Thursday, October 9, 2014

Video Games as an Art Form for Storytelling

      A current issue that has been facing the art industry for many years, and still has difficulty keeping it's footing held in the doorway is a point that can not logically be argued against: video games as a form of art and storytelling. Video games are highly underestimated as a legitimate art form, especially among older generations. What the skeptics don't seem to see is the amazing storytelling experiences that keep the viewer alert and alive through the ability to interact and control.

Indeed, video games may be the most immersive medium of all, in Melissinos’ estimation. ““In books, everything is laid before you,” he says. “There is nothing left for you to discover. Video games are the only forms of artistic expression that allow the authoritative voice of the author to remain true while allowing the observer to explore and experiment.””

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Chris Melissinos, guest curator of “The Art of Video Games,” exhibition at the Smithsonian
       When watching a film or reading a book, the entire story, as stated, is laid out for you, which is all fine and good, and most stories are told this way. This way of storytelling is timeless and beautiful. However, the ability to be able to control the character without necessarily turning the story for a loop allows you to be in the main characters' shoes. Interaction can put you into the story, and in to the lives of those people your character develops relationships with, therefore making you feel close to the characters around your character as well. Talk about being in someone else's shoes.
       Stories in video games are often critiqued for being shallow or “brain numbing”, but as studies show, it is quite the contrary. Not only do you gain improved hand-eye coordination and reaction time through play, but also become immersed in a different world of artistic creation and culture. Granted, there are the occasional games such as 'Grand Theft Auto' that do not fit into this category, but one piece of art that you don't like shouldn't cause you to never look at art again.


        These are screen shots taken from the highly accredited video game 'Okami'. In this game, you play as the Japanese wolf goddess and reiterate an artistic take of the ancient story told for hundreds of years in Japanese lore. As you can also see, the art style of the video game is completely based on Japanese ancient art and inking, which is a huge chunk of why it is so highly acclaimed. Plus, you get to play as a Japanese goddess! You gain the ability to revive dead trees, turn the
sky from day to night, and slice through bad guys with a calligraphy brush. How cool is that?!


         Have you ever wanted to take a tour of the ancient 11th century Holy Land? How about Italy during the Renaissance, the 13 colonies during the Revolutionary War, or be a pirate on the seas of 1770's Caribbean? Assassin's Creed is definitely the game for you. This video game series was created by a multifaceted team with many different faiths and beliefs, all sharing an immense knowledge of historical world truth. Besides slight tweaks that are made in order for your experiences with known historical figures to be improved, these games are extremely historically accurate, and worthy of being fact-checked multiple times to make sure. As I mentioned, there are few inaccuracies to improve the gaming experience, but for the most part, the historical and artistic beauty of these games is overwhelming. You also will meet and build relationships with historical figures such as Da Vinci, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Black Beard. What isn't awesome about this?!
        The picture on the left is a birds-eye view of Constantinople's Imperial North Port, 14th century. On the right is a picture of an elderly couple that was posted by their grandson, with this to say:

My grandparents love Venice so I let them play assassins creed 2. They took it in turns to just row a gondola around for over an hour.”

        Games like these hold amazing stories and unbelievable immersion in the world of artistic knowledge, brought to the table by talented individuals bent on giving you entertainment, as well as a fantastic interactive experience. This is not a visual form that should be feared or underestimated as mind-numbing time wasters. This is a legitimate form of art and story that should be used for good and as a benefit to the modern art world.

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