The reason why video games are not as appreciated as "real" art

[threadysparrow]

Read this and then reply with your thoughts because I would love to hear your thoughts about this. I am preparing an argument about video game recognition in our culture for a side project I am doing. I am an aspiring comedy writer. I am serious about this but I also don't want to sound like a dick so I threw in some of my humor (not too funny) in there as well.

 

Look at how movies gain their recognition and validation compared to how video games gain their recognition and validation

 

I believe that this may be one of the major reasons why video games do not get deserved praise for their artistry is because of how awards are given within the industry.

 

Let's take a look at the Oscars. Actors and actresses show up looking nice, they walk by the press, and then they enter a very nice auditorium. Then someone like Billy Crystal comes on stage and makes a few half funny but appropriate jokes and everyone laughs half assedly. Then the orchestra is introduced and they play the most beautiful rendition of an old movie song that was the life's masterpiece of the original composer who spent 40 years preparing for that exact moment at the Oscars. Then he walks onstage with his walking cane escorted by some huge AAA star and talks about how he worked with Stanley Kubrick or someone super famous who died. And then while he remembers working with Frank Sinatra he starts crying a bit and the audience claps.

 

After that, they have some more classy shit like in memoriam when they play some really uplifting but sad music. And then the best picture is announced and Ben Affleck gets up there huffing and puffing because of all the excitement about a movie he made involving some real middle east shit.

 

Then look at the video game awards...

 

They start out with either cheerleaders doing some stupid ass cheer or a comedian coming on stage in a t-shirt and jeans. Then they list all of their sponsors. Their sponsors are usually Red Bull, Monster Energy, Hardees, or some other stupid "manly" product. Speaking of manly, they usually put the video game awards on Spike TV. Spike TV is an embarrassment to real men. Spike TV is what happens when testosterone escapes from the body and creates a network.

 

Then they have Samuel L Jackson get up there and start yelling out some of his movie lines but they edit them to fit video games. It's something like "I am tired of all these mother f***ing video games on my mother f***ing show!" And then some "journalist" who is usually a hot woman comes on the screen and is WAY TOO excited to be there because she is only yelling into the mic.

 

See where I am going with this?

 

Then on top of that, they usually give the best game award to the wrong game. They give it to the most popular game and not the game that has more artistic integrity. The Last of Us is probably the most original and artistic game this generation. It brings out your emotions such as sadness or hope. It shows the struggle of a man trying to escort a teenage girl across the country to try and save her. It used motion capture performances and they were able to make the game graphically stunning. But we all know what game is going to win big this December. GTA V.

 

This is one of the reasons why people don't take video games seriously as a legitimate form of artistic expression. Because there is no legitimate validation of anyone's hard work other than sales numbers and some piss poor reviews over at IGN.

 

I am not saying I want them to get all high society on us like the Oscars, but they do need to class it up... A LOT! No more sponsors being thrown at the TV by a loud announcer (the industry needs to pay for the show. EA, Activision, Ubisoft, they all need to lend support), no more IGN reporters yelling into their mic, and no more stand up comedians opening the show in their GOD DAMNED PAJAMAS!

 

Please tell me I am over thinking this and that I am wrong, because I am actually getting a little upset typing this. But you and I both know that video games get maybe 1/100th of the recognition that movies get.

[JLCitadel]

Read this and then reply with your thoughts because I would love to hear your thoughts about this. I am preparing an argument about video game recognition in our culture for a side project I am doing. I am an aspiring comedy writer. I am serious about this but I also don't want to sound like a dick so I threw in some of my humor (not too funny) in there as well.

 

Look at how movies gain their recognition and validation compared to how video games gain their recognition and validation

 

I believe that this may be one of the major reasons why video games do not get deserved praise for their artistry is because of how awards are given within the industry.

 

Let's take a look at the Oscars. Actors and actresses show up looking nice, they walk by the press, and then they enter a very nice auditorium. Then someone like Billy Crystal comes on stage and makes a few half funny but appropriate jokes and everyone laughs half assedly. Then the orchestra is introduced and they play the most beautiful rendition of an old movie song that was the life's masterpiece of the original composer who spent 40 years preparing for that exact moment at the Oscars. Then he walks onstage with his walking cane escorted by some huge AAA star and talks about how he worked with Stanley Kubrick or someone super famous who died. And then while he remembers working with Frank Sinatra he starts crying a bit and the audience claps.

 

After that, they have some more classy shit like in memoriam when they play some really uplifting but sad music. And then the best picture is announced and Ben Affleck gets up there huffing and puffing because of all the excitement about a movie he made involving some real middle east shit.

 

Then look at the video game awards...

