Artistic potential of contemporary video games

Abstract

The main objective of this theoretical paper is to study video games’ potential in the artistic context. The paper will approach video games as a novel artistic medium and analyse the potential of the medium in expressing philosophical questions and ideas. The study will also evaluate the impact of artistic games on an individual’s mental state and explore various possibilities for artistic expression from the technical point of view. The emotional impact of modern artistic games will be examined through studies of pre-existing academic publications; these studies, in turn, will be applied to analyse artistic and non-artistic video games that have been created in the last decade. The paper will also help to establish dominant artistic trends occurring in AAA (high-budget games), as well as within the indie game industry to predict the direction of the medium and its future development. Artistic video games will also be examined within a general art scope, as well as by comparison of the medium to traditional forms of art. The research will help to define the importance of artistic elements in video games in society as well as their importance in mass market entertainment-driven games.