently on the Xbox Live
marketplace in 2008. It’s plot and gameplay are intertwined around the theme of time and more
specifically making mistakes and the idea of being able to go back and undo them. This is
created as a gameplay mechanic by implementing a ‘reverse-time’ button so that any accidents
that are made by the player can be undone, thus negating any fear of death and shifting focus
onto puzzle-solving. The narrative is unravelled through passages of text which hint at the main
protagonist Tim’s past and mistakes that he made with a girl that he is attempting to put right.
Again, the theme is extremely thought provoking and again it is the way that the combination of
artistic components are weaved together that makes the experience so strong and effective.
Braid has a harrowing ending which dramatizes it’s theme and arguably ranks it’s story among
some of the most provocative tales across modern media.
29
The Future of Videogame Art
“The single most exciting thing about videogames is that the technique is still evolving. Cinema,
Literature and Music continue to cannibalise their own histories - re packaging the familiar with a
knowing, nostalgic wink - but, with videogames, new ground is being broken all the time.”12
The examples offered of the most contemporary works of art are of those which have achieved
critical and in some cases commercial success. That’s not to say however that such opportunities
are only available to developers in privileged positions. With the arrival of Xbox Live Marketplace,
the Playstation Store and Apple’s iphone/ipod/ipad gaming platforms, it is becoming much easier
and cheaper for artists to put together and put out simple independently produced videogames.
There is a thriving scene for free online flash games and sophisticated development software
such as Unity has also recently become available for free to download. Indie designers are taking
great advantages of these new opportunities and artistic indie games are beginning to garner
attention.
Jason Rohrer’s ‘Passage’ (2007) was an incredibly simple 5-minute game with no goals or
objectives other than to keep walking forwards. Your avatar begins as a child and as you continue
to walk, he ages, finds a partner, gets married, grows old, watches his partner die and then
eventually dies himself. Rohrer used the interactive element of the videogame platform to convey
his idea of life and mortality and it was successful in achieving his vision. The game was released
for free download on PC and Mac over the internet.
12 GamesTM (Imagine Publishing), issue 102, pg77 “State of the Art” Ed - Rick Porter
30
‘I Wish I Were the Moon’ by Daniel Benmergui took an interesting experimental approach to
implying a theme through a simple videogame. The game includes a couple, the moon, a bird, a
boat and the stars all of which can be moved about on the screen, resulting in different
occurrences. There are 8 ‘endings’ in all, with each one being easily reached in a matter of
seconds. The goal was to explore the different possibilities of a scenario and how by altering
small features you can create big changes. In this particular instance, the situation involves a
romance and it’s fragility.
I wish I were the moon – shown above is the entire game
31
All in all, designers are getting much closer to competing with the Masters of High Art. From the
well-established multi-million dollar companies to the handfuls of creative individuals with a
knowledge for programming are experimenting constantly with the medium and finding new,
interesting and innovative ways to express themselves through videogames as a tool for
interactive expression and communication. Perhaps, right now the best of the bunch have only
reached the level of ‘midcult’ to most, but it took film the best part of 50 years to be accepted by
most as a valid form of art. Ask the majority of ‘hardcore’ gamers for their most inspiring artistic
experiences and it’s likely that you will get examples of games in abundance. They may have
began purely as a medium for play but videogames have come a long way in 20 years and even
if a games original intention was simply to entertain, if it moves it’s audience, connects with them
emotionally and provokes them to think in new ways the it has become something else entirely.
“Gaming and play bear an interesting relationship to art. Like art, play is experimental, creative,
flexible and immersive. It is done for its own sake. And like art, games can challenge and
transform us” … “The games that feel more like art tend to have qualities in common. They do not
pander to the player; they are mysterious; they feel more serious than most games; they have a
complete, holistic feeling. Such games are rarities, but they exist, and as the form evolves, just as
cinema did, more and more of them will appear.” 13 - Assistant professor of entertainment
technology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and CEO of Schell Games.
13 Schnell, J. Assistant professor of entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon

University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and CEO of Schell Games
‘Can videogames be art?’ on CultureLab http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/can-
video-games-be-art.html Dated 20/9/10, viewed on 9/12/10
32
Sources and Referencing
Games (in chronological order)
Pong
1972, Atari Inc.
Donkey Kong
1981, Nintendo
Grand Theft Auto IV

2008, Rockstar
Space Invaders
1978, Midway
Super Mario Bros.

1985, Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda

1986, Nintendo
Sonic the Hedgehog

1991, Sega
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior)

1986, Enix/Nintendo
Final Fantasy
1987, Square
Final Fantasy VII

1997, Square
Doom
1993, id Software
Medal of Honor
1999, EA
Resident Evil
1996, Capcom
Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action

1998, Konami
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1998, Nintendo
Black & White

2001, EA
Fable 2
2008, Microsoft Game Studios
Fallout 3
2008, Bethesda Softworks
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

2009, Activision
Ico
2001, Sony Computer Entertainment

Flower
Braid
2008, Microsoft Game Studios
Passage
2007, Jason Rohrer
I Wish I Were the Moon

