Why Games Matter - Indie Games Aren't Art Games

Ed Smith of IBTimes UK writes: I saw Indie Game: The Movie recently and the deference it paid to Super Meat Boy developer Edmund McMillan turned my stomach. He makes vague references to how his games explore daydreams he had as a child while being teased in school, about drawing monsters that would fly into space because, in a way, that's what he wanted to do.

And it's just gaseous, it's infantile. As a grown man - even as an ex-bullying victim - I'm not interested in these breathy, childish whimsies. They aren't special, they aren't beautiful - they're certainly not art. And they don't mean anything. Some of the drawings in Super Meat Boy pertain to a sense of alienation one of the developers felt as a kid. And? You need more than that.

[admiralvic]

Art is self expression, which is what they're doing. You don't get to decide what is and isn't art, only how much you may or may not like it.

[contradictory]

yeah, but the fact that it's indie doesn't automatically make it art.

but who am i to say what is or isn't art?

[Bimkoblerutso]

No, you're right. The fact that it is a video game is what automatically makes it art.

Not every game is going to be what the average person would consider "inspired" art, but it IS art as long as it is an expression of imagination....and that's every video game ever made.

What a ridiculously pretentious article. It's the equivalent of a 90 year old man looking at a Pollock and proclaiming, "that ain't art." Don't try to tell ME what art is because something didn't have the same impact on you. Jesus.

[s45gr32]

True but what is an art game I wonder.

[contradictory]

that's why i said who am i to say what is art

[Alos88]

"But that's just flaccid. We don't know what an art game IS yet."
So you don't know what an art game is, but you feel qualified to say what it isn't.
The biggest problem for me with this article is that you never once mention a game that you consider to be art. You have no problem pointing to various games and decrying them as not being art, yet when it comes to mentioning a game you consider to be art you remain silent.

[edsmith1990]

Author here. I don't think any computer games are art, not yet.

[KiRBY3000]

you dont make any sense.

give us your definition of art, then we'll see.

music is art, drawing is art, writing is art, right?. but somehow, if you mix all those stuff and make it interactive, its not art anymore? mind blown.

[s45gr32]

Ugggh anoOk the article is good the wording is terrible. I at least understand what the author is saying and that is we as gamers have given indie devs a free pass in the sense we don't criticize them or challenge them like we do to AAA studios. You see we tell the mainstream studios ypu guys do not make new ips, new ideas, etc. but is ok for indie developers to make tons of puzzle platformers, zombies, top view shooters. Why simple indie devs sell their games ,heaper, no drm, online passes, hardly sequels. That is why is harder to criticize their work. We as gamers should use constructive criticism for both indie and mainstream devs. Nothing to do whether games are art or not for we as gamers do not know what an art game is or is not

[edsmith1990]

Give me your definition of art. Tell me, in solid terms, what constitutes art in videogames. And don't give me vague bullshit like 'expression' or 'personality.'

[Alos88]

Sorry for the late reply, but in my opinion I don't think it's fair to dismiss everything as not being art when you yourself admit that you don't yet know what an art game is.

[edsmith1990]

So, what should we do? Start calling things art? That's leaping before you look. Once we've developed the vocabulary, the discourse and the syllabus to examine games as artworks, then we can start discussing which of them may or may not be, artworks.