GTA V as Art.

[Hobo-Lord]

Video games falling into the category of Art have always been a controversial topic. As the release of Grand Theft Auto V approaches, the media and the public may witness something incredible. For the first time in history, a previously rudimentary medium of entertainment may stand in the leagues of serious art.

 

It has been shown that video games show some primitive notions of art. Video games in general are categorized with simplistic entertainment. In the past decade, claiming video games is an art is like claiming smoking weed is an art. Both, in the past decade, are used for recreational activity. If we define art as anything that invokes complex emotion, we can try to decipher the advancement of video games as an art. Aside from button smashing and the euphoric feeling as blood splatters all over the screen, the storyline in video games attempt to provide a complex connection with the consumer. The storyline is the redeeming factor for intellectual thought in video games. In order for video games to become art, it is first necessary for them to engage the gamer through the storyline primarily.

 

Storylines in videogames have only been seriously advanced upon by the developers in the past two decades are Role Playing Game’s (RPG’s). Notably, Dungeons and Dragons is a popular modern non-electronic RPG. Its popularity grew to the then small and unknown electronic gaming market. Dungeon Crawl (1974) is the first electronic role playing game that was widely played. It was influenced by Dungeons and Dragons. I will save a boring synopsis, where a simple Google search will be efficient if you are interested.

 

The developments of RPG’s have been advanced with the popularity of Final Fantasy. The series has arguably changed the video game industry permanently. It exposed a growing demand for riveting characters, a deep storyline, and the need to connect and emotionalize with the video game. After Final Fantasy, the industry caught up with the game and changed a non-linear evoking story with a plot from an option to a necessity. Basically, from Mario and Sonic to Halo, Max Payne, and others. Halo paved the way to an industry standard. I like to compare the original Halo to the Beatles. If you play the original Halo, there is nothing special and it is very bland, yet at the time it was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards. Like listening to the Beatles currently (they made great music for their time, however currently there are many better options than them). The formulas of Halo and the Beatles have been used exhaustingly with new releases. The Halo fans like me argue that it is not the multiplayer experience that makes the game great, but the “Halo World.” The storyline of Halo is immersive and riddled with great characters with an unrivaled and imaginative environment. After the success of Halo, the storyline became an essential factor of video games in the current console generation, with few exceptions.

 

The previous Grand Theft Auto, GTA IV, was a disappointment for some like me. But after analyzing the game, I realized that Rockstar attempted to immerse gamers into the game. They wanted to trap emotions within the storyline and twist them as far as they could go. We oddly like that. GTA IV pushed the medium of Video Games further to art. What does GTA V need to do in order to achieve artistic acclaim? We have seen in the trailer and in the general presentation of GTA V that it will be one wild ride. It’s going to have twists and turns with a new take on video games. The storyline will explode and take us on a wild ride.

 

Grand Theft auto will have an awesome storyline. It will have awesome game play. It will have allegedly awesome multiplayer. Will GTA V be art? Will it be more like Saints Row that only wants to make the player have a “fun boner?” The evidence shows that GTA V will be the best of both worlds. Currently, the most advanced form of art is cinema. Let’s be frank. Shooting a movie is harder than sculpting or painting. Video games, if they ever become critically acclaimed, they will overthrow cinema.

 

In short, I want to pose you all a question. Will GTA V be art? Or advance video games closer to art?What would make GTA V art?

 

 

I swear to god if noobs on this forum post troll comments about Halo, FF, or the Beatles, I will freak out. If this topic is old, you can delete

Please be informative and see if your opinion has already been posted. If so agree, or expand.

If I am wrong or disagree (which I tried to avoid) please reply with your alleged correction. Please be polite when disagreeing.

 

 

-IMO, GTA V will only be an art if it has steak

Edited December 4, 2011 by Hobo-Lord

[Dale Nixon]

''For the first time in history, a medium of entertainment may stand in the leagues of serious art. ''

 

Stopped reading here. Have you not heard of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Bioshock etc. ?

 

EDIT: Lol @ what you said about the Beatles. This topic is ridiculous.

