When most people think of video games, I doubt that they would be considered an art form, which I think makes sense. As they have been universally acknowledged as products with games like FIFA and occasionally utilized as tools with something like Wii Fit. You’ll find countless videos online trying to provide the opposite perspective and I think the general approach tends to be quite surface-level, showcasing narrative integrity and emotional depth as an example of them proving artful. This overlooks all the elements that separate games from other media, and why the relationship between art and video games feels so inherently distant to begin with.

This divide starts with the way video games are designed as an experience for the player, design being an important term in this debate. It loosely insinuates that the general basis for designing a game means that it isn’t purely a form of expression, as it has to take the role of the player into account in order to create a functional experience. If we generally think of film and music, the artist will still be crafting an experience for the audience, but the lack of interactivity between the audience and the medium means that the artist’s expression takes a bit more priority in the process. Since they don’t have to worry about the viewer or listener understanding how to use the medium.

At the start of an album for example, you wouldn’t need a tutorial on how to listen to music, but there is still time spent adjusting audio mixing and sound quality, showing that the artist is taking the audience experience and the medium’s functionality into account. Does that make a medium any less artful? I think in some ways yes, if you’re shaping any work around the consumers’ enjoyability, that becomes a service at some point, which means you’re not always considering what’s best for your expression, but rather the consumers’ accessibility.

I feel like this might be happening in the process of most artworks though, even when I paint I’m considering what my friends might think of certain choices as I’m making them. I’d like to think that my decisions aren’t affected by these thoughts, but I’m sure I’m being subconsciously swayed outside of my initial intentions at times. That’s why I think people tend to see children’s artwork as being some of the most honest because there is little to no regard for any viewer beyond themselves. It’s just an expression of play, play being a primary expression of games too. This is something that also affects their disregard for being art.

If you think of film though, the big fun explosive blockbusters will always be deemed as low art, or Pop music as a genre will not be credited with the same integrity as other genres, which I think comes down to their connection to their ability to be more playful and less serious. So I think this is just an issue with our general view of the media overall, the things that elicit joy don’t allow us to view them as being important and a worthwhile subject for serious criticism.

Serious criticism is something withheld for a medium with depth, like film for example. A medium that was also initially regarded as a very straightforward product of storytelling. It took years of experimental filmmaking and different approaches of using a camera in order to find the extent of the medium that would ask enough questions for it to be redefined. I think video games are currently in this limbo period. They’re harder to define now more than ever; interaction with digital media through a device – is essentially all it’s limited to, but if you add any other criteria it will rule out huge sections of the industry.

I feel like this limbo period of exploration and redefining video games is because of recent technological leaps, making it easier for any individual to be able to develop a game within their free time. It seems as if this past year has showcased some of the most success for smaller game creators and restored some balance in the industry’s ecosystem. Smaller voices being heard, means more niche interactive experiences, meaning pushing the very definition of what a videogame is.

I think the fact that there is still a conversation about whether they’re considered to be an artwork is probably because we’re still trying to define and wrap our heads around the extent of what is considered to be a video game. Under the guidelines of the standard definition of art though, video games fit comfortably and create an angle to push things further. The best art has the ability to redefine and sometimes it’s just our relationship with definitions that’s outdated and limiting toward what something is able to be.