Can Video Games Be Art?

“The question is not, ‘Are video games art?’ The question is, ‘Can artists express themselves through the video-game medium?'” says journalist and gamer Tom Bissell. “As Bissell explains in his new book, ‘Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter,’ the graphics, storytelling and interactivity of gaming have all made tremendous leaps forward in recent years, allowing players to intermingle with nuanced, fleshed-out digital characters in near-photo-realistic environments. Among the most notable recent examples is Rockstar’s ‘Red Dead Redemption,’ a game the New York Times hailed as a ‘tour de force’ for its ability to submerge players in a complex and believable world. In his book, Bissell argues that it’s finally time to take video games seriously as an art form, and give them the formal analysis they deserve.”