 

EDIT NUMBER 2: ''Currently, the most advanced form of art is cinema. '' Lol, seriously, man? I am a filmmaker myself and I probably wouldn't even agree with this. People that try to categorize what art is just completely miss the point of art. It's like when Tolstoy tried to give off objective criticism towards Beethoven, only for George Orwell to write an excellent response to that.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Dale Nixon

[Jeeebuuus]

Video games are interactive art, and GTA is the DaVinci of that form.

[Hobo-Lord]

''For the first time in history, a medium of entertainment may stand in the leagues of serious art. ''

 

Stopped reading here. Have you not heard of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Bioshock etc. ?

 

EDIT: Lol @ what you said about the Beatles. This topic is ridiculous.

let me correct that. forgot to clarify what I meant.

 

you are free to your opinion of the Beatles.

 

Video Games are not critically acclaimed pieces of art. The titles you have shown show characterisitics, and some people will see them as works of serious art.

 

I want to ask how GTA V will advance the medium of video games.

[Chaise]

This thread sorta confuses me.... but to answer youir question, yes I do think GTA V will be a form of art, but you can say that about any game to be honest.

[killorbekilled]

gtav is art!

[Leve-O]

Good topic!

 

And to answer your question, I think it's safe to say that V is already a form of art. But some people have different visions of art, and that's the beauty of it. My vision of an artful video game is graphics, gameplay and story:

 

-Graphics like RDR, or Uncharted just makes the world seem much more fun to be in. The moment when you just STOP and admire your surroundings means alot to me.

-Gameplay must feel right, and comfortable. If not, then it takes away all the fun.

-Story is verrry important to me. I want to feel for the characters, I want twists and surprises... along with humor and seriousness. If you don't have a good story then it's harder to feel immersed.

 

 

[Dale Nixon]

 

Video Games are not critically acclaimed pieces of art.

 

Whether something is critically acclaimed as being art has absolutely nothing to do with its actual value and significance as art, or if it would actually fall under this vague category of 'art'. Most people fail to realize how huge art can actually be, in any shape or form. Most people simply consider paintings to fall under art, and certainly anything that is abstract and vague, be it films or music. As you keep trying to categorize what medium can be applied to 'art', you'll always completely miss the point and never understand its meaning.

[Hobo-Lord]

''For the first time in history, a medium of entertainment may stand in the leagues of serious art. ''

 

Stopped reading here. Have you not heard of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Bioshock etc. ?

 

EDIT: Lol @ what you said about the Beatles. This topic is ridiculous.

 

EDIT NUMBER 2: ''Currently, the most advanced form of art is cinema. '' Lol, seriously, man? I am a filmmaker myself and I probably wouldn't even agree with this. People that try to categorize what art is just completely miss the point of art. It's like when Tolstoy tried to give off objective criticism towards Beethoven, only for George Orwell to write an excellent response to that.

by advanced I meant it generally incorporates the most effort and it stimulates the most senses.

 

By the way, how are the video games you stated previously art?

[Snake Without a Tongue]

 

Video games are interactive art, and GTA is the DaVinci of that form.

Funny you should say that. The other day I was actually discussing with a sociology professor how GTA eclipses the Sistine Chapel in technological sophistication.

 

Anyway, video games are every bit as valid a medium for art as film or music, etc. Whether or not the lofty and ambiguous definition of "art" has actually been achieved is up for debate. I definitely agree with Dale Nixon that Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and Bioshock meet the criteria for art.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Snake Without a Tongue

[Hobo-Lord]

Video Games are not critically acclaimed pieces of art.

 

Whether something is critically acclaimed as being art has absolutely nothing to do with its actual value and significance as art, or if it would actually fall under this vague category of 'art'. Most people fail to realize how huge art can actually be, in any shape or form. Most people simply consider paintings to fall under art, and certainly anything that is abstract and vague, be it films or music. As you keep trying to categorize what medium can be applied to 'art', you'll always completely miss the point and never understand its meaning.