2008, Daniel Benmergui
Images (in chronological order)
Ronal McDonald
http://timmygotsoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ronald-mcdonald.jpg
Sistine Chapel
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/God2-Sistine_Chapel.png
Grand Theft Auto IV

http://www.hypebeast.com/image/2008/04/grand-theft-auto-iv-1.jpg
Pong
http://www.ventrice.com/tony/images/professional/social/pong.png
Space Invaders
http://lookforitoverhere.com/wp-content/uploads/space-invaders.jpg
Mario
http://adiumxtras.com/images/thumbs/super_mario_bros_1_12304_4879_thumb.png
Super Mario bros. 3

http://ui22.gamefaqs.com/789/gfs_24375_2_2.jpg
Sonic 2
http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/sonic-the-hedgehog-
2/screenshots/gameShotId,26976/
Rocket Knight Adventures

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376071&page=5
Earthworm Jim
http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/earthworm-jim/screenshots/gameShotId,37594/
FF7
http://gamingdead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/28956-AerisDeath1-430x301.jpg
http://www.mrarmageddon.com/municipal/wtf_images/ff7.jpg
MGS1
http://i44.tinypic.com/11boftk.jpg
Motion Control
http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk/media/2010/07/kinect-move-interest-low.jpg
Fable 2
http://www.auroradark.com/JoChen/images/Fab2.jpg
Ico
http://img184.imageshack.us/i/ico26qy.jpg/

http://turbo.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/09/shadow-of-the-colossus-top.jpg
Flower
http://awmusic.ca/1/photos//flower-game-screenshot-17-400x224.jpg
I wish I were the moon
http://ludomancy.com/files/moon2.png
Magazines
Games TM, Imagine Publishing 2009/10

Issues 76-103
Directly Referenced:
Issue 102, pg77 “State of the Art” Ed - Rick Porter
Chen, J. Issue 101, pg13 “How Many Roads Must a Man Walk Down?” Ed - Rick Porter
Books
'Video Games and Art', Clarke, A., Mitchell, G.Intellect Ltd. 2007
Websites & Journals (Alphabetical, all accessed 9/12/10 latest)
Computerandvideogames.com
Gameinformer.com
Gamespot.com
IGN.com
Kotaku.com
Specifically:
CultureLab 'Can Videosgames be Art?'

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/can-video-games-be-art.html
Digital Battle 'Top 10 most expensive video games budgets ever'

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2010/02/20/top-10-most-expensive-video-games-budgets-ever/
Jabsonic 'Pure examples of ‘high’ or ‘low’ art'

http://jahsonic.wordpress.com/2007/01/20/pure-examples-of-‘high’-or-‘low’-art/
Joho The Blog 'Can Videosgames be Art?'

http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2010/04/19/can-video-games-be-art/
'On High Art' Lawrence Nannery

http://faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/forum/HighArt.htm
Talking Philosophy 'Can Videosgames be Art?'

http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=1741
Teen Ink 'Can Videosgames be Art?'

http://www.teenink.com/opinion/sports_hobbies/article/111833/Can-Video-Games-Be-Art/
Video games can never be art - Roger Ebert's Journal

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html

Can Videogames Be Art? - Dissertation

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'Can Videogames Be Art?

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of

Supervisor: Josh Taylor

(word count 8822)

10/ A Brief History of Videogames and their Artistic Merits

10/ Early Signs of Artistic Development

14/ Golden Age of Platformers

Techniques that have been developed which prompt artistic qualities

26/ Approaching High Art

The games that do more than simulate immersion

30/ The Future of Videogame Art

the medium forward as it matures and supporting technology advances.

typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated

3 Are Videgames Art? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9y6MYDSAww&feature=player_embedded

merit being what the piece ‘says’ to its audience.

never be art TO ME."”

more interesting and perhaps useful outcome.

kind of ‘aesthetic pleasure’.

Low art vs. high art

which is mass-produced to meet a demand or suit a purpose.

• Low art comforts, satisfies and reassures audiences’ expectations

• High art challenges and questions audiences’ expectations”

terms of cultural significance and importance.

know of games as art and most people wouldn’t blame them.

significantly larger barrier when it comes to accessibility.

the quality of the title right down.

Grand Theft Auto IV

7 Top 10 most expensive videogames budgets ever,

A brief history of Video Games and their artistic merits

their game, or a game that they had played was art?

Early signs of artistic development

cutting edge technology.

Pong and Space Invaders

some artistic recognition.

Super Mario Bros.

that will remain unchanged from person to person.

Golden Age of Platformers

to create an easily enjoyable and more importantly an easily accessible experience.

(and the player) by making her important to gameplay too.

show the impact it has had on many others as well.

The death of Aeris. A poignant moment in Final Fantasy VII

directly addressing the player within the context of the story.

personal that it’s audience can directly relate to.

MGS – Psycho Mantis reads your mind...

becomes one of guilt and frustration.

seated behind them strumming a harp - be an improvement on Shakespeare?”9. While his

elements. They were created in order to be read or watched by an audience in a theatre.

9 Dutton, D ‘Can videogames be art?’ on CultureLab

controller and it does so with great success.

Top to bottom: Playstation Move, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Kinect

Fable 2's cover art, showing the good/evil progression

controversy, being banned in more than one country.

Approaching High Art

Ico leads Yorda to safety

Shadow of the Colossus

they doing any harm to anyone/anything else.

interaction design. We can only find it by trying.”11

clutter, Flower appeals to the senses and provokes the mind.

The simplistic beauty of Flower

created as a gameplay mechanic by implementing a ‘reverse-time’ button so that any accidents

some of the most provocative tales across modern media.

The Future of Videogame Art

for free download on PC and Mac over the internet.