Games Are Art . Com

[Pulpo]

Hey everybody!

I would like to invite you all to a brand new site: GAMESAREART.COM.

It's a space for all people concerned about the future of games as a cultural and artistic form of expression. Developers, Gamers, Businessmen of our industry are starting to gather in our forums and propose new ideas to make a true Revolution in our gaming industry.

Check it out!

Cheers,

Santi

[steak-flavored gum]

Your manifesto seems pretty weak, and I'm sensing floods of Dewey cascading out of the monitor and staining my dinner jacket. Maybe you should invent a new term that, while not being 'art', discusses the positive characteristics and experiential nature of the medium without all of the other stuff that the discussed content seems to be lacking in?

[Pulpo]

I'm afraid I do not completely understand what you say.. but if you're against the proclaim of games as art, it's ok with me: art is a subjective thing, and not everyone will agree to that. The post that you've read it's not a manifesto (I guess is the last post on the home section what you mention), it's just a simple thought. Read the articles in the site where there's a deeper analysis on the 'Games Are Art' concept.

Byes

Santi

[Jake]

Welcome to the site for Video game intellectuals.

[toblix]

Isn't defining stuff as "art" completely meaningless? These days, flinging shit at bystanders is put in the same category as Mona Lisa. Tell me of a term more watered out than art.

I'm all for games being accepted as a form of entertainment that has the potential to be as intellectually stimulating as any book, movie or piece of music, but the "art" thing is so subjective and meaningless it's incrédible!

I guess it'll take about three or four more generations before games aren't viewed as children's toys, though.

[Chris]

The Idle Thumbs Forums: Where All Newcomers Are Inexplicably Ripped to Shit!

[MrChlorophyll]

The Idle Thumbs Forums: Where All Newcomers Are Inexplicably Ripped to Shit!

It's an art.

And a science.

[steak-flavored gum]

I frequently find that, when people start ecstatically gushing on about how their favorite whatever is of really high quality, they fling the word 'art' around like fresh figs. What I was trying to say in my first reply is that too much time is spent attempting to add some sort of elitist holier-than-thou qualification to this 'whatever' by slamming down the 'art stamp' as a symbol for all of the 'positive attributes' this 'whatever' possesses. Why bother dressing up this 'whatever' in a '+7 Hat of I Deserve Caviar' when you really just want to 'talk' about your 'experiences' of 'unusually high quality'?

There is such thing as bad art, you know, and there are two important things you need to know about it:

1. Bad art exists in much greater plentitude than does good art

2. Bad art is still art

The debate over what is 'art' goes far beyond two 45-year-old men thatching roofs and arguing over whether they think an artist should be making money by exhibiting a work like 'Piss Christ'. Out of all the ivory-tower ramblings in the world, I personally believe that academic writings on art theory are actually some of the most important, and it is a pity that most people never even wonder if these sorts of writings exist.

Tom Zé describes himself as a journalist rather than an artist - while perhaps not entirely fitting, a similar qualification given to some games might better describe their merits than the more superficial, distracting, and ultimately destructive label of 'art'.

[Pulpo]

I agree with you 100%. The 'A' word has been used too much too bad with the perception that it means 'cool' or 'superior' rather than just 'human expression' (please let us avoid the endless debate about what art is, I've just used a very simplified definition).

So, the site is not: Games Are High Art or Good Art... it's just Games Are Art. And if you check the "art games" section, not all games are quite good actually..

Cheers,

Santi

[Redwall]

Good God, the colors, man! The colors!

[nsps]

I think the site definitely covers a topic worth bringing attention to.

I assume that the site is still in its developmental stages, and will soon include more games. The seven "art games" listed seem to have complimentary reviews in their descriptions, so I'm not sure what you mean by "not all games are quite good."

The art film genre doesn't deny that films not of that genre aren't art, so I hope that the "art game" classification isn't too elitist.

How do you see the site expanding?