Please exuse me if I confused you, but all I was trying to convey is that mainstream video games are not critically acclaimed art. I want to know your opinions on how this can be changed. Or if it is already, and what makes it so.

 

Your counter argument is that GTA V is already an art because everything is already an art.

I agree with you to that extent, but publicly, the popular media will not see it that way.

 

 

[locolow2011]

To be honest, i consided Red Dead Redemtion an artistic masterpiece, the story and the visuals were just beautiful.

I believe that GTA V will be something big but for me RDR is that breakthrough.

 

EDIT: The music was also amazing, i forgot that.

Edited December 4, 2011 by locolow2011

[crogtafan]

Video games are interactive art, and GTA is the DaVinci of that form.

agreed.

 

GTA is art.

- it showes its own perspective on modern society

- it incorporates references towards the culture, costumes and societies mentality of a given period - references to cinema, politics, etc.

- it gives the player the right of choice in interpreting it, and the player can interpretate it in a nuber of ways,

- it is a combined work of many gifted individuals.

- most of all..- it's ORIGINAL and that's why it's sitting lonely and rightfully on its throne.

 

[Vegetarian Piranha]

do you mean GTA V as art in the fact that "you can't rush art"?

 

because if it is, Rockstar have nailed that one on the head.

[Slamman]

They owe it all to the artisans of Rockstar San Diego and Red Dead Redemption... a game nearer to perfection doesn't come to mind. I feel GTA V will take all the work that's proved a success and build off that. So I think we'll see the best GTA so far, and as far as art in videogaming, the staff at Rockstar see things the same. That's what they, themselves, believe and strive for.

 

I also think that the guys at Naughty Dog feel the same, they take great pride in their games. (graphic and realistic sense)

[Magic_Al]

Star Trek's holodeck is an imaginary ultimate video game technology, capable of providing whatever interactive experience can be imagined with perfect realism and total immersion. But characters on Star Trek don't seem to consider Holodeck programs to be "art". They seem to limit the definition of "art" to the same classic books, music, sculptures, and paintings that are considered "art" today. Perhaps this is a failure of imagination by Star Trek's writers. They can imagine what technology might do, but they can't imagine how the use of that technology would alter people's thinking.

[Slamman]

BUT, Magic_Al, art is drawings, painting, sculpture and renderings, Video Games are an artisan craft, ultimately, it's true. No longer is it as simple as electronic LEDs, pixels, and simple sprites. Real art, acting, animating, and the amazing work of computer AI artists combine to create the interactive movie, and movies are ART.

 

I think the larger argument is when will the World come to accept them as art? That's where you're bound to find resistance

Compare it to having video gaming in the Olympics, as a sport! haha

Edited December 4, 2011 by Slamman

[MrcTOtheJ]

EDIT: Lol @ what you said about the Beatles.

I agree, if anything music has gone down hill as of late. But that's just me.

 

Back on the Topic:

 

Now I do agree that while RDR and Uncharted are pieces of art in the video game world, I believe that video games have been an art form for quite some time before that, before GTA even.

 

It's just that society has a whole, as gamers for a good part of gaming’s life span have been a minority, as yet to accept video games as an art form.

 

Video games have done what movies and books before them have done, crafted worlds of various magnitudes with stories and atmospheres all there own, just with video games, it's interactive.

 

From the wastes of Fallout, and the Citadel of the Mass Effect Series, to the ghettos of Los Santos, fictional worlds of grandiose proportions, getting closer and closer to livening and breathing than ever before, GTA has nailed the last part quite well if I might add.

 

So by this regard, V will be art much like it's predecessors.

[viper9009adr]

 

 

 

From the wastes of Fallout, and the Citadel of the Mass Effect Series, to the ghettos of Los Santos, fictional worlds of grandiose proportions, getting closer and closer to livening and breathing than ever before, GTA has nailed the last part quite well if I might add.

 

 

 

 

 

FALLOUT ,Mass Effect , Grand theft Auto , Metal Gear , Assassins´s creed, and so many more that I can not remember, so IMO some videogames are a piece of ART.