While it’s generally considered old news now, famed film critic Roger Ebert wrote an article discussing video games in which he stated outright that not only were video games not a legitimate art form, but they would never be an art form on the same level as his raison d’etre film.
This understandably angered a number of people in the video game community. Developers, fans and journalists alike all came together to say, or rather yell forcibly, “You are wrong, Mr. Ebert!”
The critic himself has since posted a follow-up to his original article where he does not exactly retract but amends his statements on the medium and admits he is rather ignorant of video games, although he still believes video games are not a legitimate art form and does not believe they will be.
While the issue of Ebert’s statement is now more or less settled, I still feel opening the discussion of video games as an art form is a worthwhile thing, so I’ll talk about them here.
Another group of people was annoyed by Ebert’s article: ironically, artists. While I don’t know who in the 21st century can be surprised by this, a large portion of the video game industry is various types of graphic artists.
These people design the backgrounds and the characters, ultimately the actual look and feel of the game. Because of this, author Jerry Holkins had this statement in response to Ebert’s article: “If a hundred artists spend five years creating art, how is the end result not art?”
Anyone who has played the God of War series has most likely noted the massive, beautiful environments in which the game takes place.
The scale of the games is absolutely breathtaking, and the world is composed of soaring, yet impossible Greek architecture, immense, brutal creatures pulled directly from mythology and it is all interconnected in a labyrinthine network of puzzles and platforms.
All of this incredible scenery can be traced back to the game’s concept artist, Cecil Kim. In much the same way Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art for the Star Wars franchise is now generally regarded as high art, Cecil Kim seems poised to accomplish the same thing with his breathtaking concept artwork in the video game industry. The art community seems ready to recognize this as well. Cecil Kim is now a very well-respected artist and recently received a write-up in Blue Canvas magazine.
Speaking of the art community, most of it might be perplexed by Ebert’s comments, since most of it seems more than willing to accept video games into its fold. Video game designer Mark Essen was recently given a show in a New York art gallery, which is very interesting because his work represents video games in their most primitive forms. Essen designs simple, pixelated games, all playable in an Internet browser window.
From the literary world as well, there are proponents of interactive entertainment. Author Clive Barker is a big advocate of video games being on the same level as film and has actually debated Roger Ebert on the matter.
Acclaimed science fiction writer Harlan Ellison actively disapproved of computer games but after helping adapt his short story “I Must Scream But I Have No Mouth” into a video game, he ended up with enormous respect for the genre. I could cite examples from every creative endeavor who agrees video games should not be discounted as an art form.
The first opinion article I wrote at the beginning of this semester was about childhood imagination and how creative play through childhood toys is dying out since most modern children instead spend their hours playing video games.
I think this is the root of Mr. Ebert’s bias, and anyone who agrees with him. Namely, the bias is based on video games viewed as toys.
Video games are not really toys any more than a movie is a toy or a book is a toy. Video games are another form of media, and recognizing this will allow it to progress as an art form the same way film and rock and roll have progressed as art forms, and every other art form progressed when it was still in its infancy.
Zack Bouis is a freshman majoring in psychology. He can be contacted at [email protected].