I have something to get off my chest.

So in an Issue of Game Informer there was this article, proclaiming that Roger Ebert decided to write up a big article of Why Video Games can never be art and that Film is art, Because you feel something when you Watch Movies, and that Video Games can never make you feel the way that Movies do. Game Informer went on to not argue the most important thing here, They just used a few games as reference as to why they are Art and they missed the point on that Video games do make you feel. I will not argue that Movies are not art, because they are. I will Say that Roger Ebert was asked by an affiliate magazine if he had ever played any video games and he said no. So you know what I have to say about that. HOW in the Hell can you say something isn't art and write up a whole article about how its a terrible form of entertainment when you have never had any experience with it. It's like people who say they hate sushi, but have never tried it. It's like people who decide that Obama is a worthless bastard because he is a black president and have never listened to a single speech or read a single thing published by him. It's like one man hating another man for the color of his skin. Its ignorant and Stupid and completely idiotic. Ebert to put this simply. Fuck You. I from there decided to look up what he has said about certain movies, He didn't like the Hurt Locker, It won Picture of the Year, He is an stupid old man who has let his success go to his big fat head, how about for some low calorie butter on your popcorn fat ass. Screw YOU you worthless bastard the next thing he will say is books aren't art, Painting aren't art, Tv shows aren't art. so on and so forth. Stupid Bastard saying something isn't art when he has never played one.

My argument for Video Games and the fact that they are art. first off not all of them are. Some of them are stupid and just gratuitous violence. The online Multiplayer shoot em ups, (which I enjoy) can not as just their multi player section be considered as art, however some of the most popular online multi players also have campaigns. Two of the biggest on the Xbox are Gears of War and Halo. On Playstation 3 there are several, but I have never played them so i will leave them out. I apologize to those PS3 lovers out there, I will cover some playstation stuff later. but for the the FPS (first person Shooter) Online games, I will just talk about Gears and Halo because I have extensive play time with them. I also have extensive play time with the Call of Duty Franchise, but nothing about those games in my own opinion is art, Great games, but not art. Halo on the other hand, Have you listened to the music for this Series, It builds as you play creating an emotional connection to you're mission, you hate the covenant and fear the flood in the first one, the second Halo you still hate the covenant, but have to join forces with them, well part of them, I honestly didn't trust them at all. the third one you start to feel sorry for the covenant and the lies they have been led to believe, The Halo series has made me angry, scared and happy and sad, it's nothing like blowing up that first halo, then finding out there are plenty more. Gears is the same basic deal, except the threat came from below us not above us. Some of the scenes in Gears make your heart pound, when certain things happen and characters die i've shed tears. Thats just the multiplayer game side of things, I'm not even going to mention the MMO's, but seriously have you seen some of the scenes from World of Warcraft and ION. get outta hear they are amazing.


The next example is a study done, as a result of this video games isn't art even though ive never played one comment from that dumb ignorant son of a bitch. the study has fifteen paintings on a wall and 500 people to come in and vote on them. five were real paintings by real artist, five were scenes from video games layouts of towns and cities mostly, and five were photographs from different places on earth. The Video games came in 2,4,7,9,14 That's right the Video game came in second after a photograph of a forest. The first Painting to place was in 3rd. however, Thats just a little tidbit.


I will name my Top Ten games and how They are art.

1)Final Fantasy VII
2)The Legend Of Zelda
3)Limbo
4)Super Mario Brothers
5)Batman Arkham Asylum
6)Katamari Damacy
7)Okami
8)Resident Evil 4
9)Final Fantasy VIII
10)Shadow of Colossus

10) I have never traveled a country side and looked and felt the cross feelings of Wow that is beautiful and stand in awe at the beauty in front me, then a second later feel the OH HOLY CRAP I have to kill that massive thing. Then the way you go about the game, I feel dirty and feel like the further I go into the game The more sin I am committing and being mormon that is a big thing, I honestly feel wrong and deeply hurt that i have to kill these gorgeous beings, A few times i even cried as i Succeeded and heard the beings cry as I stab them to bring them down. The Landscape is breathtaking, the story divine, the emotional range deep.

9)Final Fantasy VIII is a grand story about boy meets girl, with an enticing love story. A story of Betrayal and a story of a young mans life that make most screenplays look like children s books. The Storyline has better twists than anything M. Night could ever pull off, If there was a school I would enjoy teaching at it would be in Balamb Gardens, the Airship was incredible, Music a little Silly, However the overall story might be better than any game out there. The gameplay was fun too. I loved the Card Game.

8)Resident Evil 4. I was terrorfied, more so than any movie has ever done. I hated the main character Ashley the girl i was supposed to save. Some of the best and most epic boss battles the sheer fear when you run out of ammo and have to run for cover just to end up dying trying to retrieve three shotgun shells. The castle was brilliantly laid out, the village, completely functional even for zombies, The military base screwy as most video game bases. Puzzles brilliant. Landscape the best survival horror has to offer.

7)Okami When the dog walks flowers appear, you paint your way through the world and fight people with musical instruments, It was brilliantly done, The Art work itself looked like an old Japanese painting, The Storyline was typical Japanese you are the chosen one stuff, no tears shed but to dismiss Okami as art for on second would be foolish. Just look for yourself.

