Ben-DutkaHeavy Rain did very well financially and developer Quantic Dream says this proves innovation can indeed succeed .
In a very similar vein, studio co-CEO Guillaume de Fondamiere told Gamasutra that in fact, all games are a cultural expression and it's important that they're identified as artistic productions.
" To me, all games are a form of cultural expression. I see no reason why games should be treated differently than any type of literature or any type of movie. I think that more and more video games are becoming artful, and are becoming a form of art that should be recognized next to the others. "
The boss cites an increasing number of great writers in the industry, including Journey designer Jenova Chen and Rayman creator Michel Ancel. de Fondaumiere also believes that it's important that video games are recognized as art because this can open up "new business opportunities."
"But does it really matter. Do we really care? Do we need to be formally recognized as art? I think it matters. I think this recognition also brings to a certain degree new business opportunities.
Today I can say I'm a game producer. This sense of pride is important because we need to lure new people to this industry. I've been trying to work with Hollywood talent for years now, probably about 15 years. Up until recently, each time I was talking to agents or talents, they would say, 'We don't do games, sorry. You have to understand–violence, addiction–it's bad for our image.'"
Oh, that's interesting. Hollywood has had the gall to say that "violence" is bad for their image? And the ignorance to believe that all video games are addictive? That's a whole separate subject in and of itself, but I won't bother lambasting the film industry. The insulting garbage they produce on a daily basis means I don't have to.
Recognizing videogames as art gives credibility to the industry. It also helps to destroy the stigma that games are simply for kids or deviants. And it isn't like we are having to lie about the industry, there are many games that have come out over the years that I would argue to a fault that they are in fact art.
The comments from the movie industry had me laughing pretty hard….Violence and addiction are bad for our industry, I take it they never look in a mirror.
Why games are always tied into addiction is a mystery to me, there are so few actual instances of gaming addiction out there it makes other entertainments look like crack cocaine.
Agreed! The only 2 games I can say that I had an unhealthy addiction to were Final Fantasy VII and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. I missed weeks of school because of my decisions to keep playing FF VII non-stop, and with BF2:MC I would leave work as soon as I could to get home and play it, making me miss out on a lot of potential income. At least I would never blame the games or the devs for MY decisions.
I remember Omikron has some sort of something to do with David Bowie.
Games are definitely just as culturally representative as any other art form. Maybe it will take more respected actors involved like Page and Defoe to get the establishment to care though.
Aye, it's just classic human conservatism and small-mindedness that they're not more widely accepted as art already. If you break it down as to what art is, and what games are, games have clearly been art/culture ever since the beginning. We'll get there as more of us that grew up with gaming in the 1970s/1980s/1990s get older, and take that appreciation with us ;). However, remember all those serious kids that never got into gaming? They'll have grown up too, and they'll still be a majority for a while yet, so it'll take a little while to take hold.
A picture, a painting, a drawing is art. Music is art. Movies can be art. Writing is an art. Video games can include any and all of the above at any given moment. Can someone please explain to me how a medium which includes all of these things is NOT art?
Really it is only because the loudest most heard voices out there are against videogames as art. The rest of the world who are not heard as much already know it is an art form, especially when you use the points you just did.
if that would bring new people, and important changes into the industry, than its worth something levying for.
but im not so sure it would.
i think we have allot of bigger areas we need to focus our attention too.
on the priority list of damaging stereotypes to the industry, the games cannot be art one, is pretty low on the priority list.