Art – an activity, done by humans using their skills, thoughts, emotions, creativity, imagination, and so on. Whatever might be the form, it plays a vital role in our life. It helps us to have a better understanding of the world and helps us in exploring new ideas and experiences.
Accepting art in the form of paintings, dance, music, films, architecture, or even fashion is easy for us but why are we not accepting games as art?
Brenda Romero who is a game designer talked about this in one of her Ted talks. She said that It is difficult for people to accept games as art. In games especially video games, the art is challenging. And she is not someone who believes that the play of the game relies on its graphics or how pretty it looks. A great gameplay experience happens in your brain and not in your eyes. We all would have met people with the most beautiful faces on the outside but completely hollow on the inside, it’s the same case here she adds.
Has this thought ever occurred to us, to question games as an art form? Are games something really new to us?
Of course not. They come from the very beginning of our history. Hunter-gatherers or even animals use games to teach themselves about hunting and survival. Initially, they made games from stones, fruit pits, etc., and eventually, they got developed.
Games like chess which was invented in the 6th century and GO are some of the really old games. But how old were video games? Video games are 58 years old and It was first invented by Physicist William Higinbotham. He created a game called Tennis for Two, which was shown at the Brookhaven Exposition in 1958. It was a two-player game, it was so popular, that people got gravitated toward it.
At this point, Video games have got developed enormously. The invention of VR games made our dreams come true by helping us have a virtual experience of the game through a handset. And the best thing is, they let us be artists in someone else’s creation like it is in the Minecraft game.
What else can be called art than something that allows us to experience another reality, right?
The best thing about games is that they act real and dynamic and they let us experience things that we can’t in our real life. And mainly they let us be interactive and that’s what sets the game aside from all other forms of art.
FACT- the world’s richest person, entrepreneur genius, and innovative legend Mr. Elon Musk made his first revenue by creating and selling a video game for 500 dollars.
Games are not just about having fun, though it is in some cases, there are many other things kept in mind while creating them. Some games are created based on true moments like The God of War, a game series created by David Jaffe which is based on ancient mythology. A game is an artifact of that designer or artist’s experience.
Video games are the epitome of art as it is the only one that includes all forms of art be it music, visual art, acting, etc. Video games are just as valid an art form as any other thing, with just as much ability to resonate with viewers emotionally and intellectually. However, anything that moves us is art, be it in the form of games or anything other than that.
