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What surprised me, whilst perusing an impressive exhibition on video game design at the Dundee V&A Museum with my family a few years ago, was that they were curious and astonished (I had initially thought that I was dragging them to something they have only a faint interest towards). Seeing the time, work and artistry that went into producing a single game, and the mastery behind some instalments, their former perception of gaming was overturned. To me, it was no surprise, but few things are as close to my heart. I was brought up with video games, and have fond memories that I still cherish today. It still bugs me that it is an underestimated form of entertainment, media, however you would want to call it. So much passion and creativity goes into some games that come out of that industry nowadays, and lumping them all in the same basket feels off to me, like an oversimplification. So, really, the question that pushed me into writing this is the following : why isn’t gaming considered as an actual art form today ?

Of course, one of the answers to that (rather insignificant, in the grand scheme of things, I must admit) interrogation resides in the myriad of clichés that surround that subject. Those stereotypes cling on and are hard to get rid of, and make for a rather unfortunate reputation for gaming. To list a few, video games are apparently to be enjoyed only by teenage boys in toxic communities, and only showcase mindless violence. They are seen as addictive and childish, as an occupation intended for outsiders only, and, in a nutshell, as a bad habit to get rid of as soon as possible. However, in the past few years, those clichés have grown old. Companies like Nintendo, for example, have opened gaming to more family-friendly environments ; games like Wii Sports, in 2006, brought everyone together to play tennis, golf and bowling on a screen. Moreover, the development of multiplayer modes, as well as bringing a more competitive side to these virtual activities, have also brought out the best in us. Games like Death Stranding, for example, insist on the need for collaboration across screens. Immersed in a cutthroat world that just wants to see you dead, players helped each other out effectively, without animosity, only trying to make each other’s experience easier. Nowadays, video games are enjoyed by more and more people, and new practices have emerged and become relevant, so much that they have found their place in our cultural landscapes. The boom Twitch and Youtube experienced over the past few years lets us enjoy what is called “backseat gaming”, where one can watch someone else play a game they might never be able to experience. Gaming has gained in influence and power, and has created new and respected branches of journalism, carving itself a space in our day to day lives. Furthermore, if violence is still present in this industry, we have a much better understanding of it. No serious scientific study, to this day, has been able to correlate gaming and the occurrence of violent behaviours in an individual (video games are seen more as outlets for an already aggressive person, the same phenomenon appearing in relation to movies and books alike). Packages clearly display warnings and transparency has become a staple in the gaming industry, the latter diversifying itself more and more as it grows. Video games have become a way to escape reality or to better experience it, and, over the years, have expanded into intricate mosaics of stories and gimmicks and universes, ready to be enjoyed at the push of a button.

To understand how exactly gaming can overcome those clichés, it seems appropriate to compare it to cinema. Both are visual forms of entertainment and expression, however only one is considered as an art form : movies, the filmmaking industry, Hollywood, and all of that pizzazz. And for a reason : movies have been around for a couple of centuries, whereas gaming hasn’t (Pong, what is thought to be the first video game, was created in 1958). However, if a good film is critically acclaimed and makes people feel things, a good game can do just as such. It’s the stories we tell that move us, not the way they are judged. Besides, cinema comes in a plethora of different genres, and there is a movie for everyone out there. I don’t enjoy catastrophe movies like the Sharknado series as much as a comedy or a thriller, but that doesn’t make cinema any less of an art form. The same should go for gaming. Video games aren’t all about war and gore like Call of Duty or Battlefield. Anyone can find their match in gaming, with little bit of research, from hopeful tales of overcoming depression like Celeste or tragic tales of loss and grief like The Last of Us series, or even just sheer tomfoolery, like in Untitled Goose Game (a game where you are a mischievous goose that terrorises a small town).

Ultimately, just like with cinema, gaming provides an extensive catalogue of genres and categories for everyone out there. In my own humble opinion, a good game offers different possibilities and broader horizons. Video games give new perspectives into what art can be. Interactivity and identification with a character is made easy, for the player controls every movement, every shot, like the director of their own film. Some games even let you control your appearance, with character customisation options. With new technologies, such as virtual reality, we are plunged into different dimensions just waiting to be explored, as if we naturally belonged in them. This technology has even gained traction in different aspects of our lives, from augmented reality on phones to realistic flight simulators. Gaming tells new stories, some that are even unique to the player’s choices. It becomes a sandbox of creative possibilities waiting to be pushed to their limits, along with their own sets of skills. It would be heresy not to mention Minecraft, which lets you model your world from scratch in whichever way you wish. Moreover, video games give you the possibility to actually walk a mile in another one’s shoes, and experience both the good and bad things about our society. Mafia III, for instance, puts you through racism and bigotry by making you play as a black man in America during the 1960s, when discrimination was rampant. Lastly, video games are addictive because they keep us on the edge of our seat, just like good films, series and books do, with their twists and their turns. They shed a new light on what can and cannot be considered as an “art form”.

This plurality in gaming, moreover, means that new codes and rules need to be assimilated, learnt, in order to fully understand and enjoy a game. Much like it is the case with reading and literature, a certain amount of video game literacy is needed in order to grasp this form of entertainment. Literacy is defined by a number of competences and knowledge in a specific area, and can be used to explain the hurdles one has to overcome concerning video games. Gaming comes with its own set of skills, its own culture even, and diving deep without a clue can be as hard as trying to learn a new alphabet. Eventually, to see that video games are new art forms, knowledge and patience must be shared, amongst other things. Video games are not just a haphazardly put together form of teenage angst, ridden with clichés and stereotypes. They are a new form of culture and art, and even, dare I say, of literature and cinema mixed together. And I would like to conclude on this idea that video games are not just mindless bashing and crashing with a more personal anecdote. I’ve recently started working in a multimedia and arts and crafts store, and get a lot of questions on what games, what CDs or DVDs to pick. I don’t think that I had ever seen so many people, both old and young, trying to connect around video games before. Children coming in with clueless parents, lost significant others and grandparents with scribbled lists and a desire to do well, all those people come together, scouring the shelves, to try and find something to gift. And it is one of the cutest, most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen. In a few words, video games allow us to connect and come together, just like cinemas do (or used to do). And when everything overwhelms me, at the end of the day, I turn to a great game as just as easily as I’d look for a good book or a heartwarming movie. Gaming brings me joy even in the tiniest moments, and sharing my passion for them, at the end of the day, is one of the simple things that make me happy.