[Pulpo]

My idea is not to be an elitist, an in order to do so: my idea is to open the site's doors to anyone who believes in the cause. My hopes are that a big community around this subject can grow and expand, and with the collective effort of all have a site that truly expresses the spirit of games as we see them.

Basically: Any ideas, are welcome! Post in the site's forums, criticize, suggest.. anything to improve a site that hopefully will not belong only to myself

[toblix]

Fine, I'll visit your site!

... it doesn't load, though...

edit:

Oh, now it did. Agh! Flash menu and MySQL error messages!

[Pulpo]

I've been updating it.. should work fine now!

Check forums!

Byes

[Karimi]

Nice site, I like the colors and the layout. Its got style and some good articles.

[Spaff]

Hooray for the picture of Ron Jeremy from "Super Hornio Bros."

i need that movie...

for research of course.

[Pulpo]

The site is working much better now.. yesterday I had some trouble with the host.. but my complains have been heard.

: Games Are Art!

[baconian]

well, the spice girls and peter andré call themselves artists these days, so the word has basically lost all meaning. I like the idea of games as _craft_ a bit better.

[Sopabuena]

Hey aren't you Linier's brother?

Well you probably hate that "title"

[Pulpo]

Yes I am

now.. how did you guess that? Do I know you GoodSoup?

[Marek]

I like your site's design, and its intentions are really good (so I wish you all the best with it!), but its title or slogans aren't really appealing to me.

GAMES ARE ART! is a bit of an empty statement. It's like saying motion pictures are art, or canvases, or videotape. Games aren't art. They aren't not art either. As a medium they can be anything, so it seems a given that they CAN be art?

Posing the question 'is it art?' usually spins the debate into much less productive territory than simply asking why a game is interesting or why you care about it more than others. Instead of the implication that there needs to be a general concensus on whether something is art, you can just share your personal experiences of the work in question. I find this more insightful and leads to much less time being wasted on circular high-level discussions.

Don't get me wrong, I get what you're trying to do. I think it's very important to look at video games in more than the usual way. Intelligent writing about video games will help form a better awareness of the "video game aesthetic", or whatever you might call it. But I think that's a constant gradual process we're all part of, and it doesn't really need any screaming manifestos of this kind.

I guess I would've liked the site better if its message were a lot less overt, and if it were called ... say ... hambob. Hope you don't mind me ranting about it and I certainly hope it doesn't discourage you, cause the more indie sites the better.

Anyway, yeah, I'll go back minding my own website now. Sorry about that.

[Pulpo]

The site's title leaves no room for doubt: Games Are Art. Take it or leave it

Considering that 'Art' is quite a controversial term, the site's title is actually quite open for interpretations. But basically, the main goal is to let the world know that games are a new cultural form of expression with plenty of potential to adopt artistic forms.

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm quite glad that the announcement here had a lot of responses with interesting ideas

[vimes]

I have a problem with the catch phrase " Welcome to the site for Video game intellectuals". That doesn't make me want to read the content of the site.

[Chris]

GAMES ARE ART! is a bit of an empty statement. It's like saying motion pictures are art, or canvases, or videotape. Games aren't art. They aren't not art either. As a medium they can be anything, so it seems a given that they CAN be art?

Yeah, but it's not actually a given yet to most people, even though it should be. I agree that the title of the site isn't a completely accurate statement but I think the point remains intact.

[Jake]

Yup. It's all about cultivating respect for the medium, internally or externally. People who aren't gamers tend to dismiss the medium as a whole (or video games, at least), and aren't exactly into reading anecdotes about how meaningful a gaming experience was. As much as we can piss on the term 'art' these days, it still matters to people and means something important. There's still power in claiming a medium as an art form (that might be a better way of putting it).

It's certainly not the only way to increase respect for the medium, though. Enticing non-gamers to play, making games that appeal to more than horny adolescent boys, etc. It's one weapon in the arsenal.

I don't know if naming your site "GAMES ARE ART" help reach any of those ends though.