6)Katamari Damacy is pure Video game exploration. Why do I consider this art, It's how it made me feel when playing it, Its the same feeling you get when you are watching a movie and the bad guy is about to get his, or when you are reading a book and you just know you have figured out the plot. Its looking out at the ocean then closing your eyes and letting the sea air hit your face, It's working yourself to death to climb that mountain just when you reach the point where you can't go on, you look up and see the sight you worked so hard to see and knowing it was worth it. Playing Katamari for the first time, hearing those crazy tunes, picking up your first human, first car or bus, first house, is just a tremendous feeling, It's happiness and bliss, but in the form of Video games.

5) Batman Arkham Asylum, Its layout is perfect, It's batman so that's ultimately is what I loved about it. The emotional part comes from the scarecrow scenes. First you are scared to death, you don't know whats happening your in a morgue, crap is moving by itself you open up a body bag and its your dead mother, Just really top notch scary, second round you want to cry, you are a little boy and standing above your mother and father as they just got shot, listening to the police chatter as you walk through your life changing event, No other game Pulls out all the stops, like this one. Killer Croc, Was terrifying, I'll shred your flesh like paper. Poison Ivy was sexy, The Joker was funny, Emotional attachment ran deep here, The Island was terrifically laid out, when you were in the catacombs of the old Arkham Estate you really felt like there used to be something here before it crumbled away. So well done and perfectly pieced together.

4) Super Mario Brothers. I might just say this is the the whole Series of games, I haven't met one I didn't like. wait yes I did not like Super Mario Brothers Sunshine that was mundane. However, I loved all the rest. The first one was ground breaking with the smiles in the clouds and tactfully laid out dungeons. The second one a little off kilter overall. The Third one brought us back to what we loved so very much, flying raccoon tail anyone. On and On and On, the Super Mario Galaxy as of late challenges your brain and your reflexes, When you hear the music you know it. When you see the characters you love them. I am attached to Mario, If Nintendo came out and said we are never making a Mario game again, people would commit suicide, I would cry. I love that little plumber. You can forget the layout of the worlds, beautifully landscaped maps, continuous exploration as technology grows, wonderfully cute cut scenes, Jokes galore throughout, It's truly the best laid game series out there. If I can Pin point it as art, I would point out the lay of the land. Backgrounds, textured maps, beautiful but simplistic art at its best. Everyone knows what Mario is, what it looks like, well except for Ebert because he has never played video games, so instead of throwing you a excerpt from the game, here is a sweet rendition of the theme song.

What the Hell how about some Mario Anyway, run you tubby little bastard.

3)Limbo I have to put a disclaimer here, this list is not in any particular I just made a list of games that came to mind that i thought were art and I just played this one so its fresh on the mind. I don't think Its the best game I have ever played, but it might be the best looking, it was short, but it was breathtaking, Violent, Challenging, and gut wrenchingly whimsical. The ways in which the little boy dies are just hard to take sometimes, the storyline is absent, so you are left to assume whatever you want, which I like. The gameplay is downright nightmarish. not the control scheme, but the actual game is a scene right out of a nightmare, Anne said she doesn't want to play it, because it's every single nightmare she has ever had wrapped up into a small package and delivered in video game form. This game also beautiful in its own unique way. Just watch the Video and tell me you aren't scared and interested in playing at the same time.


2) The Legend of Zelda. I will talk about this as a whole as well, So many great games, so many great concepts with in a game, Hyrule is magnificent and I want to move there. The plains are wonderful, the small towns cool, the enemies great, a few storyline s are touching to the point of tears. Many different takes on style have been taken. I like that they don't stick to a streamline of ways to play, they always throw a little something extra in there. Great games.

1) Final Fantasy VII This is in Order, I have never played a better game. I have never seen a better movie, never read a better book, listened to a better song, seen a better painting than what Final Fantasy VII has to offer. Love is there. Fear, Check. Hate, Check. Pity, Check. Sephiroth is the embodiment of Evil. It's what bad guys should be made of. I pity him some though. But he still tries to kill the freaking planet. Cloud is the perfect Anti hero. Tifa is great to look at, Barret is perfect comic relief, along with other characters. If you didn't cry the first time you say the sword pierce the pink dress you don't have a heart. If you weren't pissed as you found out Shinra had more to do with it than expected then you weren't paying attention. If you didn't jump and scream amazing when you saw the first omnislash or knights at the round table you were not looking at the screen when it happened. If you didn't curse the hell out of the characters as they made jackasses out of themselves or cry when Barrett and his daughter reunited, or shutter when the plate fell. You simply didn't play this game. I was so emotional throughout this game it was embarrassing. Hear I am a fifteen year old boy sitting in his tighty whitey's as close to the TV as possible tears streaming down my face with my mom asking "is everything ok?" And I reply "No, Mom everything it is not ok, The government is evil and that bastard Sephiroth burned down my home town and killed my girl friend, kicked my ass and hurled a comet at the planet, It's never going to be OK ever again" I have never been moved by a video game this much ever. Ebert I dare you to play this game and tell me Video Games are not Art. You twinkly bastard.