Video Games Now Considered Art?

According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the answer is "Yes."

The debate raged on strongly this past generation in particular. Should video games be considered as art? Well known critics such as Roger Ebert felt strongly that they should not be, going so far as to say that they will NEVER be considered as art. But as a film critic, should his opinion hold any merit? Gamers around the world refuted his claims, attacking him as a senile fool or begging him to play Shadow of the Colossus for the millionth time. He did eventually come out and say that his claims should have never been made, being that he has never played video games and has no right to say that the medium will never be looked at as a form of art.

Although Roger Ebert has never been proven incorrect, this week the gaming as a medium took a serious step. On December 17th, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the largest museum in the entire world, announced that it would be making two permanent additions to their collection. These additions are not paintings or sculptures; they are videogames; Flower and Halo 2600 specifically.

Flower for PlayStation 3

The first is no surprise. Flower by Thatgamecompany was developed for the PlayStation 3 and was immediately held as a great demonstration of video games as art. Not only is the game beautiful from an artistic standpoint. The game's themes and messages are relayed to the player through our actions; through input which generates a strong emotional response. This is something that no other medium can imitate, something that makes video games as an art form so special. The Smithsonian agrees with this sentiment, stating "the work cannot be fully appreciated through still images or video clips; the art happens when the game is played."

Halo 2600

The second title is a bit more surprising and obscure. Halo 2600 was developed in 2010 as a remake of sorts for the popular Halo series on the Xbox. However, many would call the game a "demake" being that it was developed to be playable on the Atari 2600. As opposed to Flower, Halo 2600 "deconstructs the gamers' visual and virtual experience" and represents "the ever-changing relationship between technology and creativity." In fact, the two titles contrast each other perfectly.

The inclusion in the Smithsonian's collection "represent(s) an ongoing commitment to the study and preservation of video games as an artistic medium." According to the announcement, the two additions "are just the beginning of our work in this area. By bringing these games into a public collection, the museum has the opportunity to investigate both the material science of video game components and develop best practices for the digital preservation of the source code for the games themselves." And it doesn't seem like this will be the end of Smithsonian's efforts to change perception on the medium. They plan to keep monitor of games in the future and seek out those worthy of record. 

As for my opinion, video games have always and will always be a form of art. In many ways, a video game is images, books, movies, and music all rolled into one. How can it not be considered art when games like Journey and Okami are essentially moving paintings? The addition of player input just adds a whole other layer of artistic expression; again something that can only be done through the medium of gaming. I hope there are more occurrences like this one to truly push the belief.

I want to hear your opinions as well. What do you think of the gaming additions to the Smithsonian? Do you believe that gaming as a medium should be considered a form of art? Also, which games do you think that the museum should add next. I will be the first to throw the obvious Shadow of the Colossus out there. How about you?