Artificial.dk introduces the genre of game that are created for artistic or
political reasons as art games. We've actually given kudos to many of these installations and projects in the past, but
the concept deserves more exposure now that art games are being declared a genre.
There are some who'd say that all games are art and that an "art games" distinction doesn't make sense for that reason. Those people have obviously never played junk like Crime Life: Gang Wars.
There are others who'd say that most of these "art games" aren't even games in the usual sense of the word, as many are unplayable and lack an objective. In Cory Arcangel's Super Mario Clouds project, for instance, all that one sees is clouds from the original NES title scrolling by endlessly, and nothing else. If all you can do is watch a moving image, isn't it just a movie at that point?
Whatever you call it, the works are certainly cool and sometimes thought provoking. Go check it out.
[Image credit: from Ben Fry's Distellamap, drawings of code from old game carts.]
[Via we make money not art]
