Are video games art, or just something fun?

My question of the forever is, What are video games to you?

Are videos games something to do when you are bored? are they something to do with friends? is it something to unwind after a hard days work?

Or

Are video games masterpieces of art that should be cataloged in a museum? are video games a misunderstood art form?


In other words - When you see a masterpiece game; One everyone agrees is amazing, Is that just a game? Or a work of art?
And should games stay as (your decision).


Edit - I'm sorry, I forgot to put "Neither" option, If wanted to vote for that just type out why, I read every post.

Way I see it. If porn can be legally considered art, why can't video games?

I believe it's both, but I'm hoping that it stays just something fun. If a .gif switching between a room with a light on and the same room with the light off is considered "highly influential art" then I don't want my beloved video games falling that low.

Well it depends on the game really. You take a look at a game like Deus Ex:Human Revolution and its story and art direction and it's a beautiful game. Art is a person's take on inspiration or many other things, when you play a story based game such as those you can't help but feel the artsy fartsy feel so I would think so but not every game only some. Personally I think artistic vision video games could become their own genre.

To be honest, I've never thought about it. Video games have always been a form of entertainment to me. Rather, they temporarily fill up the gaps of boredom. To see them as art is going to be challenging if someone were to try convincing people to see them as appreciated artworks.

There are a select few games which could be considered art. That isn't just a judgement on art style or graphics, although those things are important. It's also about narrative and how effectively they communicate their story.

Skyrim, to use a popular example, is a really fun game, but ignoring the main story to raid dungeons and do side quests massively diminishes the strength of your character and the narrative as a whole. Same with any game that has a silent protagonist. And the methods of delivery for story are still being experimented with, being relatively early in games' life compared to other media. That's not to mention that even great games are basically ripped off from existing stories.

We're at a stage where developers are trying (and largely failing) to emulate movies and TV in how they communicate a story, while making that work with the unique perspective that games take. So yeah, games aren't really art yet, but they can be.

Games can be art. Look at Okami, Child of Eden, or Shadow of the Colossus/Ico.

Depends on the game IMHO. Sometimes they're art, sometimes they're crap. But yes, I would like to believe that videogames are "art made to entertain" much like music, movies and similar stuff.

Yes and no... It depends on if it is truly immersive, but that is only a half ass conclusion of what I can't word, the way I want.
-Skies of Arcadia, felt amazing to me, when I would fly through the skies with nothing below, it felt as if I really could fall to my death, the lack of ground gave a strong sense of insecurity for me through the story. As I approached Weather abnormalities they would start small growing unimaginably large and monstrous. At many times I felt as if I was on the ship with them.
-Zelda Windwaker, had somewhat of a similar feeling to me with water. Traveling through the sea for extended periods of time, at times i would point the ship and do something else, to return around the spot or being attacked.
-Hideo Kojima's works (Zone of the Enders (only played 2)), has a similar feeling supported well by its story, to create a incredibly immersive world.
-Persona series, did well with the characters and the interactions between the player and the characters. The growth between and the writers ability to cause the player to grow attached was really amazing for me.
-Xenosaga series, both the story and the world mixed well, the games often times made itself into a movie but it felt like I had been thrown into a future world where everything was out to get me.
-Phantom Crash, is another game where I felt like I was thrown into a future world of mech battling competitions, the writer did well with the crazy cast of characters and the interactions.

Too lazy to write more, but I have a number of titles I can think of.

If movies, writing, and... modern... can count as art, why shouldn't games be capable of being art. Though I will not say all games are art, I find Call of Duty in no way artistic for example.

They already do have their own genre, sort of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_game

I highly recommend picking up Journey for the PS3 if you ever get the chance, fantastic game.

Only ones i have/played are:
-Deadly Premonition (controls a b but love the story.)
-Okami (absolutely love this one, I need to replay it.)
-Yume Nikki (I tried it once, got lost, I need to give it another try.)
-Metal Gear Solid (my first mgs, wasn't expecting to play as snake, but I ended up falling in love with the series because of it.)

Okami was great, they released a sequel on the for the DS in march of last year apparently, haven't gotten my hands on it yet (Ōkamiden: Chīsaki Taiyō).

I suppose I should say my thoughts, Some games are built to be art (Limbo, Journey, etc.), But in my mind...
Every game is a piece of art, even horrible ones, but some "piece of art" are better then other.
And snobs who are trying to keep games as children's games, Need to know how much hardwork and co-operation between a team of 20+ people goes into producing a game; and how much certain games effect us (sometimes effect us more than actual art).

I think I heard of it but over looked it. If the Wii U is backwards compatible with ds games I'll buy it, otherwise emu it. I can't play psp/ds, hands are too big T_T.

Edit: To Medzy, though I don't want to accept the idea of "companies producing games like a factory line belt" as art. Even then someone puts effort into the story, no matter how bad, even bad art is still art... If I were to agree with you, know that it is with discontent....

Games can be an art form, but it depends on what genre the games falls into. For example, I wouldn't call the games from the Call of Duty series art. But I would consider games from Team Ico (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus) art. As a gamer, I feel that certain video games certainly qualify as art. Whatever it is, someone has to build a Video Games Museum. It has a rich enough history to warrant the construction of one.

Nowadays though, the term "Art" is also very subjective in the first place. Seriously, even a piece of dung can be displayed by an "artist" as art and some people will treat it as such because they don't know better.

Both.Video games are for entertainment obviously and art can be in many different forms. The landscape of the game, the music, characters and such. Maybe just the story itself or something.

I would say both, since if you look at art as not just a picture but a good story or amazing music then every game would fit in since it tried to tug at one of these, granted not all games is good, but there is some terrible artwork out there so it's pretty similar