Then, Unexpectedly, in Portland – A Triforce Tribute

Neat, let's check it out...

I was running errands in North Portland today. As I was walking down the street I saw a sandwich board that advertised “The Legend of Zelda – A Triforce Tribute gallery upstairs” with the flyer pictured above. My interest was piqued so I popped into Land and headed upstairs.

Giving Up Video Games

Now that the Halo: Reach beta has come to a close, I have decided to give up video games for the next three to six months. This is a productivity decision as well as a personal challenge. I am by no means addicted to video games, but they are a time-sink.

Video Games as Art quick blog

In a recent column Roger Ebert again emphasized his claim that “games can never be art.” My point here is not to explore the topic in depth, but rather to introduce and begin a discussion and to address one of the final points that Mr. Ebert made. No opinion is right and no opinion is wrong, and no viewpoint on the matter can be fully supported or disproven.

In his closing paragraphs, he asks why gamers are so concerned that video games be regarded as art. “Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan and Dick Butkus never said they thought their games were an art form,” Mr. Ebert points out. The difference is that video games are an original, creative work. I would even argue that the design of chess, and even sports games like basketball and football, is artistic. Game design is artistic implicitly, even if the creator has no artistic intention.

The bumper sticker might read: “If porn is art, why aren’t video games.”

Let’s hash this out. Are video games art? Are they not yet, but the could be one day? Is Roger Ebert right and they will never be an artistic medium?