Videogames as art

I've wanted to write about this for quite a while, but a few recent events have spurred this post.

Without attempting to argue specifically what constitutes the various forms of art, I think videogames are quite possibly the most modern medium. It is not uncommon for those in the graphic art field to transition to being texture artists or interface designers. Texture artists are effectively statue painters - if those have ever existed corporeally - and I have a tremendous amount of respect for these people. Being able to take a plain-grey textureless object and make it lifelike is a very difficult and time consuming process.

The question to me, then, is where is the line drawn? Who on the development team of a videogame is not an artist? Even I wouldn't be so bold as to claim that the management team or HR staff deserves this title, but surely those story writers and anyone generally making creative decisions.

I'll be the first, though, to ask - are programmers artists? Does modeling human (or other) behavior qualify as art? What about interface programmers? Is simply working on a creative team a qualification for being an artist? I am too involved to answer this question with no bias, but maybe the comments can take that on, though I can say that although my current project only deals with statistics and has almost no visual properties, I do think of myself as crafting something in a field (programming) that will in general, at some point, be considered a field of art in the same way that writing a novel is considered.

Here's one question that comes up eventually: What is an 'artistic' game? Arguably on a micro view, the individuals working on a game can be considered artists. But, what games are genuinely deserving of being called art as a whole? To illustrate this, consider Madden 2010. Madden is a series of videogames that emulates the (American) National Football League to the T. It is quite possibly the most complicated videogame in existence with hundreds of plays to call, and gameplay features I'm sure I don't even know about. One intoxicated night, we were unable to simply initiate a game - the interface leaves something to be desired (though it may be a safeguard from allowing those that are too intoxicated from actually playing). I encourage those who have not been exposed to this game to give it a look, as the visuals are pretty superb.

However, I bring up this specific game because of its *ahem* un-artistic qualities. The Madden series is released on an annual basis to reflect the changes in the NFL - player swaps, new stadiums etc. - much in the same way that a magazine is released. Additionally, for reasons that I won't support here because of their anti-capitalist didactic nature, EA is probably the least artistically free videogame company around. They release Madden probably more for the fact that each year they have a guaranteed seller - selling upwards of 4 million copies in recent editions.

Speaking specifically about the Madden series, does the financial premise for producing it, its rigid simulation of an existing system, and its repeated release disqualify it from being considered artistic?

I think it's interesting that society generally disregards games as being childish and uncreative. It's an unfortunate trait that most are manufactured to be sold to individuals who are incapable of understanding the artistic capabilities of the systems they enjoy. This of course results in a widespread objectification of women (I won't argue that, alm) and generally a dumbing down of culturally relevant material. You're more likely to encounter an explosion in a videogame than an accurate portrayal of modern life. Pointedly, even The Sims enables irreverently unrealistic possibilities such as becoming President, or an astronaut.

You've probably realized that I've formulated opinions of most of these questions already. So, in support of what I believe is an artistic videogame, I provide a truncated list of my favorite artistic videogames, all of which I recommend you survey them if only to get an idea of what they (and I) are trying to convey:

•The Myst series of games (Myst, Riven, Exile, Revelation, and End of Ages)
•Passage
•Portal
•Fable
•WarioWare: Smooth Moves (I think we have all had the glorious opportunity to play this fine example of artistic videogames)
•Pretty much anything by Introversion

Ultimately, I think society will come around to considering this as a legitimate medium for creative works. As usual, here are some (more relevant than last time) videos for those that made it all the way down here (stop cheating rubenssw).

•The Beatles: Rock Band Cinematic - Honestly I want to write so much about this but I simply cannot. Perhaps one of you can get smkndy to comment on this and shed a little more light. This is one of the catalysts to this post as it was released recently at E3. I realize the HD is large, but wait for it, it's totally worth it.

•Though this is not yet released, and this is a technical demo, here is what I believe will take the "Most complicated videogame" once it's out.