Video Games

This may be an instant "yes" for some of you, but there are actual proponents to this idea of video games being an art form, separate no less.

Arguments include (non-exhaustive list):

• Video games are just combinations of previously established art forms (music, fictional prose, visual art, etc..)
• Certain video games (think Pong and Tetris) weren't made for the purpose of being "artistic".
• Because video games are interactive, this positions video games outside of the area of the arts. No other types of art comes close to this level of interactivity.
• Video games (especially mass-marketed ones), regardless of their nature, are not recognized as art for as long as the purpose is solely for financial gain, which is the norm nowadays.

Personally, I believe that video games are flexible enough to possess unlimited art forms, ranging from being creatively artistic and visually stunning (e.g. Journey [2012]) to being only a tech demo or both, since they are an amalgamation of previously established art forms.

To make this discussion productive, I'd suggest approaching these arguments with an open-mind and/or coming up with an opinion supported by some video game example (note, this is only a mere suggestion).

EDIT: Just to be clear, the counter-arguments list above are NOT my take on the matter. They're loosely taken from several sources, including an IRL discussion w/ a friend and articles online, e.g. Games aren't art, says Kojima.

"[The landscape] is more real than the people who inhabit it. Drowned in eternal mist, illuminated by a decrepit sun or by emphemeral meteors, it is a world of greyness."

-Henry Okun, Ossian in Painting, 1967

What is Beckett? Beckett is, designer Simon Meek says, “a literary work of fiction”. Its experimental alembic is that of a videogame. It is influenced textually and in spirit by, of course, Samuel Beckett, by William Burroughs and, visually, by Jan Švankmajor. I am not a gamer—what drew my interest were the connections to writers who are part of my personal canon.

This is one of my fav games of all time: gameplay influenced by the matrix, story straight from 1940s film noir. Its a single story, not open world, yet you still get the feeling and context that the world you're in is alive, and everyone is gunning for you. Even when its overly cheesy, its still enjoyable.

This bundle features all 7 issues of Heterotopias, a zine which critically reflects on game spaces and architecture. It includes around 800 pages of original articles, artwork and photography in a visually rich, innovative publication.