The Art of Videogames

by Grant Tavinor

The Art of Videogames explores how philosophy of the arts theories developed to address traditional art works can also be applied to videogames.

- Presents a unique philosophical approach to the art ofvideogaming, situating videogames in the framework of analyticphilosophy of the arts.
- Explores how philosophical theories developed to addresstraditional art works can also be applied to videogames.
- Written for a broad audience of both philosophers and videogameenthusiasts by a philosopher who is also an avid gamer.
- Discusses the relationship between games and earlier artisticand entertainment media, how videogames allow for interactivefiction, the role of game narrative, and the moral status ofviolent events depicted in videogame worlds.
- Argues that videogames do indeed qualify as a new and excitingform of representational art.

Genres: Games, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Art, Video Games, Theory, College

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2009

Reviews

[Kalin]

I was particularly interested in the sections examining narratives or the emotional impact of games, so I'll make a brief comment only about them:

https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...

[Mjhancock]

Tavinor discusses several videogame issues, leading to the question of whether or not video games can qualify as art. The book is rather theoretically heavy, though it tends to use popular games from the time of its publication (2009) for examples. The early chapters are especially slow, as Tavinor wants to be very, very clear on his terminology--though I'm still not convinced on the functional difference between games as narrative and games as interactive fictions. The later chapters on games as art, games and moral criticism, and games as artifacts capable of evoking emotion are very well presented--in particular, I think the discussion on game violence and the morality of video games to be the most in-depth, thought-out discussion of the subject that I've read in a while. I don't like his tendency to dismiss early games from discussion, nor his occasional foray into definitional pedantry, but overall, it's a very good discussion on games and aesthetic philosophy.

[David Blanar]

Thought-provoking analysis, well worth the read. Ultimately it feels as though Tavinor pulls his punches slightly, perhaps to acknowledge the emergent nature of this kind of research, but it does not diminish the ideas presented.

[[chris] Dale]

Tavinor does a good job of making the case that videogames are a unique artform, but his discussion of their ontology is not rigorous and his views on what is valuable about videogames are not shared by me.

[Danny]

shows that games are not just a thing to play when your bored its beyond entertainemnt and this book explains it a must buy for all gamers