Video Games are Art

          Aside from the video being very difficult to understand with her constant stuttering and rapid changing of topics, I agreed with her statements overall. I can see video games as a form of art, but not entirely in the way she described. When I think of art, I think of the great portraits made by Michelangelo and Da Vinci, or the beautiful cathedrals and buildings of old Europe. Art always begins with an idea or statement that the artist wants to be known, which relates to Santiago’s idea or art being a form of communication. All the ideas presented above required time, effort and ultimately had the same goal in mind: to display the artist’s ability and to awe the spectator. When art is described as this, I find it very easy to call a video game art.

A video game always starts with a storyline and a main objective. In other words, the game designer has an idea for the game and he or she wants the world to try and tackle his or her idea through an interactive form. It’s almost like attempting to “play” your way through the Sistine Chapel using a controller. When playing a video game, we are trying to play through what the designer wants us to accomplish. We have to think abstractedly in order to complete the levels of the game. This type of thinking is what we do when examining a piece of art.

The man hours it takes to produce a video game is simply mind numbing, as well as the talent it takes to bring the conceptual game to life. Any artist will agree that every great piece of art requires a vast amount of time to correct mistakes and perfect their work. With so much time spent into a creation, it’s almost an insult to not define video games as art.

 As far as the articles concerned me, I was that baffled Ebert was attempting to call something that he had never experienced firsthand a non-artistic form of expression. If he does not have the desire to even play one entire video game, I don’t see how he is qualified to criticize their creation. That would be like me telling you that the food you made for me was not up to my standards without even trying it. To me, he seems line an arrogant asshole that doesn’t appreciate our generation’s definition of art. He would rather sit on his pedestal and judge what we love as unacceptable art.  I have no respect for this man as he has no validity to be arguing this subject. All is not lost though, as his follow up article he for the most part went back on his earlier statements because of all the negative feedback he was receiving. At least he can accept other people’s views. Other than his ability to change his point of view, I still believe wholeheartedly that Roger Ebert is an absolute idiot that needs to spend his time criticizing he actually knows something about. Burn in hell Ebert along with your narcissism.