Computer Games as Art

The article I read discussed how computer games are an art form on the web and how new media theorists are giving this art form a whole lot of consideration. Published on furtherfield.com and discussed by Edward Picot, the article covers different types of computer games and how each interacts with not only with the player, but with the art within each game as well. What most often happens, is that the gamer, or player, gets too involved in the aspects of the game, such as points, levels, or winning, that they ultimately shut out the other aspects, such as the art and meaning of the game. In one example, "The Marriage" by Ron Humble, is considered a computer-art game because the two squares, one pink and one blue that represent a male and a female and they have to keep coming together to survive the game. But as the player gets fixated on reaching the goal of the game, the meaning is lost completely. Some argue that games like "The Graveyard" aren't games at all but it is a great example of art. The goal is to help an old lady to church while crossing the graveyard. No points are rewarded, no levels are completed, just a simple task. While "walking" the old lady across the graveyard, the player is able to appreciate and actually look into the art of the game. With computer games evolving, the juncture between games and art is surely going to continue to cross, but until an agreement on what an example of a computer game as a piece of art is, this discussion will continue.

This article was really interesting because I never really thought of computer games as an art form. Growing up playing Oregon Trail and more recently The Sims, I only went to them for entertainment, but not in the same sense that art is entertainment. I always saw art as being in a museum and you couldn't interact with it, but with computer games, they are purely interactive and were created to be played. I agree that the art of a computer game can be lost once the player gets so involved that their only goal is to win, yet the art of the game is still there. Just because the player ignores it, doesn't mean that the art went away. The whole argument this article discusses about whether or not some games are actually computer games makes no sense to me. Computer games are anything that the creator can make it, and most importantly, what the player can get out of it. Even if the game doesn't have a traditional point system or types of levels, doesn't mean that it isn't an interactive form that gets players involved in it. Usually, these type of abnormal computer games are considered more like art because they stray from the normal. This is true, but if you look at any art in a computer game, art is incorporated into the game even if it doesn't have a deeper meaning. Art doesn't have to be complicated, and when it comes to computer games as art, this is one form of art that can be the most simplistic form out there.