Video by Matt S.
Video games are art. It’s something that we’ve long accepted and demanded that those outside of the games industry also accept. There’s certainly no denying that games are art, either – whether it’s the philosophical intelligence of Yoko Taro’s NieR: Automata, the aesthetic beauty of a Death Stranding, or the narrative power of a Kentucky Route Zero, there is evidence in abundance that games are art.
And yet, for all that, we still refuse to actually talk about games as art, or think about them as art. “Art” means more than “a pretty picture to look at.” It has a broad socio-cultural role, and the behaviour across the industry, from the creators through to the audiences, is often anything but how we should behave and look at an artistic medium.
In this video I discuss the various ways that we let the discussion about games as art slide, and how that ultimately lets our own industry down.
Do let me know your thoughts in the comments! This video could get some great debate going on :-).
– Matt S.
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @mattsainsb
