Video Games Video games have advanced in the past few decades.

In 1958 William Higginbotham created the first video game: Tennis for Two (Bellis). The game is a simple enough thing to master. A small ball is passed between two moveable bars. When the game came out it was seen as advanced and innovative. Today however we see the game as simplistic and boring. In the twenty-first century video games have advanced leaps and bounds from their starting point. Games such as Call of Duty and Modern Warfare are graphically more complex. These games that engross millions of people are an art form. The definition of art, when speaking of the visual arts is: a tangible product that is creative and brings about an emotional response (ArtAbout). Video games are a tangible product. That is an unquestionable fact. You put a disk into a game station, pick up a remote, and play. The part that most people question is if a video game can bring about an emotional response. In some games such as Call of Duty, the only emotional responses you get are from completing a level and getting killed on a level. The game itself has no tone. Other games, however, give a tone and speak to a player emotionally. Some such games include The Last of Us, Tomb Raider, and BioSchock Infinite (Frum). On one side you could say that video games are not forms of art. They do not fully teach anything to anyone and the emotional response that you receive does not change who you are like some pieces of literature might. The other side would disagree. Being able to make a video game with a plot line and give off an emotion through that story is a form of literature. In this case a new question emerges. What is literature? In class we decided that the essential needs to be considered a piece of literature are: plot line, emotional connection, and the ability to change the way someone sees the world. Books are

the best example of this. There have been books that have changed the way a child thinks and then there are books that have changed the way a world thinks. Artwork, dance, and music have also done this. Video games could also be added to this category. When I first played Star Wars the Clone Wars I was enthralled. The plot was simple enough because it followed the movies. I was a soldier and had to fight the bad guys, the bad guys lost, the end. A video game like that was simply for entertainment. It is not viewed as a literary masterpiece or a work of art. It is viewed as a past-time. In class when I heard about games that involved a little girl dying or a soldier who suffers from PTSD I could see how they are considered pieces of literature. The rawness of the situations makes you think about the situations well after you finish the game and it sticks with you. In these games I can see the term literacy plastered on the front cover. Based off of our check list they have a plot line, bring out an emotional connection, and change the way people think. The case of video games being a piece of literacy and synonymously art is going to change. Even Roger Ebert, a renowned film critique, decided his statement, Video games can never be art, held no water (Ebert). It is impossible to come to a consensus as to what is considered an art form. Some would say being able to dance on Pointe is art while others would say being able to draw a beautiful sketch and even others would say that creating computer software is a form of art. In the loose definition of art, as something tangible that is creative and brings emotion, all of the latter are correct. To each individual it will be different. As I could read a book and cry over the characters, another person could put the book down calmly and walk away. If I felt nothing except happiness while I finish an adventure on a video game and someone feels sad because it is over then they view it differently.

It all comes down to perception and how we view art. There will never be a list that says what is and is not art. There will never be a right or wrong answer. Art is variable and will never be easily defined. Just because something is not considered art today does not mean it wont be considered art tomorrow. Tennis for Two was the building block for some of the best artworks (and past-times) that people have been exposed to in a long time. A video game can be considered art if the person experiencing it thinks it is. The people that create the games are masters of their craft and bring something new every year. Just as Vincent Van Gogh, Anna Pavlova, and Chris Martin are considered artists, so are the people that spend every day creating and designing the next adventure for millions of gaming devices.

Bibliography "ArtAbout Our Definitions: All Forms of a Word (noun, Verb, Etc.) Are Now Displayed on One Page." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/art>.

Bellis, Mary. "The History of Computer and Video Games." The History of Computer and Video Games. About.com, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm>. Ebert, Roger. "Video Games Can Never Be Art." All Content. Roger Ebert, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/video-games-can-never-be-art>. Frum, Larry. "In New Video Games, Gore Gives Way to Emotion." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/empathyvideo-games>.