Video games as Art

This will be a recurring theme on this blog, and I suppose it is a good starting point to write on my intentions for this blog as a whole. I am fascinated with art and the philosophy of art (also known as Aesthetics). Art has been around for millenia, and comes in a variety of forms, or “mediums.”

One such medium that has proven to be extraordinary is the video game, where digital universes are created for the players to immerse themselves in. Video games stand out amongst other contemporary art styles (namely film, photography, music, graphic design, literature, etc.) in a variety of ways.

For example, lets look at the horror genre. Horror movies are designed to scare, shock, and toy with the audience by inviting the audience to act as spectators, viewing the choices and consequences of the characters within the movie. How often do you watch a horror movie and think to yourself “that person is gonna die” or “why would you go in that dark room??” We are able to acclimate to the tropes of the genre to a point where we know what to expect in a horror movie we haven’t seen.

Now compare a horror movie with a horror video game. It becomes a totally different experience when the choices and consequences are directly linked to you as the player. Resident Evil, among other entries in the “survival horror” genre, immerse the player into a cruel, brutal setting forcing them to choose whether to conquer their fears or run to safety (the survival horror genre is a fascinating facet to game design, perhaps i’ll dive into it another time). I had a friend recently tell me how terrified Resident Evil 2 made him because his liberation from the zombies was totally up to him.

Am I making sense? That is another purpose of this blog: to help me be more clear and expressive in my thoughts and writing.

Anyways, topics of art, philosophy, and other interesting tidbits and how they relate to video games are what you can expect from me. I’ll probably take a few posts over time to continue elaborating on what I’ve been trying to say here.