Art and Video Games

Abstract

The word art can conjure up very distinct concepts: very often, when I hear it, I recall my faculty classes where I studied its history from the Romanesque to the Baroque. From this perspective it may sound strange when I say that video games are an art form. However, the idea is not new, for example the Final Fantasy Saga (1987–2012), among other games in which Japanese designers are almost always involved, tends to be cited as an example of why video games can be objects of art. This series is of striking beauty, especially when its universe is explored on a wide screen and it is played on a Play Station 3 or Xbox 360. Its graphics are attractive and one is transported into a Baroque, fantasy, cinematographic world, which usually only happens in science fiction. An interview with its creator, where he talks about how he chose the game’s scenarios in real settings, to later transform them, makes it all the clearer that video games can also be an art form. However, in this case, these are objects of art designed in virtual reality.