 

They start out with either cheerleaders doing some stupid ass cheer or a comedian coming on stage in a t-shirt and jeans. Then they list all of their sponsors. Their sponsors are usually Red Bull, Monster Energy, Hardees, or some other stupid "manly" product. Speaking of manly, they usually put the video game awards on Spike TV. Spike TV is an embarrassment to real men. Spike TV is what happens when testosterone escapes from the body and creates a network.

 

Then they have Samuel L Jackson get up there and start yelling out some of his movie lines but they edit them to fit video games. It's something like "I am tired of all these mother f***ing video games on my mother f***ing show!" And then some "journalist" who is usually a hot woman comes on the screen and is WAY TOO excited to be there because she is only yelling into the mic.

 

See where I am going with this?

 

Then on top of that, they usually give the best game award to the wrong game. They give it to the most popular game and not the game that has more artistic integrity. The Last of Us is probably the most original and artistic game this generation. It brings out your emotions such as sadness or hope. It shows the struggle of a man trying to escort a teenage girl across the country to try and save her. It used motion capture performances and they were able to make the game graphically stunning. But we all know what game is going to win big this December. GTA V.

 

This is one of the reasons why people don't take video games seriously as a legitimate form of artistic expression. Because there is no legitimate validation of anyone's hard work other than sales numbers and some piss poor reviews over at IGN.

 

I am not saying I want them to get all high society on us like the Oscars, but they do need to class it up... A LOT! No more sponsors being thrown at the TV by a loud announcer (the industry needs to pay for the show. EA, Activision, Ubisoft, they all need to lend support), no more IGN reporters yelling into their mic, and no more stand up comedians opening the show in their GOD DAMNED PAJAMAS!

 

Please tell me I am over thinking this and that I am wrong, because I am actually getting a little upset typing this. But you and I both know that video games get maybe 1/100th of the recognition that movies get.

 

I think it's hilarious, movies cost 10$-20$ to see, and provide ~2 to 3 hours of entertainment. Games cost ~60$ and provide hundreds of hours of entertainment. They take a lot more work to create, and see much less recognition, although this is changing, GTA 5 for example. Because people in the Hollywood business see more money as a whole, and they're all beautiful people for the most part who try to act serious

[jscho]

That's not what I had in mind when you said games are not appreciated enough. What I had in mind is that non-gamers see a game and think, "just another waste of time". They don't stop and think, we'll take GTA V, good example here, that that game they are looking at right now, took tens of thousands of man hours to create. Decades of development in technology to even create a platform capable of rendering and running such a project. Most people don't understand that designing, scripting, programming, texturing and testing a game is a fucking monstrous task. It takes as much time to create a AAA game as it does to build a high-rise building. Games do not get enough recognition from the non-game community. I'm not that artistic, I don't really care about art, but when I see a large painting, the only thing that goes through my mind is the time and skill taken to create such a masterpiece.

Games aren't just casual entertainment anymore. Games are a multi-billion dollar industry and could be called a way of life for a lot of people. Interactive entertainment isn't a joke and the non-gamer community needs to realise that. It's getting to the point where games are overtaking blockbuster films in terms of the sheer size of the projects.

GTA V - $250,000,000 budget - 5 years in the making - $1 billion made in the first 3 days.         That's something. Even if you don't like the game. Appreciate it.

[Lil Chillbil]

I agree with what you say and I believe that video games won't ever classit up until parents start to acknowledge the fact that video games are NOT made for kids. And quit blaming the industry everytime their little birth defect shoots up a school in a town no one has heard of or cares to know about. 

 

 

 

I blame the parents for killing art 

[AbidingDude]

Good thread OP

 

[Kuzma]

I completely agree with you ! When I watched Frankie's playthrough of The Last of Us it really did hit home for me a lot of the time and it was the first video game, besides Pokemon, that I've ever felt any real attatchment to for a long time and it kinda gave me some inspiration as a developer after seeing it's success that people actually do what games with amazing storylines while also having good gameplay and graphics. The most suprising thing is the fact that although The Last Of Us is an exclusive game, we as gamers can all come together and all praise the game together PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers alike - the fact that the game has to power to get rid of all the hate and trolling etc. shows why it should be the game of the year unlike GTA V which is simply deepening the divide.

[Ineko]

100% disagree, the Oscars are boring and way too formal. I like the they way video games are presented with awards, casually (I haven't watched these either, but of the two it seems the most appealing)

And I also believe GTA V should take game of the year over Last of Us any-day, that's just my opinion, and you saying that's wrong game is also just that, YOUR opinion.

 

Who do you expect to accept these games as art? The gamers already do, and everyone else thinks they're the leading cause of violence or aren't interested in them or anything to do with them one single bit.

