By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Updated 3/12/2012 10:38 PM
Sure, the three-dimensional vistas explored in video games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Halo are enchanting, immersive and often dramatic. But, as the age-old question goes, are they art?
For that matter, are video games worthy of being counted, like movies and paintings, among accepted art forms?
The 120,000 Americans who work at creating games probably would argue yes. And many of the 100-million-plus who spend upward of $20 billion a year to play them would concur — if they ever looked up from their screens and joysticks long enough to think about it.
(PHOTOS: Peek at the 'Art of Video Games' exhibit)
On the other side fall writers such as film critic Roger Ebert, who famously said several years ago that video games weren't comparable to great paintings, poetry, films and novels and could never be considered art. He was battered by Internet reaction to the point that he replied, "I am a fool for mentioning video games."
The Smithsonian American Art Museum, which houses such masters as Georgia O'Keeffe and John Singer Sargent, steps right into the middle of the argument with a new exhibit, The Art of Video Games. It begins a six-month stay at the Washington museum Friday before going on a national tour.
The exhibit has something for players of all generations., with an 80-game lineup ranging from Pac-Man to Super Mario Bros. 3 to Mass Effect 2, plus 20 systems — 1977's Atari Video Computer System is the elder statesman — selected to show the medium's evolution from Space Invaders to Super Mario Galaxy.
Not surprisingly, artists and designers consider the exhibit as validation for their field. "It's a big honor, and it just establishes our industry in a more credible way," says Ray Muzyka, co-founder of Edmonton-based studio BioWare, whose Mass Effect 2 is represented in the show. "It helps to establish games as an art form, and it is."
And while Ebert doesn't rank games alongside films, the comparison is valid, says Luis Cataldi, chairman of interactive design and game development at the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. "There is a tremendous amount of artistry that goes into video games. The final product, especially at the triple-A level, is a consumer good; it's entertainment. You could certainly make the same argument 'Is the movie Avatar art?' I don't think it's an argument that can be won, but it's an argument that can be had."
Eye of the beholder
Designer Jenova Chen, who gravitated to digital arts after painting as a child, takes his craft personally. "My parents were very strict on what movies and TV I would get to watch and what books I got to read," says Chen, who grew up in Shanghai before moving to the USA and earning a master's in interactive media at the University of Southern California.
"A game was actually the first entertainment medium that made me cry. So I thought at the time, if I could make a game that (would) also not just move people to tears but make them feel like a better person after they play, that would be awesome."
A game was actually the first entertainment medium that made me cry. So I thought at the time, if I could make a game that (would) also not just move people to tears but make them feel like a better person after they play, that would be awesome.
Having never visited the Smithsonian, Chen initially didn't think much about the induction of two games he co-developed, flOw and Flower, both on the PlayStation Network for the PS3. "But everybody kept saying: 'This is a big deal. It is really an official recognition,' " he says.
"I guess the mainstream recognizing games as an art (is) a big deal," says Chen, co-founder of thatgamecompany in Santa Monica. "(It) makes me happy and proud."
More important, the images are on display for all to see, not just those who play sagas that can unfurl over more than 20 hours. "There is a tremendous amount of talent in the industry and a whole range of things that are being done, and a lot of it is not seen by the public," says BioWare's Casey Hudson, executive producer of Mass Effect 2 and a just-released sequel.
"It's great for people to be able to have a way to see (the art) outside of video games so they can understand what is going on."
It's a truly interactive installation. Viewers can check out 20 video kiosks with short programs illustrating the breadth of each system's game catalog. They can go hands-on and play games from click-and-explore trailblazer Myst to first-person PS3 pollinator, Chen's Flower.
For the record, the exhibit, one of the first at a major institution to display video games, doesn't attempt to resolve the art debate. "We certainly are offering games that we feel have a lot of creativity and a lot of artistic qualities to them, and we are inviting the audience to come form their own opinion," says the museum's Elizabeth Broun.
The Art of Video Games came out of the Smithsonian's attempt to be more of a player in modern media pursuits. Three years ago, officials invited high-tech creative types from companies such as Microsoft and MySpace to a summit called Smithsonian 2.0. Among those in attendance was Chris Melissinos, then chief gaming officer for software and systems company Sun Microsystems.
"Video games are now 40 years old and have never really had the kind of focused attention that so many art forms and creative expressions have," Broun says. "We thought it was important to begin to frame a story of how the medium has evolved and highlight the great talents. So the next thing I knew, we had a show on the books."
Melissinos came on as curator and helped compile the accompanying book, The Art of Video Games — From Pac-Man to Mass Effect (Welcome Books, $40). A game designer himself, he set a goal for the exhibit of elucidating the voices that "encompass a video game," he says.
Voices behind a game
First, the artist or game designer has a story to relate. "They are trying to say something," Melissinos says.
In the exhibit's discovery area, displays include concept art and packaging. Since early Atari titles such as Combat and Space Invaders "had a very abstract aesthetic to them," publishers enhanced them with artwork, comics and maps "to expand the universe" of the game, he says. And displays will run video loops of interviews with game developers, from Atari founder Nolan Bushnell to Chen's Thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago talking about the creative process.
But the player also has a voice in the equation. "It is that voice (by which) truly art is born out of these things," Melissinos says. "We play through these games in very different ways, so from these same set of materials it imparts a personal experience."
Visitors can test-drive five games —Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros. 3, Myst, The Secret of Monkey Island and Flower— for timed sessions to get "a taste of these games that were so important or pivotal in their respective generations," he says.
Fans were engaged early on in the selection process: Last spring, they were invited to participate in online voting to help narrow 240 games to the final 80. More than 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people in 175 countries.
Eventually, games will be commonplace in museums, says Ken Levine, creative director at Irrational Games, whose 2007 BioShock is an exhibit entry.
"Not a lot of people were playing games when I was growing up. Now everybody plays," says Levine, 45. "By the time my nephew is my age, it is not going to be a question of whether games are covered or in museums or on The Tonight Show. It is just going to be a given, because the people booking those things are going to be gamers."