“We can debate what art is, we can debate it forever. If the experience moves you in some way or another … even if it moves your bowels … I think it is worthy of some serious study.”

- Clive Barker

What is art…? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as, ” the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects” For many, these “skills” come in the form of paint brush movements, the chiseling of stone, the sweet sound of music, or a tear jerking performance or novel. Yet, it seems as of these aesthetic objects have been stereotyped; only allowing certain items to be classified as art such as paintings, films, sculptors, novels, plays, musical performances, ballet, etc…

Due to these already set beliefs within society, it often can be difficult for new mediums to develop or be noticed. Recently, gaming has begun to increase in its popularity both as entertainment and its desire to be seen with an artist point of view. Naturally there is plenty room for debate as to whether games are or can be art or are nothing more than entertainment. Some say that coding is just like each individual stroke of a brush; alone they are nothing but together it’s a beautiful picture.

Personally, I feel that games can eventually become master pieces. The medium is still very young and needs time to mature, just as how painting evolved from simply solid lines to complex images with shading and depth. While I can easily go into many contentions regarding my personal stand on the “art or not” debate, I want to focus on just one that I feel is being over looked by both supporters and adversaries.

An issue that hasn’t seemed to be resolved is the fact that games are interactive while most art forms aren’t. It seems that a main source of the problem is the simple fact of trying to figure out how a game can convey the emotional appeal that most art forms contain. Most of a game is made up of the time spent with the player performing an action while the story is generally progressed through cut scenes. This is the aspect I want to target: the player performing an action.

For long the set of mind has been that gamers are the audience; that we are the ones watching as the events unfold before us. However, I feel that it is the opposite. For if we were the audience, then we’d never no need to even touch the controller. Instead, we are the actors taking on the role of the characters.

Plays/Films and games are actually quite similar. They both contain plots that have a beginning, build up to a climax, and then eventually become resolved. Their plots carry mean of the same elements and techniques. Writing the script or story for a play is honestly not much different than writing the script or plot for a game. Though where the strongest set connection between the two lies is with the fact that both contain set characters with set personalities that are revealed through the action of another.

Much like an actor, the game takes on the role of the character they are given. We enter the character’s lives, take on his or her personality, and see the story unfolds from their point of view as you continue to carry the action out. Some games have begun to explore the concept of the player’s personal choice effecting the game over having the player limited to a set personality. Hence why the term role play has easily adapted to the gaming world.

Surely you cannot deny the passion and emotion that actors and actresses carry as they play out their roles. They completely lose touch of their true selves and become the character. This is what gaming can do eventually as well; they just need time to get there and establish themselves.