 

0/10 would not finish reading, let alone read again. In our eyes games are art and can be compared to, and easily surpass the entire movie industry, but that's just us, it's like asking someone to appreciate something they don't give a fuck about. If they don't play these games already they're never going to care.

[FranBunnyFFXII]

The biggest problem associated with games not being taken as an art form is because 1. the people whom play them are perceived to be immature, uncultured to social behaviors, and younger people. aka the communities around video games and 2. society treats video games poorly, and see's them as a childish activity.

Once we fix both problems, then the discussion about art could move along and more people would understand it.

[TideRower]

The definition of 'art' can be quite personal nowadays.

For example I don't consider every movie or book as a piece of real art and it's the same for games. GTA is not a piece of art for me just because people with certain abilities/skills made it. Art depends on the personal view because a lot is happening in the mind, even with video games.

There are also some games that are considered 'real art' by some people.

The problem with games is that they tend to be mainstream and focused on the financial aspect (the same can be said for films).

 

The most important reason why video games aren't seen as 'art' is the youth of the medium. Photography and film both took time till they were appreciated as 'real art'.

[Nicolas]

The problem is not the elegance on the awards, or the judgement on who wins what, it's about the way non-gamers look at games and the people who plays them, a friend of mine, a 15 year old girl, (I'm 15 too, so don't go around saying I'm a pedophile btw) said that I had no life because I sit at the tv or the computer playing video games all day, and all she does is watch mtv all day, it's just a different way of entertainment, people just don't get that, they still think game devs are 4 guys with glasses and a bunch of comics in the garage with ideas and energy drinks, they don't realize how big the industry is, it's the same as movies at this point, because if there's no story to it, then you are the one that makes the story (DayZ for example) if it's not the last of us, it's minecraft that is about what you want it to be about, the problem is not the casualty of the industry, I do think it should be more of an important deal (the awards) at least just so people show up in a suit or something, but the problem is about the way others look at it.

 

But you are right, the industry should go on a more elegant side if you will, and on the reporters thing you are 100% right

[Forza-x73]

I agree with your opinion. But I think games get a hell lot more money than regular movies. Take a look at the COD series, GTA V and some other AAA titles, they blow most of the movies away in sales, yet they're not considered as a ''bigger,, entertainment option. I think that the assholes in press are guilty in this. People don't get their facts straight and blame video games in things. Then 30-40 year olds with mid-life crisis listen and strongly believe in shit that's on TV. That's why video games aren't considered as ''big,, as movies are.

But in the end of a day, games will become bigger and better in terms of sales and entertainment after some time. Take a look at our generation, kids play video games and they enjoy it, because its more fun than movies. After some time when those kidsgrow up and take a look at movies, then they'll realize that this is better than movies and games provide more fun.

Hope you get my 2 cents with my horrible grammar.

[Slaeowulf]

The main reason: It's not a legal requirement to watch Extra Credits

[juretrn]

People say games are childish or for children only. Some are. But then a 'violent' video game comes out. It's GTA and 'Hot Coffee' or COD with killing civilians at the airport. Suddenly, games are too violent. FOX news goes nuts and makes interviews with 'experts'. Meanwhile, game ratings for different age groups exist. 

But if it really was just about children then there are the following problems:

- They can watch Game of thrones, CSI or whatever else IN PRIME TIME on TV. 

- pretty much any movie contains more shooting/sex/general violence. 

- etc

Yet no one gives a damn about that. 

[Dudenstein]

I consider art to be forms in which the medium evokes emotions in one way or another. Film, television, books, videogames, etc can do this. Videogames, especially recently have evolved into more than a challenge and have become more than the some of their parts.

Videogames arguably now have the ability more than ever to play on our emotions, vulnerabilities, and fears than other mediums because of their interactive nature. Let's talk The Walking Dead series by Telltale. My decisions within the game made me feel responsible for the outcomes that may or may not happen. I became attached to the characters, I grew hatred for some, pitied others because of what I did. I felt the same emotional attachments to characters like I did when I read the Harry Potter series. When something can captivate me like that I would see it as art.

Grand Theft Auto V plays on and satires the current state of our society. Bioshock Infinite brings forth the issues of racism and the dichotomy within a society. Amnesia brings forth your vulnerability and raw fear of helplessness. FTL puts you into a chaotic ship where it can all end in a snap of a finger. Shadow of Colossus brings the fate of a serene haven into your impure hands.

With the rise of indie games and the advent of the oculus is just going the usher in a new age of immersion. "Games" that are representations of their creators will hopefully become the norm. "Games" in which to goal isn't to reach the end but to peer into the psyche of the makers and emphasize the journey of the protagonist are ones I hope to see more of. Of course there will always be the cash grabs and franchised games but the gems are where the art is.

That's the end of my cheesy little rant