Whenever videogames have as rich of a tapestry as any of the literary canon, give me a call. I will wash your nerdy feet. They might have good stories, yes, but there really isn't any game out there that is exemplary of \"high culture\" status.
Shadow of the Colossus and
Ico are the two most often cited examples of "Games as Art", probably because of the minimalistic nature of both and how both ask you to fill in the blanks of the story yourself. This results in a story that is mainly driven by what you imagine it to be, instead of what you are told it is. It looks like
The Last Guardian is going to follow in both games footsteps.[/QUOTE]
The difference between "Shadow of the Colossus" and "The Tempest" being one is part of the literary canon, the other is a video game. Not saying that video games
can be moving and transcendent; I'm saying, for the most part, they are not, and play their role in pop culture. The examples you cited would still be considered pop culture, as well. Perhaps one day...but I doubt it. The chasm between high culture and pop culture grows as more cultures and hobbies fill our entertainment needs.[/QUOTE]
These are genre defying masterpieces that are almost universally held up as the perfect example of what a game should aspire to be. People in other fields of art have looked at them and sang their praises as bright spots in a genre otherwise filled with consumerism and tripe. But by your own words, those games can't be high culture explicitly because they are games? That seems awful petty of you. In a world where someone can place a toilet in an art gallery or throw feces on a picture of the Virgin Mary and have it be called art, it seems to me that the barrier for entry isn't as high as you claim it is.
Yes, 90% of games are definitely not what I'd consider enduring pieces of art, but by that same measure, 90% of movies and books are crap as well... and yet they don't ever have to explain themselves. This seems arbitrary and purely vindictive.
And don't use Shakespeare as an example of high art... even by his own time's standards, his ideas weren't original. He literally cribbed almost everything he wrote from other, earlier sources and only endures to this day because of misaimed fandom and because he had the ear of the English Royals in his time. He is quite frankly, undeserving of the praise he gets. Next time, use someone like Dante Alighieri as an example.
in the back for good measure...