Misconception Of Video Games

It seems as though video games exist for the sole purpose of entertainment—because that’s what they do: entertain the mindless. However, video games’ ability to educate the mindful has become more evident in recent years. More evident in the sense that they have always had the ability be an educational tool, but that aspect has just been overlooked by society. There is often stigma associated with video games and misconception about them today however: misconception of their use as a communicative medium, one of the most important aspects of our human culture, human progression, and our individual selves.

Film’s acceptance into human culture, the culture in which we all share, is an example of what video games can achieve as a medium. Film;

Ebert, now passed, was a famous film critic, journalist, and screenwriter. He initiated the discussion of video games as art in an article on his website with the following quote.

“To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field [of video game development] has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers. That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept. But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic.” (Ebert).

Roger Ebert eventually posted a follow-up article further explaining his position. However, that position was unchanged despite the uproar from readers of the previous post and the rest of the internet. Much of the protest against Ebert’s comments where game developers and gamers urging him to play some game that they felt would change his perspective on video games as art. One such game is the critically acclaimed Journey by

They were great artists at that time…” (Ebert).

In the end, Ebert had upheld his position until his passing, never actually experiencing the video games in which many others praise for their artistic achievements. Some people just don’t want to believe that there is another side to video games that isn’t the senseless violence seen in the mainstream. Others just don’t see the individual works of art within the game as elements of an entire scene. All in all though, it’s a matter of opinion whether or not video games are art.

Hypothetically, if video games as a whole were entertainment and art, it would be only two thirds of the aforementioned term communicative medium; therefore not one at all. The final third is, of course,