90's Nostalgia (Video Games)

This homework is in response to "What Makes a Video Game Great?" by Alistair Brown.

I will be completely honest, I was never one to play video games as a kid. I was the one girl who couldn't figure out any of the basic controls in the first Halo. My expertise in video games extends to the Wii or Super Mario on the Nintendo DS. Nonetheless, I will talk about the relationship between video games and art and whether or not it relates to each other.

Is there a difference between video games and art? In particular ways, no. For me, I like the video games with a storyline. A good plot line is what makes a video game great. Video games with those intriguing storylines are like watching a movie, and to me, movies are a form of art. As far as MoMA getting video games as part of their design collection, I think this is a great idea!

Why shouldn't video games be considered art? It is art! The people who draw out the graphics and put detail into the way a character appearance, spend hours and days and months putting it all together, just like an artist with a paintbrush or using Photoshop or Illustrator. The visual qualities of a video game deems it as art because of the conceptual thoughts behind the characters and where each item is placed within one frame of the game. I am not a big gamer, but the Last of Us, a game for the PS4 showed really great quality when it comes to characters and the detail put into all of the background information.

Lastly, I would be wrong if I said that video games weren't art. As someone interested in producing and film, video games is the same kind of medium, just more interactive. It's almost like interacting with an animation movie, where whatever you choose affects the overall result of the movie. Movies give people feelings and introduce storylines that evoke emotion; video games do the same thing as well. I feel like the future holds great things for creators of video games. As far as the video game realm has come, it really just has to keep growing. I have no doubt that one day I will walk into a museum and see a video game on a wall of an exhibit and sending me into something that's bigger than life. And that right there, to me, is good art.