Video Games: Art or Commerce?

“Earlier much futile thought had been devoted to the question of whether photography is an art. The primary question – whether the very invention of photography had not transformed the entire nature of art – was not raised.”
~Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction”

“Everywhere one seeks to produce meaning, to make the world signify, to render it visible. We are not, however, in danger of lacking meaning; quite the contrary, we are gorged with meaning and it is killing us.”

~Jean Baudrillard, “Simulations”

Roger Ebert, famous film critic, contended video games are incapable of being works of art. Ebert notes video game defenders contend film shares a technological component similar to photography and film: the attempt to simulate reality. Ebert argues the problem with this logic lies in the video game’s intrinsically commercial purpose from the moment of its invention, a characteristic which separates it from every other art form.

I disagree with Ebert. I believe video games are art. I also believe Santiago, the video game supporter whom Ebert cites, uses a weak strand of logic and an unsatisfactory definition of art, allowing Ebert to dispute the artistic merits of videogames.

I’ll begin by extending my own definition of art. Going back to my first blog post, in which I note the fundamental tension between structure and uniqueness inherent to categorizing anything as art. In this post, I conclude that art’s goal is not merely to affect sensory perception, but rather, to breathe a fresh perspective on the structures that govern our lives. So sensory affect is a necessary attribute, but not a sufficient attribute to deem something art. Art must not only illicit sensory response, but also produce a psychological response that alters the audience’s way of thinking.

Ebert and Santiago both agree that videogames affect senses. Videogames are essentially a simulation of reality – a coded series of rules and a visual interface which seek to build a world to play with. Their point of contention is the inherently commercial intent of videogames, which seek to entertain and stimulate in order to reap profit rather than to sow inspiration. My definition problematizes this point of contention. The commercial intent of videogames certainly inflects a rigid structure and mode of exhibition, but could this affinity for structure also provide an opportunity to induce a greater psychological rupture from the structure?

Instead of looking at more avant-garde, so called artistic games, lets examine the most commercial game possible: Grand Theft Auto V. This game is part of a recurring series, simulates the real world from the perspective of a criminal, and gives players the freedom to mess around in this “sandbox” world in order to offer wish fulfillment in exchange for the almighty dollar. This isn’t art, it’s a glorified toy, as Ebert might say.

But Grand Theft Auto V is a highly self-reflexive simulation, quite vocally aware of its own commercial history and its audience’s expectations. GTA V actually subverts audience expectation by playing with the tropes of crime game genre – offering 3 classic mobster characters to choose from, each exaggerated to the point of satirizing the entire history of the mobster genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFhkHFSytVU

Two features of this game which simulate reality best – the extensive network of radio programming and the stock market through which players accumulate wealth – intentionally parody reality in order to offer commentary. The fictitious radio stations mock real radio stations and the commercial nature of the entertainment industry as a whole. The stock market demonstrates the predatory tactics of brokers and the setup of a volatile market of exchange which artificial accumulates capital independent of real labor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNx2x73RjQ

This game embraces its commercial nature in order to exhibit itself to the widest audience possible. Moreover, it relies a commercial means of production to spread a satirical simulation of commercialism, over emphasizing the contradictory, flawed logic of consumerism in order to implode consumerist values. GTA V, therefore, demonstrates the unique artistic potential of videogames – to penetrate the conditions of reality in order to alter our most intimate presuppositions of what reality is in the first place. The intricate fictitious world-building feature of videogames offers an opportunity for an art form which altogether changes its external world.